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GEORGIUS  AGRICOLA 


DE  RE  METALLICA 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  FIRST  LATIN  EDITION  OF  1556 

with 

Biographical  Introduction,  Annotations  and  Appendices  upon 

the  Development  of  Mining  Methods,  Metallurgical 

Processes,  Geology,  Mineralogy  &  Mining  Law 

from  the  earliest  times  to  the  i6th  Century 


BY 


HERBERT  CLARK  HOOVER 

A.  B.  Stanford  University,  Member  American  Institute  of  Mining  Engineers, 

Mining  and  Metallurgical  Society  of  America,  Societi  des  Ingenieurs 

Civils  de  France,  American   Institute  of  Civil   Engineers, 

Fellow  Royal  Geographical  Society,  etc.,  etc. 


AND 


LOU  HENRY  HOOVER 

A.   B.  Stanford  University,   Member  American  Association   for  the 

Advancement  of  Science,  The  National  Geographical  Society, 

Royal  Scottish  Geographical  Society,  etc.,  etc. 


Published  for  the  Translators  by 

THE     MINING     MAGAZINE 

SALISBURY  HOUSE,  LONDON,  E.G. 
1912 


TO 
JOHN  CASPAR  BRANNER  Ph.D., 

The  inspiration  of  whose  teaching  is  no  less  great  than  his  contribution    to  science. 


17461 


TRANSLATORS'    PREFACE. 


HERE  are  three  objectives  in  translation  of  works 
of  this  character  :  to  give  a  faithful,  literal  trans- 
lation of  the  author's  statements  ;  to  give  these 
in  a  manner  which  will  interest  the  reader  ;  and  to 
preserve,  so  far  as  is  possible,  the  style  of  the 
original  text.  The  task  has  been  doubly  difficult 
in  this  work  because,  in  using  Latin,  the  author 
availed  himself  of  a  medium  which  had  ceased  to 
expand  a  thousand  years  before  his  subject  had  in 
many  particulars  come  into  being  ;  in  consequence  he  was  in  difficulties 
with  a  large  number  of  ideas  for  which  there  were  no  corresponding 
words  in  the  vocabulary  at  his  command,  and  instead  of  adopting  into  the 
text  his  native  German  terms,  he  coined  several  hundred  Latin  expressions 
to  answer  his  needs.  It  is  upon  this  rock  that  most  former  attempts  at 
translation  have  been  wrecked.  Except  for  a  very  small  number,  we 
believe  we  have  been  able  to  discover  the  intended  meaning  of  such 
expressions  from  a  study  of  the  context,  assisted  by  a  very  incomplete 
glossary  prepared  by  the  author  himself,  and  by  an  exhaustive  investigation 
into  the  literature  of  these  subjects  during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  That  discovery  in  this  particular  has  been  only  gradual  and 
obtained  after  much  labour,  may  be  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  entire 
text  has  been  re-typewritten  three  times  since  the  original,  and  some 
parts  more  often  ;  and  further,  that  the  printer's  proof  has  been  thrice  revised. 
We  have  found  some  English  equivalent,  more  or  less  satisfactory,  for 
practically  all  such  terms,  except  those  of  weights,  the  varieties  of  veins, 
and  a  few  minerals.  In  the  matter  of  weights  we  have  introduced  the 
original  Latin,  because  it  is  impossible  to  give  true  equivalents  and  avoid  the 
fractions  of  reduction  ;  and  further,  as  explained  in  the  Appendix  on  Weights  it 
is  impossible  to  say  in  many  cases  what  scale  the  Author  had  in  mind.  The 
English  nomenclature  to  be  adopted  has  given  great  difficulty,  for  various 
reasons  ;  among  them,  that  many  methods  and  processes  described  have 
never  been  practised  in  English-speaking  mining  communities,  and  so  had  no 
representatives  in  our  vocabulary,  and  we  considered  the  introduction  of 
German  terms  undesirable ;  other  methods  and  processes  have  become 
obsolete  and  their  descriptive  terms  with  them,  yet  we  wished  to  avoid 
the  introduction  of  obsolete  or  unusual  English  ;  but  of  the  greatest 
importance  of  all  has  been  the  necessity  to  avoid  rigorously  such  modern 
technical  terms  as  would  imply  a  greater  scientific  understanding  than  the 
period  possessed. 

Agricola's  Latin,  while  mostly  free  from  mediaeval  corruption,  is  some- 
what tainted  with  German  construction.     Moreover  some  portions  have  not 


ii.  TRANSLATORS'    PREFACE. 

the  continuous  flow  of  sustained  thought  which  others  display,  but  the  fact 
that  the  writing  of  the  work  extended  over  a  period  of  twenty  years,  suffic- 
iently explains  the  considerable  variation  in  style.  The  technical  descriptions 
in  the  later  books  often  take  the  form  of  House-that-jack-built  sentences 
which  have  had  to  be  at  least  partially  broken  up  and  the  subject 
occasionally  re-introduced.  Ambiguities  were  also  sometimes  found  which  it 
was  necessary  to  carry  on  into  the  translation.  Despite  these  criticisms  we 
must,  however,  emphasize  that  Agricola  was  infinitely  clearer  in  his  style 
than  his  contemporaries  upon  such  subjects,  or  for  that  matter  than  his 
successors  in  almost  any  language  for  a  couple  of  centuries.  All  of  the 
illustrations  and  display  letters  of  the  original  have  been  reproduced  and 
the  type  as  closely  approximates  to  the  original  as  the  printers  have  been 
able  to  find  in  a  modern  font. 

There  are  no  footnotes  in  the  original  text,  and  Mr.  Hoover  is  responsible 
for  them  all.  He  has  attempted  in  them  to  give  not  only  such  comment 
as  would  tend  to  clarify  the  text,  but  also  such  information  as  we  have 
been  able  to  discover  with  regard  to  the  previous  history  of  the  subjects 
mentioned.  We  have  confined  the  historical  notes  to  the  time  prior  to 
Agricola,  because  to  have  carried  them  down  to  date  in  the  briefest  manner 
would  have  demanded  very  much  more  space  than  could  be  allowed.  In  the 
examination  of  such  technical  and  historical  material  one  is  appalled  at  the 
flood  of  mis-information  with  regard  to  ancient  arts  and  sciences  which  has 
been  let  loose  upon  the  world  by  the  hands  of  non-technical  translators  and 
commentators.  At  an  early  stage  we  considered  that  we  must  justify  any 
divergence  of  view  from  such  authorities,  but  to  limit  the  already  alarming 
volume  of  this  work,  we  later  felt  compelled  to  eliminate  most  of  such  dis- 
cussion. When  the  half-dozen  most  important  of  the  ancient  works  bearing 
upon  science  have  been  translated  by  those  of  some  scientific  experience, 
such  questions  will,  no  doubt,  be  properly  settled. 

We  need  make  no  apologies  for  De  Re  Metallica.  During  180  years 
it  was  not  superseded  as  the  text-book  and  guide  to  miners  and  metallurgists, 
for  until  Schliiter's  great  work  on  metallurgy  in  1738  it  had  no  equal.  That 
it  passed  through  some  ten  editions  in  three  languages  at  a  period  when  the 
printing  of  such  a  volume  was  no  ordinary  undertaking,  is  in  itself  sufficient 
evidence  of  the  importance  in  which  it  was  held,  and  is  a  record  that  no  other 
volume  upon  the  same  subjects  has  equalled  since.  A  large  proportion  of  the 
technical  data  given  by  Agricola  was  either  entirely  new,  or  had  not  been 
given  previously  with  sufficient  detail  and  explanation  to  have  enabled  a 
worker  in  these  arts  himself  to  perform  the  operations  without  further  guid- 
ance. Practically  the  whole  of  it  must  have  been  given  from  personal  ex- 
perience and  observation,  for  the  scant  library  at  his  service  can  be  appreci- 
ated from  his  own  Preface.  Considering  the  part  which  the  metallic  arts 
have  played  in  human  history,  the  paucity  of  their  literature  down  to 
Agricola's  time  is  amazing.  No  doubt  the  arts  were  jealously  guarded  by 
their  practitioners  as  a  sort  of  stock-in-trade,  and  it  is  also  probable  that 
those  who  had  knowledge  were  not  usually  of  a  literary  turn  of  mind  ;  and, 


TRANSLATORS'    PREFACE.  iii. 

on  the  other  hand,  the  small  army  of  writers  prior  to  his  time  were  not  much 
interested  in  the  description  of  industrial  pursuits.  Moreover,  in  those 
thousands  of  years  prior  to  printing,  the  tedious  and  expensive  transcription  of 
manuscripts  by  hand  was  mostly  applied  to  matters  of  more  general  interest, 
and  therefore  many  writings  may  have  been  lost  in  consequence.  In  fact, 
such  was  the  fate  of  the  works  of  Theophrastus  and  Strato  on  these  subjects. 

We  have  prepared  a  short  sketch  of  Agricola's  life  and  times,  not  only 
to  give  some  indication  of  his  learning  and  character,  but  also  of  his 
considerable  position  in  the  community  in  which  he  li ved.  As  no  appreciation 
of  Agricola's  stature  among  the  founders  of  science  can  be  gained  without 
consideration  of  the  advance  which  his  works  display  over  those  of  his 
predecessors,  we  therefore  devote  some  attention  to  the  state  of  knowledge 
of  these  subjects  at  the  time  by  giving  in  the  Appendix  a  short  review  of  the 
literature  then  extant  and  a  summary  of  Agricola's  other  writings.  To  serve  the 
bibliophile  we  present  such  data  as  we  have  been  able  to  collect  it  with  regard 
to  the  various  editions  of  his  works.  The  full  titles  of  the  works  quoted  in 
the  footnotes  under  simply  authors'  names  will  be  found  in  this  Appendix. 

We  feel  that  it  is  scarcely  doing  Agricola  justice  to  publish  De  Re 
Metallica  only.  While  it  is  of  the  most  general  interest  of  all  of  his  works, 
yet,  from  the  point  of  view  of  pure  science,  De  Natura  Fossilium  and  De 
Ortu  et  Causis  are  works  which  deserve  an  equally  important  place.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  Agricola's  own  countrymen  have  not  given  to  the  world 
competent  translations  into  German,  as  his  work  has  too  often  been  judged 
by  the  German  translations,  the  infidelity  of  which  appears  in  nearly  every 
paragraph. 

We  do  not  present  De  Re  Metallica  as  a  work  of  "  practical "  value. 
The  methods  and  processes  have  long  since  been  superseded  ;  yet  surely  such 
a  milestone  on  the  road  of  development  of  one  of  the  two  most  basic  of  human 
industrial  activities  is  more  worthy  of  preservation  than  the  thousands  of 
volumes  devoted  to  records  of  human  destruction.  To  those  interested  in 
the  history  of  their  own  profession  we  need  make  no  apologies,  except 
for  the  long  delay  in  publication.  For  this  we  put  forward  the  necessity  of 
active  endeavour  in  many  directions  ;  as  this  book  could  be  but  a  labour  of 
love,  it  has  had  to  find  the  moments  for  its  execution  in  night  hours,  week- 
ends, and  holidays,  in  all  extending  over  a  period  of  about  five  years.  If  the 
work  serves  to  strengthen  the  traditions  of  one  of  the  most  important  and 
least  recognized  of  the  world's  professions  we  shall  be  amply  repaid. 

It  is  our  pleasure  to  acknowledge  our  obligations  to  Professor  H.  R. 
Fairclough,  of  Stanford  University,  for  perusal  of  and  suggestions  upon  the  first 
chapter ;  and  to  those  whom  we  have  engaged  from  time  to  time  for  one  service 
or  another,  chiefly  bibliographical  work  and  collateral  translation.-  We  are 
also  sensibly  obligated  to  the  printers,  Messrs.  Frost  &  Sons,  for  their  patience 
and  interest,  and  for  their  willingness  to  bend  some  of  the  canons  of  modern 
printing,  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  i6th  Century. 

THE  RED  HOUSE,  July  i,  1912. 

HORNTON  STREET,  LONDON. 


INTRODUCTION. 


BIOGRAPHY. 


EORGIUS  AGRICOLA  was  born  at  Glauchau,  in 
Saxony,  on  March  24th,  1494,  and  therefore  entered 
the  world  when  it  was  still  upon  the  threshold  of  the 
Renaissance  ;  Gutenberg's  first  book  had  been  print- 
ed but  forty  years  before  ;  the  Humanists  had  but 
begun  that  stimulating  criticism  which  awoke  the 
Reformation ;  Erasmus,  of  Rotterdam,  who  was  sub- 
sequently to  become  Agricola's  friend  and  patron, 
was  just  completing  his  student  days.  The  Refor- 
mation itself  was  yet  to  come,  but  it  was  not  long  delayed,  for  Luther 
was  bom  the  year  before  Agricola,  and  through  him  Agricola's  home- 
land became  the  cradle  of  the  great  movement ;  nor  did  Agricola  escape  being 
drawn  into  the  conflict.  Italy,  already  awake  with  the  new  classical  revival,  was 
still  a  busy  workshop  of  antiquarian  research,  translation,  study,  and 
publication,  and  through  her  the  Greek  and  Latin  Classics  were  only 
now  available  for  wide  distribution.  Students  from  the  rest  of  Europe, 
among  them  at  a  later  time  Agricola  himself,  flocked  to  the  Italian 
Universities,  and  on  their  return  infected  their  native  cities  with  the  newly- 
awakened  learning.  At  Agricola's  birth  Columbus  had  just  returned  from  his 
great  discovery,  and  it  was  only  three  years  later  that  Vasco  Da  Gama  rounded 
Cape  Good  Hope.  Thus  these  two  foremost  explorers  had  only  initiated 
that  greatest  period  of  geographical  expansion  in  the  world's  history.  A  few 
dates  will  recall  how  far  this  exploration  extended  during  Agricola's  lifetime. 
Balboa  first  saw  the  Pacific  in  1513  ;  Cortes  entered  the  City  of  Mexico  in 
1520  ;  Magellan  entered  the  Pacific  in  the  same  year ;  Pizarro  penetrated 
into  Peru  in  1528  ;  De  Soto  landed  in  Florida  in  1539,  and  Potosi  was  dis- 
covered in  1546.  Omitting  the  sporadic  settlement  on  the  St.  Lawrence  by 
Cartier  in  1541,  the  settlement  of  North  America  did  not  begin  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  after  Agricola's  death.  Thus  the  revival  of  learning,  with  its 
train  of  Humanism,  the  Reformation,  its  stimulation  of  exploration  and  the 
re-awakening  of  the  arts  and  sciences,  was  still  in  its  infancy  with  Agricola. 

We  know  practically  nothing  of  Agricola's  antecedents  or  his  youth.  His 
real  name  was  Georg  Bauer  ("  peasant  "),  and  it  was  probably  Latinized  by 
his  teachers,  as  was  the  custom  of  the  time.  His  own  brother,  in  receipts 

1For  the  biographical  information  here  set  out  we  have  relied  principally  upon  the 
following  works  : — Petrus  Albinus,  Meissnische  Land  Und  Berg  Chronica,  Dresden,  1590  ; 
Adam  Daniel  Richter,  Umstdndliche.  .  .  .  Chronica  der  Stadt  Chemnitz,  Leipzig,  1754  ; 
Johann  Gottfried  Weller,  Altes  Aus  Allen  Theilen  Der  Geschichte,  Chemnitz,  1766; 
Freidrich  August  Schmid,  Georg  Agrikola's  Bermannus,  Freiberg,  1806 ;  Georg  Heinrich 
Jacobi,  Der  Miner alog  Georgius  Agricola,  Zwickau,  1881  ;  Dr.  Reinhold  Hofmann,  Dr.  Georg 
Agricola,  Gotha,  1905.  The  last  is  an  exhaustive  biographical  sketch,  to  which  we  refer 
those  who  are  interested. 


vi.  INTRODUCTION. 

preserved  in  the  archives  of  the  Zwickau  Town  Council,  calls  himself  "Bauer," 
and  in  them  refers  to  his  brother  "  Agricola."  He  entered  the  University  of 
Leipsic  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  after  about  three  and  one-half  years' attendance 
there  gained  the  degree  of  Baccalaureus  Artium.  In  1518  he  became  Vice- 
Principal  of  the  Municipal  School  at  Zwickau,  where  he  taught  Greek  and  Latin. 
In  1520  he  became  Principal,  and  among  his  assistants  was  Johannes  Forster, 
better  known  as  Luther's  collaborator  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible.  During 
this  time  our  author  prepared  and  published  a  small  Latin  Grammar2.  In 
1522  he  removed  to  Leipsic  to  become  a  lecturer  in  the  University  under  his 
friend,  Petrus  Mosellanus,  at  whose  death  in  1524  he  went  to  Italy  for  the 
further  study  of  Philosophy,  Medicine,  and  the  Natural  Sciences.  Here  he 
remained  for  nearly  three  years,  from  1524  to  1526.  He  visited  the  Universities 
of  Bologna,  Venice,  and  probably  Padua,  and  at  these  institutions  received 
his  first  inspiration  to  work  in  the  sciences,  for  in  a  letter3  from  Leonardus 
Casibrotius  to  Erasmus  we  learn  that  he  was  engaged  upon  a  revision  of  Galen. 
It  was  about  this  time  that  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Erasmus,  who  had 
settled  at  Basel  as  Editor  for  Froben's  press. 

In  1526  Agricola  returned  to  Zwickau,  and  in  1527  he  was  chosen  town 
physician  at  Joachimsthal.  This  little  city  in  Bohemia  is  located  on  the 
eastern  slope  of  the  Erzgebirge,  in  the  midst  of  the  then  most  prolific  metal- 
mining  district  of  Central  Europe.  Thence  to  Freiberg  is  but  fifty  miles, 
and  the  same  radius  from  that  city  would  include  most  of  the  mining  towns 
so  frequently  mentioned  in  De  Re  Metallica — Schneeberg,  Geyer,  Annaberg 
and  Altenberg — and  not  far  away  were  Marienberg,  Gottesgab,  and  Flatten. 
Joachimsthal  was  a  booming  mining  camp,  founded  but  eleven  years  before 
Agricola's  arrival,  and  already  having  several  thousand  inhabitants.  Accord- 
ing to  Agricola's  own  statement4,  he  spent  all  the  time  not  required  for  his 
medical  duties  in  visiting  the  mines  and  smelters,  in  reading  up  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  authors  all  references  to  mining,  and  in  association  with  the  most  learned 
among  the  mining  folk.  Among  these  was  one  Lorenz  Berman,  whom  Agricola 
afterward  set  up  as  the  "  learned  miner  "  in  his  dialogue  Bermannus.  This 
book  was  first  published  by  Froben  at  Basel  in  1530,  and  was  a  sort  of 
catechism  on  mineralogy,  mining  terms,  and  mining  lore.  The  book  was 
apparently  first  submitted  to  the  great  Erasmus,  and  the  publication  arranged 
by  him,  a  warm  letter  of  approval  by  him  appearing  at  the  beginning  of  the 
book5.  In  1533  he  published  De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus,  through  Froben, 
this  being  a  discussion  of  Roman  and  Greek  weights  and  measures.  At 
about  this  time  he  began  De  Re  Metallica  —  not  to  be  published  for 
twenty-five  years. 


*Georgii  Agricolae  Glaucii  Libellus  de  Prima  ac  Simplici  Institutions  Grammatica, 
printed  by  Melchior  Lotther,  Leipzig,  1520  Petrus  Mosellanus  refers  to  this  work  (without 
giving  title)  in  a  letter  to  Agricola,  June,  1520. 

3Briefe  an  Desiderius  Erasmus  von  Rotterdam.  Published  by  Joseph  Forstemann 
and  Otto  Giinther.  xxvn.  Beiheft  zum  Zentralblatt  fur  BiUiothekswesen,  Leipzig,  1904. 

P-  44- 

*De  Veleribus  et  Novis  Metallis.     Preface. 

8  A  summary  of  this  and  of  Agricola's  other  works  is  given  in  the  Appendix  A. 


INTRODUCTION.  vii. 

Agricola  did  not  confine  his  interest  entirely  to  medicine  and  mining, 
for  during  this  period  he  composed  a  pamphlet  upon  the  Turks,  urging  their 
extermination  by  the  European  powers.  This  work  was  no  doubt  inspired  by 
the  Turkish  siege  of  Vienna  in  1529.  It  appeared  first  in  German  in  1531, 
and  in  Latin — in  which  it  was  originally  written — in  1538,  and  passed  through 
many  subsequent  editions. 

At  this  time,  too,  he  became  interested  in  the  God's  Gift  mine  at 
Albertham,  which  was  discovered  in  1530.  Writing  in  1545,  he  says6  : 
"  We,  as  a  shareholder,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  have  enjoyed  the 
"  proceeds  of  this  God's  Gift  since  the  very  time  when  the  mine  began  first 
"  to  bestow  such  riches." 

Agricola  seems  to  have  resigned  his  position  at  Joachimsthal  in  about 
1530,  and  to  have  devoted  the  next  two  or  three  years  to  travel  and  study 
among  the  mines.  About  1533  he  became  city  physician  of  Chemnitz,  in 
Saxony,  and  here  he  resided  until  his  death  in  1555.  There  is  but  little 
record  of  his  activities  during  the  first  eight  or  nine  years  of  his  residence  in 
this  city.  He  must  have  been  engaged  upon  the  study  of  his  subjects  and 
the  preparation  of  his  books,  for  they  came  on  with  great  rapidity  soon  after. 
He  was  frequently  consulted  on  matters  of  mining  engineering,  as,  for  instance, 
we  learn,  from  a  letter  written  by  a  certain  Johannes  Hordeborch7,  that 
Duke  Henry  of  Brunswick  applied  to  him  with  regard  to  the  method  for 
working  mines  in  the  Upper  Harz. 

In  1543  he  married  Anna,  widow  of  Matthias  Meyner,  a  petty  tithe 
official ;  there  is  some  reason  to  believe  from  a  letter  published  by  Schmid,8 
that  Anna  was  his  second  wife,  and  that  he  was  married  the  first  time  at 
Joachimsthal.  He  seems  to  have  had  several  children,  for  he  commends  his 
young  children  to  the  care  of  the  Town  Council  during  his  absence  at  the 
war  in  1547.  In  addition  to  these,  we  know  that  a  son,  Theodor,  was  born 
in  1550  ;  a  daughter,  Anna,  in  1552  ;  another  daughter,  Irene,  was  buried  at 
Chemnitz  in  1555  ;  and  in  1580  his  widow  and  three  children — Anna, 
Valerius,  and  Lucretia — were  still  living. 

In  1544  began  the  publication  of  the  series  of  books  to  which  Agricola 
owes  his  position.  The  first  volume  comprised  five  works  and  was  finally 
issued  in  1546  ;  it  was  subsequently  considerably  revised,  and  re-issued  in  1558. 
These  works  were  :  De  Ortu  et  Causis  Subterraneorum,  in  five  "  books,"  the 
first  work  on  physical  geology  ;  De  Natura  Eorum  quae  Effluunt  ex  Terra,  in 
four  "  books,"  on  subterranean  waters  and  gases  ;  De  Natura  Fossilium,  in 
ten  "  books,"  the  first  systematic  mineralogy  ;  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis, 
in  two  "  books,"  devoted  largely  to  the  history  of  metals  and  topographical 
mineralogy  ;  a  new  edition  of  Bermannus  was  included  ;  and  finally  Rerum 
Metallicarum  Interpretatio,  a  glossary  of  Latin  and  German  mineralogical 
and  metallurgical  terms.  Another  work,  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis, 
usually  published  with  De  Re  Metallica,  is  dated  1548  in  the  preface.  It 

*De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis,  Book  I. 

'Printed  in  F.  A  Schmid's  Georg  Agrikola's  Bermannus,  p   14,  Freiberg,  1806. 

"Op.  Cit.,  p.  8. 


viii.  INTRODUCTION. 

is  devoted  to  animals  which  live  underground,  at  least  part  of  the  time,  but 
is  not  a  very  effective  basis  of  either  geologic  or  zoologic  classi- 
fication. Despite  many  public  activities,  Agricola  apparently  completed 
De  Re  MetalUca  in  1550,  but  did  not  send  it  to  the  press  until  1553  ;  nor 
did  it  appear  until  a  year  after  his  death  in  1555.  But  we  give  further  details 
on  the  preparation  of  this  work  on  p.  xv.  During  this  period  he  found  time 
to  prepare  a  small  medical  work,  De  Peste,  and  certain  historical  studies, 
details  of  which  appear  in  the  Appendix.  There  are  other  works  by  Agricola  re- 
ferred to  by  sixteenth  century  writers,  but  so  far  we  have  not  been  able  to  find 
them  although  they  may  exist.  Such  data  as  we  have,  is  given  in  the  appendix. 

As  a  young  man,  Agricola  seems  to  have  had  some  tendencies  toward 
liberalism  in  religious  matters,  for  while  at  Zwickau  he  composed  some  anti- 
Popish  Epigrams  ;  but  after  his  return  to  Leipsic  he  apparently  never  wavered, 
and  steadily  refused  to  accept  the  Lutheran  Reformation.  To  many  even 
liberal  scholars  of  the  day,  Luther's  doctrines  appeared  wild  and  demagogic. 
Luther  was  not  a  scholarly  man  ;  his  addresses  were  to  the  masses  ;  his  Latin 
was  execrable.  Nor  did  the  bitter  dissensions  over  hair-splitting  theology  in 
the  Lutheran  Church  after  Luther's  death  tend  to  increase  respect  for  the 
movement  among  the  learned.  Agricola  was  a  scholar  of  wide  attainments, 
a  deep-thinking,  religious  man,  and  he  remained  to  the  end  a  staunch  Catholic, 
despite  the  general  change  of  sentiment  among  his  countrymen.  His  leanings 
were  toward  such  men  as  his  friend  the  humanist,  Erasmus.  That  he  had 
the  courage  of  his  convictions  is  shown  in  the  dedication  of  De  Natura  Eorum, 
where  he  addresses  to  his  friend,  Duke  Maurice,  the  pious  advice  that  the 
dissensions  of  the  Germans  should  be  composed,  and  that  the  Duke  should  return 
to  the  bosom  of  the  Church  those  who  had  been  torn  from  her,  and  adds  :  "  Yet 
"  I  do  not  wish  to  become  confused  by  these  turbulent  waters,  and  be  led  to 
"  offend  anyone.  It  is  more  advisable  to  check  my  utterances."  As  he 
became  older  he  may  have  become  less  tolerant  in  religious  matters,  for  he 
did  not  seem  to  show  as  much  patience  in  the  discussion  of  ecclesiastical  topics 
as  he  must  have  possessed  earlier,  yet  he  maintained  to  the  end  the  respect 
and  friendship  of  such  great  Protestants  as  Melanchthon,  Camerarius,  Fabricius, 
and  many  others. 

In  1546,  when  he  was  at  the  age  of  52,  began  Agricola's  activity  in 
public  life,  for  in  that  year  he  was  elected  a  Burgher  of  Chemnitz ;  and  in  the 
same  year  Duke  Maurice  appointed  him  Burgomaster — an  office  which 
he  held  for  four  terms.  Before  one  can  gain  an  insight  into  his  political 
services,  and  incidentally  into  the  character  of  the  man,  it  is  necessary  to 
understand  the  politics  of  the  time  and  his  part  therein,  and  to  bear  in  mind 
always  that  he  was  a  staunch  Catholic  under  a  Protestant  Sovereign  in  a 
State  seething  with  militant  Protestantism. 

Saxony  had  been  divided  in  1485  between  the  Princes  Ernest  and  Albert, 
the  former  taking  the  Electoral  dignity  and  the  major  portion  of  the  Princi- 
pality. Albert  the  Brave,  the  younger  brother  and  Duke  of  Saxony,  obtained 
the  subordinate,  portion,  embracing  Meissen,  but  subject  to  the  Elector. 
The  Elector  Ernest  was  succeeded  in  1486  by  Frederick  the  Wise,  and  under 


INTRODUCTION.  ix. 

his  support  Luther  made  Saxony  the  cradle  of  the  Reformation.  This 
Elector  was  succeeded  in  1525  by  his  brother  John,  who  was  in  turn  succeeded 
by  his  son  John  Frederick  in  1532.  Of  more  immediate  interest  to  this  subject 
is  the  Albertian  line  of  Saxon  Dukes  who  ruled  Meissen,  for  in  that  Princi- 
pality Agricola  was  born  and  lived,  and  his  political  fortunes  were  associated 
with  this  branch  of  the  Saxon  House.  Albert  was  succeeded  in  1505  by  his 
son  George,  "  The  Bearded,"  and  he  in  turn  by  his  brother  Henry,  the  last 
of  the  Catholics,  in  1539,  who  ruled  until  1541.  Henry  was  succeeded  in  1541 
by  his  Protestant  son  Maurice,  who  was  the  Patron  of  Agricola. 

At  about  this  time  Saxony  was  drawn  into  the  storms  which  rose  from 
the  long-standing  rivalry  between  Francis  I.,  King  of  France,  and  Charles  V. 
of  Spain.  These  two  potentates  came  to  the  throne  in  the  same  year  (1515), 
and  both  were  candidates  for  Emperor  of  that  loose  Confederation  known 
as  the  Holy  Roman  Empire.  Charles  was  elected,  and  intermittent  wars 
between  these  two  Princes  arose — first  in  one  part  of  Europe,  and  then  in 
another.  Francis  finally  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Schmalkalden  League 
of  German  Protestant  Princes,  and  with  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  against  Charles. 
In  1546  Maurice  of  Meissen,  although  a  Protestant,  saw  his  best  interest  in 
a  secret  league  with  Charles  against  the  other  Protestant  Princes,  and  pro- 
ceeded (the  Schmalkalden  War)  to  invade  the  domains  of  his  superior  and 
cousin,  the  Elector  Frederick.  The  Emperor  Charles  proved  successful  in 
this  war,  and  Maurice  was  rewarded,  at  the  Capitulation  of  Wittenberg  in  1547, 
by  being  made  Elector  of  Saxony  in  the  place  of  his  cousin.  Later  on,  the 
Elector  Maurice  found  the  association  with  Catholic  Charles  unpalatable,  and 
joined  in  leading  the  other  Protestant  princes  in  war  upon  him,  and  on  the 
defeat  of  the  Catholic  party  and  the  peace  of  Passau,  Maurice  became 
acknowledged  as  the  champion  of  German  national  and  religious  freedom. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Augustus  in  1553. 

Agricola  was  much  favoured  by  the  Saxon  Electors,  Maurice  and 
Augustus.  He  dedicates  most  of  his  works  to  them,  and  shows  much  gratitude 
for  many  favours  conferred  upon  him.  Duke  Maurice  presented  to  him  a 
house  and  plot  in  Chemnitz,  and  in  a  letter  dated  June  I4th,  1543, 9  in  con- 
nection therewith,  says  :  "  ....  that  he  may  enjoy  his  life-long  a 
"  freehold  house  unburdened  by  all  burgher  rights  and  other  municipal  ser- 
"  vice,  to  be  used  by  him  and  inhabited  as  a  free  dwelling,  and  that  he  may 
"  also,  for  the  necessities  of  his  household  and  of  his  wife  and  servants,  brew 
"  his  own  beer  free,  and  that  he  may  likewise  purvey  for  himself  and  his 
"  household  foreign  beer  and  also  wine  for  use,  and  yet  he  shall  not  sell  any 
"  such  beer.  .  .  .  We  have  taken  the  said  Doctor  under  our  especial 
"  protection  and  care  for  our  life-long,  and  he  shall  not  be  summoned  before 
"  any  Court  of  Justice,  but  only  before  us  and  our  Councillor.  .  .  ." 

Agricola  was  made  Burgomaster  of  Chemnitz  in  1546.  A  letter10  from 
Fabricius  to  Meurer,  dated  May  igth,  1546,  says  that  Agricola  had  been 

'Archive  38,  Chemnitz  Municipal  Archives. 

10Baumgarten-Crusius.     Georgii   Fabricii   Chemnicensis   Epistolae   ad   W.    Meurerum 
et  Alias  Aequales,  Leipzig,  1845,  p.  26. 


x.  INTRODUCTION. 

made  Burgomaster  by  the  command  of  the  Prince.  This  would  be  Maurice, 
and  it  is  all  the  more  a  tribute  to  the  high  respect  with  which  Agricola  was 
held,  for,  as  said  before,  he  was  a  consistent  Catholic,  and  Maurice  a  Protestant 
Prince.  In  this  same  year  the  Schmalkalden  War  broke  out,  and  Agricola 
was  called  to  personal  attendance  upon  the  Duke  Maurice  in  a  diplomatic 
and  advisory  capacity.  In  1546  also  he  was  a  member  of  the  Diet  of  Freiberg, 
and  was  summoned  to  Council  in  Dresden.  The  next  year  he  continued,  by 
the  Duke's  command,  Burgomaster  at  Chemnitz,  although  he  seems  to  have 
been  away  upon  Ducal  matters  most  of  the  time.  The  Duke  addresses11 
the  Chemnitz  Council  in  March,  1547  :  "  We  hereby  make  known  to  you 
"  that  we  are  in  urgent  need  of  your  Burgomaster,  Dr.  Georgius  Agricola, 
"  with  us.  It  is,  therefore,  our  will  that  you  should  yield  him  up  and  forward 
"  him  that  he  should  with  the  utmost  haste  set  forth  to  us  here  near  Freiberg." 
He  was  sent  on  various  missions  from  the  Duke  to  the  Emperor  Charles,  to 
King  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  and  to  other  Princes  in  matters  connected  with  the 
war — the  fact  that  he  was  a  Catholic  probably  entering  into  his  appointment 
to  such  missions.  Chemnitz  was  occupied  by  the  troops  of  first  one  side,  then 
the  other,  despite  the  great  efforts  of  Agricola  to  have  his  own  town  specially 
defended.  In  April,  1547,  the  war  came  to  an  end  in  the  Battle  of  Miihlberg, 
but  Agricola  was  apparently  not  relieved  of  his  Burgomastership  until  the 
succeeding  year,  for  he  wrote  his  friend  Wolfgang  Meurer,  in  April,  1548, 12 
that  he  "  was  now  relieved."  His  public  duties  did  not  end,  however,  for  he 
attended  the  Diet  of  Leipzig  in  1547  and  in  1549,  and  was  at  the  Diet 
at  Torgau  in  1550.  In  1551  he  was  again  installed  as  Burgomaster  ;  and  in 
1553,  for  the  fourth  time,  he  became  head  of  the  Municipality,  and  during 
this  year  had  again  to  attend  the  Diets  at  Leipzig  and  Dresden,  representing 
his  city.  He  apparently  now  had  a  short  relief  from  public  duties,  for  it  is 
not  until  1555,  shortly  before  his  death,  that  we  find  him  again  attending  a 
Diet  at  Torgau. 

Agricola  died  on  November  2ist,  1555.  A  letter13  from  his  life-long  friend, 
Fabricius,  to  Melanchthon,  announcing  this  event,  states  :  "  We  lost,  on 
"  November  2ist,  that  distinguished  ornament  of  our  Fatherland,  Georgius 
"  Agricola,  a  man  of  eminent  intellect,  of  culture  and  of  judgment.  He 
"  attained  the  age  of  62.  He  who  since  the  days  of  childhood  had  enjoyed 
"  robust  health  was  carried  off  by  a  four-days'  fever.  He  had  previously 
"  suffered  from  no  disease  except  inflammation  of  the  eyes,  which  he  brought 
"  upon  himself  by  untiring  study  and  insatiable  reading.  .  .  I  know  that 
"  you  loved  the  soul  of  this  man,  although  in  many  of  his  opinions,  more 
"  especially  in  religious  and  spiritual  welfare,  he  differed  in  many  points  from 
"  our  own.  For  he  despised  our  Churches,  and  would  not  be  with  us  in  the 
"  Communion  of  the  Blood  of  Christ.  Therefore,  after  his  death,  at  the 
"  command  of  the  Prince,  which  was  given  to  the  Church  inspectors  and 
"  carried  out  by  Tettelbach  as  a  loyal  servant,  burial  was  refused  him,  and  not 

uHofmann,  Op.  cit.,  p.  99. 

"Weber,  Virorum  Clarorum  Saeculi  xvi.  et  xvn.  Epistolae  Selectae,  Leipzig,  1894,  p.  8. 

"Baumgarten-Crusius.     Op.  cit.,  p.  139. 


INTRODUCTION.  xi. 

"  until  the  fourth  day  was  he  borne  away  to  Zeitz  and  interred  in  the  Cathedral. 
"  ....  I  have  always  admired  the  genius  of  this  man,  so  distinguished 
"  in  our  sciences  and  in  the  whole  realm  of  Philosophy — yet  I  wonder  at  his 
"  religious  views,  which  were  compatible  with  reason,  it  is  true,  and  were 
"  dazzling,  but  were  by  no  means  compatible  with  truth.  .  .  .  He 
"  would  not  tolerate  with  patience  that  anyone  should  discuss  ecclesiastical 
"  matters  with  him."  This  action  of  the  authorities  in  denying  burial  to  one 
of  their  most  honored  citizens,  who  had  been  ever  assiduous  in  furthering 
the  welfare  of  the  community,  seems  strangely  out  of  joint.  Further,  the 
Elector  Augustus,  although  a  Protestant  Prince,  was  Agricola's  warm  friend, 
as  evidenced  by  his  letter  of  but  a  few  months  before  (see  p.  xv).  However, 
Catholics  were  then  few  in  number  at  Chemnitz,  and  the  feeling  ran  high  at  the 
time,  so  possibly  the  Prince  was  afraid  of  public  disturbances.  Hofmann14 
explains  this  occurrence  in  the  following  words  : — "  The  feelings  of  Chemnitz 
"  citizens,  who  were  almost  exclusively  Protestant,  must  certainly  be  taken 
"  into  account.  They  may  have  raised  objections  to  the  solemn  interment  of 
"  a  Catholic  in  the  Protestant  Cathedral  Church  of  St.  Jacob,  which  had, 
"  perhaps,  been  demanded  by  his  relatives,  and  to  which,  according  to  the 
"  custom  of  the  time,  he  would  have  been  entitled  as  Burgomaster.  The 
"  refusal  to  sanction  the  interment  aroused,  more  especially  in  the  Catholic 
"  world,  a  painful  sensation." 

A  brass  memorial  plate  hung  in  the  Cathedral  at  Zeitz  had  already 
disappeared  in  1686,  nor  have  the  cities  of  his  birth  or  residence  ever  shown 
any  appreciation  of  this  man,  whose  work  more  deserves  their  gratitude 
than  does  that  of  the  multitude  of  soldiers  whose  monuments  decorate  every 
village  and  city  square.  It  is  true  that  in  1822  a  marble  tablet  was 
placed  behind  the  altar  in  the  Church  of  St.  Jacob  in  Chemnitz,  but  even 
this  was  removed  to  the  Historical  Museum  later  on. 

He  left  a  modest  estate,  which  was  the  subject  of  considerable  litigation  by 
his  descendants,  due  to  the  mismanagement  of  the  guardian.  Hofmann  has 
succeeded  in  tracing  the  descendants  for  two  generations,  down  to  1609,  but 
the  line  is  finally  lost  among  the  multitude  of  other  Agricolas. 

To  deduce  Georgius  Agricola's  character  we  need  not  search  beyond  the 
discovery  of  his  steadfast  adherence  to  the  religion  of  his  fathers  amid  the 
bitter  storm  of  Protestantism  around  him,  and  need  but  to  remember  at  the 
same  time  that  for  twenty-five  years  he  was  entrusted  with  elective  positions 
of  an  increasingly  important  character  in  this  same  community.  No  man 
could  have  thus  held  the  respect  of  his  countrymen  unless  he  were  devoid  of 
bigotry  and  possessed  of  the  highest  sense  of  integrity,  justice,  humanity, 
and  patriotism. 

"Hofmann,  Op.  cit.,  p.  123. 


XU 

'AGRICOLA'S    INTELLECTUAL    ATTAINMENTS    AND 
POSITION    IN    SCIENCE. 

Agricola's  education  was  the  most  thorough  that  his  times  afforded  in 
the  classics,  philosophy,  medicine,  and  sciences  generally.  Further,  his  writings 
disclose  a  most  exhaustive  knowledge  not  only  of  an  extraordinary  range  of 
classical  literature,  but  also  of  obscure  manuscripts  buried  in  the  public  libraries 
of  Europe.  That  his  general  learning  was  held  to  be  of  a  high  order  is  amply 
evidenced  from  the  correspondence  of  the  other  scholars  of  his  time — Erasmus, 
Melanchthon,  Meurer,  Fabricius,  and  others. 

Our  more  immediate  concern,  however,  is  with  the  advances  which  were  due 
to  him  in  the  sciences  of  Geology,  Mineralogy,  and  Mining  Engineering.  No 
appreciation  of  these  attainments  can  be  conveyed  to  the  reader  unless  he 
has  some  understanding  of  the  dearth  of  knowledge  in  these  sciences  prior 
to  Agricola's  time.  We  have  in  Appendix  B  given  a  brief  review  of  the 
literature  extant  at  this  period  on  these  subjects.  Furthermore,  no  appreciation 
of  Agricola's  contribution  to  science  can  be  gained  without  a  study  of  De 
Ortu  et  Causis  and  De  Natura  FossiUum,  for  while  De  Re  Metallica  is  of  much 
more  general  interest,  it  contains  but  incidental  reference  to  Geology  and 
Mineralogy.  Apart  from  the  book  of  Genesis,  the  only  attempts  at  funda- 
mental explanation  of  natural  phenomena  were  those  of  the  Greek  Philosophers 
and  the  Alchemists.  Orthodox  beliefs  Agricola  scarcely  mentions  ;  with  the 
Alchemists  he  had  no  patience.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  his 
views  are  greatly  coloured  by  his  deep  classical  learning.  He  was  in  fine  to  a 
certain  distance  a  follower  of  Aristotle,  Theophrastus,  Strato,  and  other  leaders 
of  the  Peripatetic  school.  For  that  matter,  except  for  the  muddy  current 
which  the  alchemists  had  introduced  into  this  already  troubled  stream, 
the  whole  thought  of  the  learned  world  still  flowed  from  the  Greeks.  Had  he 
not,  however,  radically  departed  from  the  teachings  of  the  Peripatetic  school, 
his  work  would  have  been  no  contribution  to  the  development  of  science. 
Certain  of  their  teachings  he  repudiated  with  great  vigour,  and  his 
laboured  and  detailed  arguments  in  their  refutation  form  the  first  battle  in 
science  over  the  results  of  observation  versus  inductive  speculation.  To  use 
his  own  words  :  "  Those  things  which  we  see  with  our  eyes  and  understand 
"  by  means  of  our  senses  are  more  clearly  to  be  demonstrated  than  if  learned 
"  by  means  of  reasoning."16  The  bigoted  scholasticism  of  his  times  necessi- 
tated as  much  care  and  detail  in  refutation  of  such  deep-rooted  beliefs,  as  would 
be  demanded  to-day  by  an  attempt  at  a  refutation  of  the  theory  of  evolution, 
and  in  consequence  his  works  are  often  but  dry  reading  to  any  but  those 
interested  in  the  development  of  fundamental  scientific  theory. 

In  giving  an  appreciation  of  Agricola's  views  here  and  throughout  the 
footnotes,  we  do  not  wish  to  convey  to  the  reader  that  he  was  in  all  things 
free  from  error  and  from  the  spirit  of  his  times,  or  that  his  theories,  constructed 
long  before  the  atomic  theory,  are  of  the  clear-cut  order  which  that 
basic  hypothesis  has  rendered  possible  to  later  scientific  speculation  in  these 
branches.  His  statements  are  sometimes  much  confused,  but  we  reiterate  that 

l*De  Ortu  et  Causis,  Book  III. 


INTRODUCTION.  xiii. 

their  clarity  is  as  crystal  to  mud  in  comparison  with  those  of  his  predecessors— 
and  of  most  of  his  successors  for  over  two  hundred  years.  As  an  indication  of 
his  grasp  of  some  of  the  wider  aspects  of  geological  phenomena  we  reproduce, 
in  Appendix  A,  a  passage  from  De  Ortu  et  Causis,  which  we  believe  to  be  the 
first  adequate  declaration  of  the  part  played  by  erosion  in  mountain  sculpture. 
But  of  all  of  Agricola's  theoretical  views  those  are  of  the  greatest  interest  which 
relate  to  the  origin  of  ore  deposits,  for  in  these  matters  he  had  the  greatest 
opportunities  of  observation  and  the  most  experience.  We  have  on  page  108 
reproduced  and  discussed  his  theory  at  considerable  length,  but  we  may  repeat 
here,  that  in  his  propositions  as  to  the  circulation  of  ground  waters,  that  ore 
channels  are  a  subsequent  creation  to  the  contained  rocks,  and  that  they 
were  filled  by  deposition  from  circulating  solutions,  he  enunciated  the  founda- 
tions of  our  modern  theory,  and  in  so  doing  took  a  step  in  advance  greater  than 
that  of  any  single  subsequent  authority.  In  his  contention  that  ore  channels 
were  created  by  erosion  of  subterranean  waters  he  was  wrong,  except  for 
special  cases,  and  it  was  not  until  two  centuries  later  that  a  further  step  in 
advance  was  taken  by  the  recognition  by  Van  Oppel  of  the  part  played  by 
fissuring  in  these  phenomena.  Nor  was  it  until  about  the  same  time  that  the 
filling  of  ore  channels  in  the  main  by  deposition  from  solutions  was  generally 
accepted.  While  Werner,  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Agricola,  is 
generally  revered  as  the  inspirer  of  the  modern  theory  by  those  whose  reading 
has  taken  them  no  farther  back,  we  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting  that  of  the 
propositions  of  each  author,  Agricola's  were  very  much  more  nearly  in 
accord  with  modern  views.  Moreover,  the  main  result  of  the  new  ideas 
brought  forward  by  Werner  was  to  stop  the  march  of  progress  for  half  a 
century,  instead  of  speeding  it  forward  as  did  those  of  Agricola. 

In  mineralogy  Agricola  made  the  first  attempt  at  systematic  treatment 
of  the  subject.  His  system  could  not  be  otherwise  than  wrongly  based, 
as  he  could  scarcely  see  forward  two  or  three  centuries  to  the  atomic  theory 
and  our  vast  fund  of  chemical  knowledge.  However,  based  as  it  is  upon 
such  properties  as  solubility  and  homogeneity,  and  upon  external  character- 
istics such  as  colour,  hardness,  &c.,  it  makes  a  most  creditable  advance 
upon  Theophrastus,  Dioscorides,  and  Albertus  Magnus — his  only  predecessors. 
He  is  the  first  to  assert  that  bismuth  and  antimony  are  true  primary  metals  ; 
and  to  some  sixty  actual  mineral  species  described  previous  to  his  time  he 
added  some  twenty  more,  and  laments  that  there  are  scores  unnamed. 

As  to  Agricola's  contribution  to  the  sciences  of  mining  and  metal- 
lurgy, De  Re  Metallica  speaks  for  itself.  While  he  describes,  for  the  first 
time,  scores  of  methods  and  processes,  no  one  would  contend  that  they 
were  discoveries  or  inventions  of  his  own.  They  represent  the  accumulation 
of  generations  of  experience  and  knowledge  ;  but  by  him  they  were,  for  the 
first  time,  to  receive  detailed  and  intelligent  exposition.  Until  Schliiter's 
work  nearly  two  centuries  later,  it  was  not  excelled.  There  is  no  measure  by 
which  we  may  gauge  the  value  of  such  a  work  to  the  men  who  followed  in 
this  profession  during  centuries,  nor  the  benefits  enjoyed  by  humanity 
through  them. 


xiv.  INTRODUCTION. 

That  Agricola  occupied  a  very  considerable  place  in  the  great  awakening  of 
learning  will  be  disputed  by  none  except  by  those  who  place  the  development 
of  science  in  rank  far  below  religion,  politics,  literature,  and  art.  Of  wider 
importance  than  the  details  of  his  achievements  in  the  mere  confines  of  the 
particular  science  to  which  he  applied  himself,  is  the  fact  that  he  was  the  first 
to  found  any  of  the  natural  sciences  upon  research  and  observation,  as  opposed 
to  previous  fruitless  speculation.  The  wider  interest  of  the  members  of  the 
medical  profession  in  the  development  of  their  science  than  that  of  geologists 
in  theirs,  has  led  to  the  aggrandizement  of  Paracelsus,  a  contem- 
porary of  Agricola,  as  the  first  in  deductive  science.  Yet  no  comparative 
study  of  the  unparalleled  egotistical  ravings  of  this  half-genius,  half-alchemist, 
with  the  modest  sober  logic  and  real  research  and  observation  of  Agricola, 
can  leave  a  moment's  doubt  as  to  the  incomparably  greater  position  which 
should  be  attributed  to  the  latter  as  the  pioneer  in  building  the  foundation 
of  science  by  deduction  from  observed  phenomena.  Science  is  the  base  upon 
which  is  reared  the  civilization  of  to-day,  and  while  we  give  daily  credit  to  all 
those  who  toil  in  the  superstructure,  let  none  forget  those  men  who  laid  its 
first  foundation  stones.  One  of  the  greatest  of  these  was  Georgius  Agricola. 


DE     RE     METALLICA. 

Agricola  seems  to  have  been  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  De  Re 
Metallica  for  a  period  of  over  twenty  years,  for  we  first  hear  of  the  book  in  a 
letter  from  Petrus  Plateanus,  a  schoolmaster  at  Joachimsthal,  to  the  great 
humanist,  Erasmus,16  in  September,  1529.  He  says  :  "  The  scientific  world 
"  will  be  still  more  indebted  to  Agricola  when  he  brings  to  light  the  books 
"  De  Re  Metallica  and  other  matters  which  he  has  on  hand."  In  the  dedication 
of  De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus  (in  1533)  Agricola  states  that  he  means  to 
publish  twelve  books  De  Re  Metallica,  if  he  lives.  That  the  appearance  of  this 
work  was  eagerly  anticipated  is  evidenced  by  a  letter  from  George  Fabricius 
to  Valentine  Hertel  :  17  "  With  great  excitement  the  books  De  Re  Metallica 
"  are  being  awaited.  If  he  treats  the  material  at  hand  with  his  usual  zeal, 
"  he  will  win  for  himself  glory  such  as  no  one  in  any  of  the  fields  of  literature 
"  has  attained  for  the  last  thousand  years."  According  to  the  dedication  of 
De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis,  Agricola  in  1546  already  looked  forward  to 
its  early  publication.  The  work  was  apparently  finished  in  1550,  for  the 
dedication  to  the  Dukes  Maurice  and  August  of  Saxony  is  dated  in  December  of 
that  year.  The  eulogistic  poem  by  his  friend,  George  Fabricius,  is  dated  in 


The  publication  was  apparently  long  delayed  by  the  preparation  of  the 
woodcuts  ;  and,  according  to  Mathesius,18  many  sketches  for  them  were 
prepared  by  Basilius  Wefring.  In  the  preface  of  De  Re  Metallica,  Agricola 
does  not  mention  who  prepared  the  sketches,  but  does  say  :  "I  have  hired 
"  illustrators  to  delineate  their  forms,  lest  descriptions  which  are  conveyed 
"  by  words  should  either  not  be  understood  by  men  of  our  own  times,  or 
"  should  cause  difficulty  to  posterity."  In  1553  the  completed  book  was 
sent  to  Froben  for  publication,  for  a  letter  19  from  Fabricius  to  Meurer  in 
March,  1553,  announces  its  dispatch  to  the  printer.  An  interesting  letter20 
from  the  Elector  Augustus  to  Agricola,  dated  January  18,  1555,  reads  : 
"  Most  learned,  dear  and  faithful  subject,  whereas  you  have  sent  to  the  Press 
"  a  Latin  book  of  which  the  title  is  said  to  be  De  Rebus  Metallicis,  which  has 
"  been  praised  to  us  and  we  should  like  to  know  the  contents,  it  is  our  gracious 
"  command  that  you  should  get  the  book  translated  when  you  have  the 
"  opportunity  into  German,  and  not  let  it  be  copied  more  than  once  or  be 
"  printed,  but  keep  it  by  you  and  send  us  a  copy.  If  you  should  need  a 
"  writer  for  this  purpose,  we  will  provide  one.  Thus  you  will  fulfil  our 
"  gracious  behest."  The  German  translation  was  prepared  by  Philip  Bechius, 
a  Basel  University  Professor  of  Medicine  and  Philosophy.  It  is  a  wretched 
work,  by  one  who  knew  nothing  of  the  science,  and  who  more  especially  had  no 
appreciation  of  the  peculiar  Latin  terms  coined  by  Agricola,  most  of  which 


an  Desiderius  Erasmus  von  Rotterdam.  Published  by  Joseph  Forstemann 
&  Otto  Giinther.  xxvn.  Beikeft  zum  Zentralblatt  fur  Bibliothekswesen,  Leipzig,  1904,  p.  125. 

"Petrus  Albinus,  Meissnische  Land  und  Berg  Chronica,  Dresden,  1590,  p.  353. 

"This  statement  is  contained  under  "  1556  "  in  a  sort  of  chronicle  bound  up  with 
Mathesius's  Sarepla,  Nuremberg,  1562. 

"Baumgarten-Crusius,  p.  85,  letter  No.  93. 
"Principal  State  Archives,  Dresden,  Cop.  259,  folio  102. 


xvi.  INTRODUCTION. 

he  rendered  literally.  It  is  a  sad  commentary  on  his  countrymen  that  no 
correct  German  translation  exists.  The  Italian  translation  is  by  Michelangelo 
Florio,  and  is  by  him  dedicated  to  Elizabeth,  Queen  of  England.  The  title 
page  of  the  first  edition  is  reproduced  later  on,  and  the  full  titles  of  other 
editions  are  given  in  the  Appendix,  together  with  the  author's  other  works. 
The  following  are  the  short  titles  of  the  various  editions  of  De  Re  MetalUca, 
together  with  the  name  and  place  of  the  publisher  : — 

LATIN    EDITIONS. 
De  Re  MetalUca,  Froben      . .          . .     Basel  Folio  1556. 

j  r  tt  i )  *  t  ••  ••  »  j  y  r  -^- J 

„      „          „  Ludwig  Konig  ,,       ,,         1621. 

„      „          „  Emanuel  Konig  „       „         1657. 

In  addition  to  these,  Leupold,21  Schmid,22  and  others  mention  an  octavo 
edition,  without  illustrations,  Schweinfurt,  1607.  We  have  not  been  able  to 
find  a  copy  of  this  edition,  and  are  not  certain  of  its  existence.  The  same 
catalogues  also  mention  an  octavo  edition  of  De  Re  MetalUca,  Wittenberg, 
1612  or  1614,  with  notes  by  Joanne  Sigfrido  ;  but  we  believe  this  to  be  a 
confusion  with  Agricola's  subsidiary  works,  which  were  published  at  this 
time  and  place,  with  such  notes. 

GERMAN   EDITIONS. 

Vom  Bergkwerck,  Froben,  Folio,  1557. 

Bergwerck  Buck,  Sigmundi  Feyrabendt,  Frankfort-on-Main,  folio,  1580. 

„     Ludwig  Konig,  Basel,  folio,  1621. 

There  are  other  editions  than  these,  mentioned  by  bibliographers,  but  we 
have  been  unable  to  confirm  them  in  any  library.  The  most  reliable 
of  such  bibliographies,  that  of  John  Ferguson,23  gives  in  addition  to  the 
above  ;  Bergwerkbuch,  Basel,  1657,  folio,  and  Schweinfurt,  1687,  octavo. 

ITALIAN   EDITION. 

L'Arte  de  Metalli,  Froben,  Basel,  folio,  1563. 
OTHER   LANGUAGES. 

So  far  as  we  know,  De  Re  MetalUca  was  never  actually  published  in  other 
than  Latin,  German,  and  Italian.  However,  a  portion  of  the  accounts  of 
the  firm  of  Froben  were  published  hi  i88i24,  and  therein  is  an  entry  under 
March,  1560,  of  a  sum  to  one  Leodigaris  Grymaldo  for  some  other  work,  and 
also  for  "  correction  of  Agricola's  De  Re  MetalUca  in  French."  This  may 
of  course,  be  an  error  for  the  Italian  edition,  which  appeared  a  little  later. 
There  is  also  mention25  that  a  manuscript  of  De  Re  MetalUca  in  Spanish  was 

21Jacob  Leupold,  Prodromus  Bibliothecae  Metallicae,  1732,  p.  n. 
Z2F.  A.  Schmid,  Georg  Agrikola's  Bermannus,  Freiberg,  1806,  p.  34. 
tzBibliotheca  Chemica,  Glasgow,  1906,  p.  10. 

**Rechnungsbuch  der  Froben  und  Episcopius  Buchdrucker  und  Buchhandler  zu  Basel, 
r557-i564,  published  by  R.  Wackernagle,  Basel,  1881,  p.  20. 

*6Colecion  del  Sr  Monoz  t.  93,  fol.  255  En  la  Acad.  de  la  Hist.  Madrid. 


INTRODUCTION. 


xvii. 


seen  in  the  library  of  the  town  of  Bejar.  An  interesting  note  appears  in 
the  glossary  given  by  Sir  John  Pettus  in  his  translation  of  Lazarus  Erckern's 
work  on  assaying.  He  says26  "  but  I  cannot  enlarge  my  observations  upon 
any  more  words,  because  the  printer  calls  for  what  I  did  write  of  a  metallick 
dictionary,  after  I  first  proposed  the  printing  of  Erckern,  but  intending 
within  the  compass  of  a  year  to  publish  Georgius  Agricola,  De  Re  Metallica 
(being  fully  translated)  in  English,  and  also  to  add  a  dictionary  to  it,  I 
shall  reserve  my  remaining  essays  (if  what  I  have  done  hitherto  be  approved) 
till  then,  and  so  I  proceed  in  the  dictionary."  The  translation  was  never 
published  and  extensive  inquiry  in  various  libraries  and  among  the  family 
of  Pettus  has  failed  to  yield  any  trace  of  the  manuscript. 

"Sir  John  Pettus,  Fleta  Minor,  The  Laws  of  Art  and  Nature,  &c..  London,  1636,  p.  121. 


GEORGII  AGRICOLAE 

DE  RE  METALLICA  LIBRI  XII*  Q.VI* 

busOfFida,Inftrumenta,Machinae,acomnia  deniqj  ad  Metallic 
tamfpeftantia,nonmodoluculentiflim£  defcribuntur,fed  &per 
effigies,  fuis  locis  infertas,  adiuncftis  Latinis,  Gefmanicisqp  appel* 
lationibus  ita  ob  oculos  ponuntur}  ut  clarius  tradi  non  poilint. 


B      I      V      S      O      B      M 


ton    ANIMANTIBVS    svBTERRANEis  Liber,ab Autorc re* 

<ognitus:cum  Indicibusdiu€rfis4quicquidmoperctradatum 
pulchre  demoilftrantibus. 


BASILEAE       M> 


Cum  Priuilcgio  Impcratoris  in  annos  v» 
&  Galliarum  Regis  ad  Sexcnniunu 


xxi. 

GEORGIVS    FABRICIVS    IN    LI* 

brosMetallicos  GEORGII    AGRicoLABphi* 

lofophi  praeftan  tiffimi. 


AD       LECTOREM. 


Si  iuuat  ignita  cognofcere  fronte  Chima»ram, 
Semicanem  nympharn,feniibouemcjj  uirum; 
Si  centum  capitum  iitanem,tot'qj  ferentem 

Sublimem  rnanibus  tela  cruenta  Gygen: 
Si  iuuat  j£tneum  penetrate  Cyclopis  in  antrura, 

Atque  alios,  Vates  quos  peperere,metus: 
Nunc  placeat  meeum  do<flos  euoluere  libros, 

Ingenium  A  G  R  r  c  o  L  AE  quos  dedit  acre  tibt, 
Non  hie  uana  tenet  fiifpenfam  fabula  mentem: 

Sed  preciura,utihtas  multa,Iegentis  erit, 
Quidquid  terra  finu,gremiocp  recondiditimo, 

Omne  tibi  multis  cruit  ante  libris: 
SiuefluensCuperasultroTiitaturinoras, 

Inueniat  fecilem  feu  magis  arte  uiam, 
Perpetui  proprns  manant  de  fontibus  amnes, 

Eft  grauis  Albuneae  (ponte  Mephitis  odor* 
Lethales  (unt  (ponte  fcrobes  Dicsearchidis  orap, 

Et  rnicat  e  media  conditus  ignis  humo. 
Plana  Narifcorum  cum  tellus  arfitin  agro, 

Ter  curua  nondum  falcerefecla  Ceres. 
Nee  dedit  hoc  damnumpaftor,riec  luppiter  igne; 

Vulcani  per  feruperat  ira  folum. 
Tem'fico  aura  foras  erumpens,incita  moru, 

Saeperacit  montes,ante  ubi  planauia  eft. 
Haecabftrufa  cauis,imoc^  incognita  (undo, 

Cognfta  natura  fepe  fuere  duce. 
Artehominum,in luccm uenfunt  quocp  multa 

Terrae  multiplies  eflbdiunturopes* 
Lydia  ficnitrum  profert,Islandia  fulfur, 

Acmodo  Tyrrhenus  mittit  alumen  ager. 
Succina,qu«i  trifido  fubit  aequor  Viftula  cornu, 

Pifcantur  Codano  corpora  ieruaiinu. 
Quid  memorem  regum  preciofa  infignia  gemraas, 

Marmorar^  excelfis  ftruda  fub  aftra  iugis  t 
Nil  lapides,nil  faxamoronfunt  pulchra  metalla, 

Quaecp  acerMaccdo  terra  Creneide  fodit, 
Nominepermutans  nomina  prifca  fuo. 
Atmmcnonulliscedit  GER MANIA  tern's, 

a    4       Terra 


XXII. 


Terra  ferax  hommum,terra'cp  diues  opum. 
Hie  auri  in  uenis  locupletibus  aura  refiilget, 

Non  alio  rneffis  carior  ulla  loco. 
Auricomum  extuleritfelix  Campania  ramurn, 

Necfructu  nobis  deficiente  cadit, 
Eruit  argenti  fblidas  hoc  tempore  mafias 

Foflbr,de  proprrjsarmacfj  miles  agris, 
Ignotum  Grarjs  eflrHefperrjscp  metallum, 

Quod  Bifemutum  lingua  paterna  uocat, 
Candidius  nigro,fed  plumbo  nigtius  albo, 

Nofira  quoq?  hoc  uena  diuite fundit humus, 
Funditur  in  tormenta,corus  cum  imitantia  fulmen, 

J£s,inc[j  hoftiles  ferrea  mafia  domes* 
Scribuntur  plumbo  libri:quis  erediditante 

Quam  mirandam  astern  Teutonis  ora  dedit? 
Nee  tarn  en  hoc  alrjs,aut  ilia  petuntur  ab  oris, 

Eruta  Germane  cunda  metalla  folo, 
Sed  quid  ego  hxc  repeto,monumentis  tradita  dans 

A  G  R  i  c  o  L  AE,  qu«e  nunc  doda  per  ora  uolant? 
Hie  cauflls  ortus,&  formas  uiribus  addit, 

Bt  quxrenda  quibus  fint  meliora  lods. 
Quac  fi  mente  prius  legifti  candidus  aequa; 

Da  reliquis  quoc^  nunc  tempora  pauca  libris. 
Vtilitas  (equitur  cultorem:crede,uoluptas 

Non  iucunda  minor,rara  !egentis,erit. 
ludiciocj^  prius  ne  quis  male  damnet  iniquo, 

Quae  funt  auftoris  munera  mira  Dei: 
Bripit  ipfe  fuis  primum  tela  hoilibus,incp 

Mittends  torquet  fpicula  rapta  caput. 
Fertur  equo  latro,uehitur  pirata  triremi: 

Brgo  necandus  equus,nec  fabricanda  ratisC 
Vifoeribus  terrsc  lateant  abftrufa  me  tails, 

Vti  opibus  nefeit  qupd  mala  turba  fuis  C 
Quifquis  cs,aut  doclis  pareto  monentibus,aut  U 

Inter  habere  bonosnefateare  locum. 
Se  non  in  pr&rupta  metallicus  abrjcit  audax, 
i    Vt  quondam  immiflb  Curtius  acer  equo: 
Sed  prius  edifcit,quac  funt  nofcenda  peri  to, 

Quodcp  fecit,multa  docfius  ab  arte  facit. 
Vtqp  gubernator  feruat  cum  (idefe  uentos; 

Sic  minime  dubijs  utitur  ilk  notis. 
lafides  nauim,curru»regit  arte  Metifcus: 

FofTor  opus  peragit  nee  minus  arte  fuum» 
Indagat  uenae  (pacium,nurrierumcpymodumcp5 

Siue  obliqua  fuum,reclaueiendat  iter. 

Paftor 


xxin. 


Paftor  ut  explorat  cjux  terra  fitapta  colenti, 

Quae  bene  lanigeras,qux  male  pafcat  oucs. 
En  terrae  intentus,quid  uincula  linea  tendit  C 

Fungitur  officio  iam  Ptolcmxe  tuo, 
Vt  q>  fuze  inuenit  menfuram  iuraq?  uenx, 

In  uarios  operas  diuidic  ind  e  uiros. 
lam'cp  aggrcfTus  opus^uiden*  ut  mouet  omne  quod  obftat, 

Alfidua  ut  uerfat  ftrenuus  ar  ma  manu  C 
Ne  tibt  furdefcanc  ferri  tinnitibus  aures, 

Ad  grauiora  ideo  confpicienda  uenf. 
Inftru  it  ecce  fu  is  nunc  artib  us  ille  minores: 

Sedulitas  nulli  non  opero  fa  loco. 
Meciri  docet  hie  uenac  (paciumcp  modumcp, 

Vt  q?  regat  po  fin's  finibus  arua  lapis, 
Ne  quis  transmidb  uiolentus  limite  pergens, 

Non  (ibi  conccflas,in  fua  uertat^opes. 
Hie  docet  inftrumenta,quibus  F^utonia  regna 

Tutus  adit/axi  permeat  atcp  uias. 
Quanta(uides)  folidas  expugnctmachina  tnrasi 

Machina  non  ullo  tempore  uifa  prius. 
Cede  nouis,nulia  non  incly  ta  laudeuetuftas, 

Po  fteri  tas  meritis  eft  quoqj  grata  tiu's. 
Turn  quia  Germane  funt  bocc  inuenta  fub  axe, 

Si  quis  cs,inuidisc  contrahe  uela  tux. 
Aufoms  ora  tuinct  bellis,terra  Attica  cultu, 

Germanum  infra&us  tollit  ad  aftra  labor. 
Nee  tarn  en  ingenio  folet  infeliciter  uti, 

Mite  gerat  Phoebi,{eu  graue  Marris  opus* 
Tempus  adeft,ftruc*tis  uenarum  monribus,igne 

Explorare,ufum  quern  fibi  uena  ferat. 
Non  labor  ingenio  caret  hk,non  copia  firudu, 

Eft adaperta  bonx  prima  feneftra  fp ei. 
Ergo  inftat  porrd  grauiores  fcrre  labores, 

mtentas  open  nee  remouere  manus. 
Vrere  Hue  locus  pofcat,feu  tundere  ueiias, 

Siue  lauare  lacu  prxter  euntis  aqux. 
Seu  Hammis  iterum  modicis  torrere  necede  eft, 

Excoquere  aut  faftis  ignibus  omnemalum, 
Cum  fluit  xs  riuis,auri  argentic^  metallum, 

Spes  animo  fofibr  uix  capit  ipfe  fuas. 
Argentum  cupidus  fuluo  fecernit  ab  auro, 
Ei  plumbi  lentam  demit  utric^  moram. 
Separat  argen  tum,lucri  ftudiofus,ab  xre, 
Seruatistlinquensdetehora,bonis. 

Quas 


XXIV 


Qu»  ii  cuncla  uelim  tenui  perairrere  uetTu, 

Antealium  rcuehat  Memnonis  oria  diem,' 
Poftremus  labor  eft,concretos  difctrcdfucccs, 

Quos  fert  innumeris  Teutons  terra locis, 
Quo  fal,quo  nitrum  ,quo  pa&o  fiat  alumen, 

Vfibus  artificis  cum  parat  ilia  manus: 
Nccnon  chalcamum,fulfur,fluidumqj  bitumen, 

Mafia  q?  quo  uitri  lenta  dolanda  modo. 
Sufcipit  haec  hominu  m  mirandos  cura  iabores, 

Pauperiem  ufqjadeo  ferrefamem'cp  graue  eft, 
Tantus  amor  ui&um  paruis  extundere pan  st 

Et  patriae  ciuem  non  dare  uelle  malum. 
Nee  man  et  in  terrae  fofToris  mcrfa  latebris 

Mens,fed  fert  domino  uota  preces'qj  Deo, 
Munificae  expe&at/pe  plenus,munera  dextre, 

Extollens  animum  lactus  ad  aftra  ilium. 
Diuitias  CHRIS  TVS  dat  noticfamcpfruendi, 

Cui  memori  grates  peclore  (emper  agit. 
Hoc  quoque  laudati  quondam  feccrePhiiippi, 

Qui  uirtutis  habent  cum  pietate  decus. 
Hue  oculos,huc  flecle  animum,(uauiflime  Lector, 

Au&oremcp  pia  nofcito  mente  Deum. 
AGRICOLAE  hinc  op  tan  s  operofb  fauiialabori, 

Laudibus  cximfj  candidus  cfto  uiri, 
Ulefuum  extollit  patriac  cum  nomine  nomen, 

Et  uir  in  ore  frequens  poftcritatis  erit, 
CundiacaduntlethOjftudijmonumentauigebunt, 

Purpurei  doneclumina  folis  erunt. 


Mifenac  n«  D.  LI. 
cludoilluftri 


For  completeness"  sake  we  reproduce  in  the  original  Latin  the  laudation  of  Agricola 
by  his  friend,  Georgius  Fabricius,  a  leading  scholar  of  his  time.  It  has  but  little  intrinsic 
value  for  it  is  not  poetry  of  a  very  high  order,  and  to  make  it  acceptable  English  would  require 
certain  improvements,  for  which  only  poets  have  license.  A  "  free  "  translation  of  the  last 
few  lines  indicates  its  complimentary  character  : — 

"  He  doth  raise  his  country's  fame  with  his  own 
"  And  in  the  mouths  of  nations  yet  unborn 
"  His  praises  shall  be  sung  ;  Death  comes  to  all 
"  But  great  achievements  raise  a  monument 
"  Which  shall  endure  until  the  sun  grows  cold." 


TO  THE  MOST  ILLUSTRIOUS 

AND   MOST   MIGHTY  DUKES  OF 

Saxony,  Landgraves  of  Thuringia,  Margraves  of  Meissen, 

Imperial  Overlords  of  Saxony,  Burgraves  of  Altenberg 

and    Magdeburg,   Counts    of    Brena,   Lords  of 

Pleissnerland,  To  MAURICE  Grand  Marshall 

and  Elector  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 

and  to  his  brother  AUGUSTUS/ 

GEORGE    AGRICOLA       S.     D. 

OST  illustrious  Princes,  often  have  I  considered 
the  metallic  arts  as  a  whole,  as  Moderatus  Columella2 
considered  the  agricultural  arts,  just  as  if  I 
had  been  considering  the  whole  of  the  human 
body  ;  and  when  I  had  perceived  the  various  parts 
of  the  subject,  like  so  many  members  of  the  body, 
I  became  afraid  that  I  might  die  before  I  should 
understand  its  full  extent,  much  less  before  I 
could  immortalise  it  in  writing.  This  book 
itself  indicates  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  subject,  and  the  number 
and  importance  of  the  sciences  of  which  at  least  some  little  knowledge 
is  necessary  to  miners.  Indeed,  the  subject  of  mining  is  a  very  exten- 
sive one,  and  one  very  difficult  to  explain  ;  no  part  of  it  is  fully  dealt 
with  by  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors  whose  works  survive  ;  and  since 
the  art  is  one  of  the  most  ancient,  the  most  necessary  and  the  most  profitable 
to  mankind,  I  considered  that  I  ought  not  to  neglect  it.  Without  doubt, 
none  of  the  arts  is  older  than  agriculture,  but  that  of  the  metals  is  not 
less  ancient ;  in  fact  they  are  at  least  equal  and  coeval,  for  no  mortal  man  ever 
tilled  a  field  without  implements.  In  truth,  in  all  the  works  of  agricul- 
ture, as  in  the  other  arts,  implements  are  used  which  are  made  from  metals, 
or  which  could  not  be  made  without  the  use  of  metals  ;  for  this  reason 
the  metals  are  of  the  greatest  necessity  to  man.  When  an  art  is  so  poor  that 
it  lacks  metals,  it  is  not  of  much  importance,  for  nothing  is  made  without 
tools.  Besides,  of  all  ways  whereby  great  wealth  is  acquired  by  good  and 
honest  means,  none  is  more  advantageous  than  mining ;  for  although  from 
fields  which  are  well  tilled  (not  to  mention  other  things)  we  derive  rich  yields, 
yet  we  obtain  richer  products  from  mines  ;  in  fact,  one  mine  is  often  much 
more  beneficial  to  us  than  many  fields.  For  this  reason  we  learn  from  the 
history  of  nearly  all  ages  that  very  many  men  have  been  made  rich  by  the 

1For  Agricola's  relations  with  these  princes  see  p.  ix. 

*Lucius  Junius  Moderatus  Columella  was  a  Roman,  a  native  of  Cadiz,  and  lived 
during  the  ist  Century.  He  was  the  author  of  De  Re  Rustica  in  12  books.  It  was  first 
printed  in  1472,  and  some  fifteen  or  sixteen  editions  had  been  printed  before  Agricola's  death. 


xxvi.  PREFACE 

mines,  and  the  fortunes  of  many  kings  have  been  much  amplified  there- 
by. But  I  will  not  now  speak  more  of  these  matters,  because  I  have 
dealt  with  these  subjects  partly  in  the  first  book  of  this  work,  and  partly  in 
the  other  work  entitled  De  Veteribus  el  Novis  MetalUs,  where  I  have  refuted 
the  charges  which  have  been  made  against  metals  and  against  miners. 
Now,  though  the  art  of  husbandry,  which  I  willingly  rank  with  the  art  of 
mining,  appears  to  be  divided  into  many  branches,  yet  it  is  not  separated 
into  so  many  as  this  art  of  ours,  nor  can  I  teach  the  principles  of  this  as 
easily  as  Columella  did  of  that.  He  had  at  hand  many  writers  upon  hus- 
bandry whom  he  could  follow, — in  fact,  there  are  more  than  fifty  Greek 
authors  whom  Marcus  Varro  enumerates,  and  more  than  ten  Latin  ones, 
whom  Columella  himself  mentions.  I  have  only  one  whom  I  can  follow  ; 
that  is  C.  Plinius  Secundus,3  and  he  expounds  only  a  very  few  methods  of 
digging  ores  and  of  making  metals.  Far  from  the  whole  of  the  art  having 
been  treated  by  any  one  writer,  those  who  have  written  occasionally  on  any 
one  or  another  of  its  branches  have  not  even  dealt  completely  with  a  single 
one  of  them.  Moreover,  there  is  a  great  scarcity  even  of  these,  since  alone  of 
all  the  Greeks,  Strato  of  Lampsacus,4  the  successor  of  Theophrastus,5  wrote 
a  book  on  the  subject,  De  Machinis  Metallicis  ;  except,  perhaps  a  work  by  the 
poet  Philo,  a  small  part  of  which  embraced  to  some  degree  the  occupation 
of  mining.6  Pherecrates  seems  to  have  introduced  into  his  comedy,  which 
was  similar  in  title,  miners  as  slaves  or  as  persons  condemned  to  serve  in  the 
mines.  Of  the  Latin  writers,  Pliny,  as  I  have  already  said,  has  described 
a  few  methods  of  working.  Also  among  the  authors  I  must  include  the  modern 
writers,  whosoever  they  are,  for  no  one  should  escape  just  condemnation 
who  fails  to  award  due  recognition  to  persons  whose  writings  he  uses,  even 
very  slightly.  Two  books  have  been  written  in  our  tongue  ;  the  one  on  the 
assaying  of  mineral  substances  and  metals,  somewhat  confused,  whose  author 
is  unknown7 ;  the  other  "  On  Veins,"  of  which  Pandulfus  Anglus  8  is  also 
said  to  have  written,  although  the  German  book  was  written  by  Calbus  of 
Freiberg,  a  well-known  doctor  ;  but  neither  of  them  accomplished  the  task 

*We  give  a  short  review  of  Pliny's  Naturalis  Historia  in  the  Appendix  B. 

*This  work  is  not  extant,  as  Agricola  duly  notes  later  on.  Strato  succeeded  Theo- 
phrastus as  president  of  the  Lyceum,  288  B.C. 

5For  note  on  Theophrastus  see  Appendix  B. 

'It  appears  that  the  poet  Philo  did  write  a  work  on  mining  which  is  not  extant.  So 
far  as  we  know  the  only  reference  to  this  work  is  in  Athenaeus'  (200  A.D.)  Deipnosophistae. 
The  passage  as  it  appears  in  C.  D.  Yonge's  Translation  (Bonn's  Library,  London,  1854, 
Vol.  ii,  Book  vii,  p.  506)  is  :  "  And  there  is  a  similar  fish  produced  in  the  Red  Sea  which 
"  is  called  Stromateus  ;  it  has  gold-coloured  lines  running  along  the  whole  of  his  body,  as 
"  Philo  tells  us  in  his  book  on  Mines."  There  is  a  fragment  of  a  poem  of  Pherecrates, 
entitled  "  Miners,"  but  it  seems  to  have  little  to  do  with  mining. 

'The  title  given  by  Agricola  De  Materiae  Metallicae  et  Metallorum  Experimento  is 
difficult  to  identify.  It  seems  likely  to  be  the  little  Probier  Biichlein,  numbers  of  which  were 
published  in  German  in  the  first  half  of  the  i6th  Century.  We  discuss  this  work  at  some 
length  in  the  Appendix  B  on  Ancient  Authors. 

8Pandulfus,  "  the  Englishman,"  is  mentioned  by  various  i5th  and  i6th  Century 
writers,  and  in  the  preface  of  Mathias  Farinator's  Liber  Moralitatum  .  .  .  Rerum  Naturalium, 
etc.,  printed  in  Augsburg,  1477,  there  is  a  list  of  books  among  which  appears  a  reference  to 
a  work  by  Pandulfus  on  veins  and  minerals.  We  have  not  been  able  to  find  the  book. 


PREFACE  xxvii. 

he  had  begun.9  Recently  Vannucci  Biringuccio,  of  Sienna,  a  wise  man 
experienced  in  many  matters,  wrote  in  vernacular  Italian  on  the 
subject  of  the  melting,  separating,  and  alloying  of  metals.10  He 
touched  briefly  on  the  methods  of  smelting  certain  ores,  and  explained 
more  fully  the  methods  of  making  certain  juices  ;  by  reading  his 
directions,  I  have  refreshed  my  memory  of  those  things  which  I  myself 
saw  in  Italy  ;  as  for  many  matters  on  which  I  write,  he  did  not  touch  upon 
them  at  all,  or  touched  but  lightly.  This  book  was  given  me  by  Franciscus 
Badoarius,  a  Patrician  of  Venice,  and  a  man  of  wisdom  and  of  repute  ;  this 
he  had  promised  that  he  would  do,  when  in  the  previous  year  he  was  at 
Marienberg,  having  been  sent  by  the  Venetians  as  an  Ambassador  to  King 
Ferdinand.  Beyond  these  books  I  do  not  find  any  writings  on  the  metallic 
arts.  For  that  reason,  even  if  the  book  of  Strato  existed,  from  all  these 
sources  not  one-half  of  the  whole  body  of  the  science  of  mining  could  be 
pieced  together. 

Seeing  that  there  have  been  so  few  who  have  written  on  the  subject  of  the 
metals,  it  appears  to  me  all  the  more  wonderful  that  so  many  alchemists  have 
arisen  who  would  compound  metals  artificially,  and  who  would  change  one 
into  another.  Hermolaus  Barbarus,11  a  man  of  high  rank  and  station,  and 
distinguished  in  all  kinds  of  learning,  has  mentioned  the  names  of  many  in 
his  writings;  and  I  will  proffer  more,  but  only  famous  ones,  for  I  will  limit  myself 
to  a  few.  Thus  Osthanes  has  written  on  x"ftcvr'K''t  ',  and  there  are  Hermes ; 
Chanes  ;  Zosimus,  the  Alexandrian,  to  his  sister  Theosebia  ;  Olympiodorus, 
also  an  Alexandrian  ;  Agathodaemon ;  Democritus,  not  the  one  of  Abdera, 
but  some  other  whom  I  know  not  ;  Orus  Chrysorichites,  Pebichius,  Comerius, 
Joannes,  Apulejus,  Petasius,  Pelagius,  Africanus,  Theophilus,  Synesius, 
Stephanus  to  Heracleus  Caesar,  Heliodorus  to  Theodosius,  Geber,  Callides 
Rachaidibus,  Veradianus,  Rodianus,  Canides,  Merlin,  Raymond  Lully, 
Arnold  de  Villa  Nova,  and  Augustinus  Pantheus  of  Venice  ;  and  three  women, 
Cleopatra,  the  maiden  Taphnutia,  and  Maria  the  Jewess.12  All  these  alchemists 
employ  obscure  language,  and  Johanes  Aurelius  Augurellus  of  Rimini, 
alone  has  used  the  language  of  poetry.  There  are  many  other  books  on 

"Jacob!   (Der  Mineralog   Georgius   Agricola,   Zwickau,    1881,   p.  47)    says  :   "  Calbus 

Freibergius,  so  called  by  Agricola  himself,  is  certainly  no  other  than  the  Freiberg  Doctor 

Ruhlein  von  Kalbe  ;    he  was,  according  to  Moller,  a  doctor  and  burgomaster  at  Freiberg 

at  the  end  of  the  isth  and  the  beginning  of  the  i6th  Centuries.     .     .     .     The  chronicler 

describes  him  as  a  fine  mathematician,  who  helped  to  survey  and  design  the  mining  towns 

of  Annaberg  in  1497  and  Marienberg  in  1521."     We  would  call  attention  to  the  statement 

of  Calbus'  views,  quoted  at  the  end  of  Book  III,  De  Re  Metallica  (p.  75),  which  are  astonishingly 

similar  to  statements  in  the  NiUzlich  Bergbuchlin,  and  leave  little  doubt  that  this  "  Calbus  " 

was  the  author  of  that  anonymous  book  on  veins.     For  further  discussion  see  Appendix  B. 

10For  discussion  of  Biringuccio  see  Appendix  B.      The  proper  title  is  De  La  Pirotechnia 

(Venice,   1540). 

"Hermolaus  Barbarus,  according  to  Watt  (Bibliotheca  Britannica,  London,  1824),  was 
a  lecturer  on  Philosophy  in  Padua.  He  was  born  in  1454,  died  in  1493,  and  was  the  author  of  a 
number  of  works  on  medicine,  natural  history,  etc.,  with  commentaries  on  the  older  authors. 

12The  debt  which  humanity  does  owe  to  these  self-styled  philosophers  must  not  be 
overlooked,  for  the  science  of  Chemistry  comes  from  three  sources — Alchemy,  Medicine  and 
Metallurgy.  However  polluted  the  former  of  these  may  be,  still  the  vast  advance  which  it 
made  by  the  discovery  of  the  principal  acids,  alkalis,  and  the  more  common  of  their  salts, 
should  be  constantly  recognized.  It  is  obviously  impossible,  within  the  space  of  a  footnote,  to 


xxviii.  PREFACE 

this  subject,  but  all  are  difficult  to  follow,  because  the  writers  upon  these 
things  use  strange  names,  which  do  not  properly  belong  to  the  metals,  and 
because  some  of  them  employ  now  one  name  and  now  another,  invented  by 
themselves,  though  the  thing  itself  changes  not.  These  masters  teach  their 
disciples  that  the  base  metals,  when  smelted,  are  broken  up  ;  also  they  teach 
the  methods  by  which  they  reduce  them  to  the  primary  parts  and 
remove  whatever  is  superfluous  in  them,  and  by  supplying  what  is 
wanted  make  out  of  them  the  precious  metals — that  is,  gold  and  silver, — 
all  of  which  they  carry  out  in  a  crucible.  Whether  they  can  do  these  things 
or  not  I  cannot  decide  ;  but,  seeing  that  so  many  writers  assure  us  with  all 
earnestness  that  they  have  reached  that  goal  for  which  they  aimed,  it  would 
seem  that  faith  might  be  placed  in  them  ;  yet  also  seeing  that  we  do  not 
read  of  any  of  them  ever  having  become  rich  by  this  art,  nor  do  we  now  see 
them  growing  rich,  although  so  many  nations  everywhere  have  produced,  and 
are  producing,  alchemists,  and  all  of  them  are  straining  every  nerve  night  and 
day  to  the  end  that  they  may  heap  a  great  quantity  of  gold  and  silver,  I  should 
say  the  matter  is  dubious.  But  although  it  may  be  due  to  the  carelessness 
of  the  writers  that  they  have  not  transmitted  to  us  the  names  of  the  masters 
who  acquired  great  wealth  through  this  occupation,  certainly  it  is  clear  that 
their  disciples  either  do  not  understand  their  precepts  or,  if  they  do  under- 
stand them,  do  not  follow  them  ;  for  if  they  do  comprehend  them,  seeing  that 
these  disciples  have  been  and  are  so  numerous,  they  would  have  by  to-day  filled 

give  anything  but  the  most  casual  notes  as  to  the  personages  here  mentioned  and  their 
writings.  Aside  from  the  classics  and  religious  works,  the  libraries  of  the  Middle  Ages  teemed 
with  more  material  on  Alchemy  than  on  any  other  one  subject,  and  since  that  date  a  never- 
ending  stream  of  historical,  critical,  and  discursive  volumes  and  tracts  devoted  to  the  old 
Alchemists  and  their  writings  has  been  poured  upon  the  world.  A  collection  recently  sold 
in  London,  relating  to  Paracelsus  alone,  embraced  over  seven  hundred  volumes. 

Of  many  of  the  Alchemists  mentioned  by  Agricola  little  is  really  known,  and  no 
two  critics  agree  as  to  the  commonest  details  regarding  many  of  them  ;  in  fact,  an  endless 
confusion  springs  from  the  negligent  habit  of  the  lesser  Alchemists  of  attributing  the  author- 
ship of  their  writings  to  more  esteemed  members  of  their  own  ilk,  such  as  Hermes,  Osthanes,  etc., 
not  to  mention  the  palpable  spuriousness  of  works  under  the  names  of  the  real  philosophers, 
such  as  Aristotle,  Plato,  or  Moses,  and  even  of  Jesus  Christ.  Knowledge  of  many  of  the 
authors  mentioned  by  Agricola  does  not  extend  beyond  the  fact  that  the  names  mentioned 
are  appended  to  various  writings,  in  some  instances  to  MSS  yet  unpublished.  They  may 
have  been  actual  persons,  or  they  may  not.  Agricola  undoubtedly  had  perused  such 
manuscripts  and  books  in  some  leading  library,  as  the  quotation  from  Boerhaave  given  later 
shows.  Shaw  (A  New  Method  of  Chemistry,  etc.,  London,  1753.  Vol.  I,  p.  25)  considers 
that  the  large  number  of  such  manuscripts  in  the  European  libraries  at  this  time  were 
composed  or  transcribed  by  monks  and  others  living  in  Constantinople,  Alexandria,  and 
Athens,  who  fled  westward  before  the  Turkish  invasion,  bringing  their  works  with  them. 

For  purposes  of  this  summary  we  group  the  names  mentioned  by  Agricola,  the  first 
class  being  of  those  who  are  known  only  as  names  appended  to  MSS  or  not  identifiable  at 
all.  Possibly  a  more  devoted  student  of  the  history  of  Alchemy  would  assign  fewer  names  to 
this  department  of  oblivion.  They  are  Maria  the  Jewess,  Orus  Chrysorichites,  Chanes, 
Petasius,  Pebichius,  Theophilus,  Callides,  Veradianus,  Rodianus,  Canides,  the  maiden 
Taphnutia,  Johannes,  Augustinus,  and  Africanus.  The  last  three  are  names  so  common  as  not 
to  be  possible  of  identification  without  more  particulars,  though  Johannes  may  be  the  Johannes 
Rupeseissa  (1375),  an  alchemist  of  some  note.  Many  of  these  names  can  be  found  among 
the  Bishops  and  Prelates  of  the  early  Christian  Church,  but  we  doubt  if  their  owners  would 
ever  be  identified  with  such  indiscretions  as  open,  avowed  alchemy.  The  Theophilus 
mentioned  might  be  the  metal-working  monk  of  the  I2th  Century,  who  is  further  discussed 
in  Appendix  B  on  Ancient  Authors. 

In  the  next  group  fall  certain  names  such  as  Osthanes,  Hermes,  Zosimus,  Agathodaemon, 
and  Democritus,  which  have  been  the  watchwords  of  authority  to  Alchemists  of  all  ages. 
These  certainly  possessed  the  great  secrets,  either  the  philosopher's  stone  or  the  elixir. 


PREFACE  xxix. 

whole  towns  with  gold  and  silver.  Even  their  books  proclaim  their  vanity,  for 
they  inscribe  in  them  the  names  of  Plato  and  Aristotle  and  other  philosophers, 
in  order  that  such  high-sounding  inscriptions  may  impose  upon  simple  people 
and  pass  for  learning.  There  is  another  class  of  alchemists  who  do  not 
change  the  substance  of  base  metals,  but  colour  them  to  represent  gold  or  silver, 
so  that  they  appear  to  be  that  which  they  are  not,  and  when  this  appearance 
is  taken  from  them  by  the  fire,  as  if  it  were  a  garment  foreign  to  them,  they 
return  to  their  own  character.  These  alchemists,  since  they  deceive  people, 
are  not  only  held  in  the  greatest  odium,  but  their  frauds  are  a  capital  offence. 
No  less  a  fraud,  warranting  capital  punishment,  is  committed  by  a  third  sort 
of  alchemists  ;  these  throw  into  a  crucible  a  small  piece  of  gold  or  silver 
hidden  in  a  coal,  and  after  mixing  therewith  fluxes  which  have  the  power  of 
extracting  it,  pretend  to  be  making  gold  from  orpiment,  or  silver  from  tin  and 
like  substances.  But  concerning  the  art  of  alchemy,  if  it  be  an  art,  I  will 
speak  further  elsewhere.  I  will  now  return  to  the  art  of  mining. 

Since  no  authors  have  written  of  this  art  in  its  entirety,  and  since 
foreign  nations  and  races  do  not  understand  our  tongue,  and,  if  they  did 
understand  it,  would  be  able  to  learn  only  a  small  part  of  the  art  through  the 
works  of  those  authors  whom  we  do  possess,  I  have  written  these  twelve  books 
De  Re  Metallica.  Of  these,  the  first  book  contains  the  arguments  which  may 
be  used  against  this  art,  and  against  metals  and  the  mines,  and  what  can  be 
said  in  their  favour.  The  second  book  describes  the  miner,  and  branches  into 

Hermes  Trismegistos  was  a  legendary  Egyptian  personage  supposed  to  have  flourished 
before  1,500  B.C.,  and  by  some  considered  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  god  Thoth.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  written  a  number  of  works,  but  those  extant  have  been  demonstrated  to  date  not 
prior  to  the  second  Century  ;  he  is  referred  to  by  the  later  Greek  Alchemists,  and  was 
believed  to  have  possessed  the  secret  of  transmutation.  Osthanes  was  also  a  very  shadowy 
personage,  and  was  considered  by  some  Alchemists  to  have  been  an  Egyptian  prior  to  Hermes, 
by  others  to  have  been  the  teacher  of  Zoroaster.  Pliny  mentions  a  magician  of  this  name 
who  accompanied  Xerxes'  army.  Later  there  are  many  others  of  this  name,  and  the  most 
probable  explanation  is  that  this  was  a  favourite  pseudonym  for  ancient  magicians  ;  there 
is  a  very  old  work,  of  no  great  interest,  in  MSS  in  Latin  and  Greek,  in  the  Munich,  Gotha, 
Vienna,  and  other  libraries,  by  one  of  this  name.  Agathodaemon  was  still  another  shadowy 
character  referred  to  by  the  older  Alchemists.  There  are  MSS  in  the  Florence,  Paris,  Escurial, 
and  Munich  libraries  bearing  his  name,  but  nothing  tangible  is  known  as  to  whether  he  was 
an  actual  man  or  if  these  writings  are  not  of  a  much  later  period  than  claimed. 

To  the  next  group  belong  the  Greek  Alchemists,  who  flourished  during  the  rise  and 
decline  of  Alexandria,  from  200  B.C.  to  700  A.D.,  and  we  give  them  in  order  of  their  dates. 
Comerius  was  considered  by  his  later  fellow  professionals  to  have  been  the  teacher  of  the  art 
to  Cleopatra  (ist  Century  B.C.),  and  a  MSS  with  a  title  to  that  effect  exists  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  at  Paris.  The  celebrated  Cleopatra  seems  to  have  stood  very  high  in  the  estimation 
of  the  Alchemists  ;  perhaps  her  doubtful  character  found  a  response  among  them  ;  there  are 
various  works  extant  in  MSS  attributed  to  her,  but  nothing  can  be  known  as  to  their 
authenticity.  Lucius  Apulejus  or  Apuleius  was  born  in  Numidia  about  the  2nd  Century  ; 
he  was  a  Roman  Platonic  Philosopher,  and  was  the  author  of  a  romance,  "  The  Metamorphosis, 
or  the  Golden  Ass."  Synesius  was  a  Greek,  but  of  unknown  period  ;  there  is  a  MSS  treatise 
on  the  Philosopher's  Stone  in  the  library  at  Leyden  under  his  name,  and  various  printed  works 
are  attributed  to  him  ;  he  mentions  "  water  of  saltpetre,"  and  has,  therefore,  been  hazarded 
to  be  the  earliest  recorder  of  nitric  acid.  The  work  here  referred  to  as  "  Heliodorus  to 
Theodosius  "  was  probably  the  MSS  in  the  Libraries  at  Paris,  Vienna,  Munich,  etc.,  under 
the  title  of  "  Heliodorus  the  Philosopher's  Poem  to  the  Emperor  Theodosius  the  Great  on  the 
Mystic  Art  of  the  Philosophers,  etc."  His  period  would,  therefore,  be  about  the  4th  Century. 
The  Alexandrian  Zosimus  is  more  generally  known  as  Zosimus  the  Panopolite,  from  Panopolis, 
an  ancient  town  on  the  Nile  ;  he  flourished  in  the  5th  Century,  and  belonged  to  the 
Alexandrian  School  of  Alchemists  ;  he  should  not  be  confused  with  the  Roman  historian 
of  the  same  name  and  period.  The  following  statement  is  by  Boerhaave  (Elementa  Chemiae, 
Paris,  1724,  Chap.  I.) : — "  The  name  Chemistry  written  in  Greek,  or  Chemia,  is  so  ancient 


xxx.  PREFACE 

a  discourse  on  the  finding  of  veins.  The  third  book  deals  with  veins  and 
stringers,  and  seams  in  the  rocks.  The  fourth  book  explains  the  method  of 
delimiting  veins,  and  also  describes  the  functions  of  the  mining  officials. 
The  fifth  book  describes  the  digging  of  ore  and  the  surveyor's  art.  The 
sixth  book  describes  the  miners'  tools  and  machines.  The  seventh  book  is 
on  the  assaying  of  ore.  The  eighth  book  lays  down  the  rules  for  the  work  of 
roasting,  crushing,  and  washing  the  ore.  The  ninth  book  explains  the 
methods  of  smelting  ores.  The  tenth  book  instructs  those  who  are  studious 
of  the  metallic  arts  in  the  work  of  separating  silver  from  gold,  and  lead  from 
gold  and  silver.  The  eleventh  book  shows  the  way  of  separating  silver  from 
copper.  The  twelfth  book  gives  us  rules  for  manufacturing  salt,  soda,  alum, 
vitriol,  sulphur,  bitumen,  and  glass. 

Although  I  have  not  fulfilled  the  task  which  I  have  undertaken,  on  account 
of  the  great  magnitude  of  the  subject,  I  have,  at  all  events,  endeavoured  to  fulfil 
it,  for  I  have  devoted  much  labour  and  care,  and  have  even  gone  to  some 
expense  upon  it ;  for  with  regard  to  the  veins,  tools,  vessels,  sluices,  machines, 
and  furnaces,  I  have  not  only  described  them,  but  have  also  hired  illustrators 
to  delineate  their  forms,  lest  descriptions  which  are  conveyed  by  words 
should  either  not  be  understood  by  men  of  our  own  times,  or  should  cause 
difficulty  to  posterity,  in  the  same  way  as  to  us  difficulty  is  often  caused  by 
many  names  which  the  Ancients  (because  such  words  were  familiar  to  all  of 
them)  have  handed  down  to  us  without  any  explanation. 

I  have  omitted  all  those  things  which  I  have  not  myself  seen,  or  have 

'  as  perhaps  to  have  been  used  in  the  antediluvian  age.     Of  this  opinion  was  Zosimus  the 

'  Panopolite,  whose  Greek  writings,  though  known  as  long  as  before  the  year  1550  to  George 

'  Agricola,   and   afterwards   perused     .     .     .     .     by   Jas.    Scaliger   and   Olaus   Bofrichius, 

'  still  remain  unpublished  in  the  King  of  France's  library.     In  one  of  these,   entitled,  '  The 

'  Instruction  of  Zosimus  the  Panopolite  and  Philosopher,  out  of  those  written  to  Theosebeia, 

'etc.  .  .  .'     Olympiodorus  was  an  Alexandrian  of  the  5th  Century,  whose  writings  were  largely 

commentaries   on   Plato  and  Aristotle  ;  he  is  sometimes  accredited  with  being  the  first  to 

describe  white  arsenic  (arsenical  oxide).     The  full  title  of  the  work  styled  "Stephanus  to 

Heracleus  Caesar,"  as  published  in  Latin  at  Padua  in  1573,  was  "  Stephan  of  Alexandria,  the 

"  Universal  Philosopher  and  Master,  his  nine  processes  on  the  great  art  of  making  gold  and 

"  silver,  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Heraclius."     He,  therefore,  if  authentic,  dates  in  the 

7th  Century. 

To  the  next  class  belong  those  of  the  Middle  Ages,  which  we  give  in  order  of  date. 
The  works  attributed  to  Geber  play  such  an  important  part  in  the  history  of  Chemistry  and 
Metallurgy  that  we  discuss  his  book  at  length  in  Appendix  B.  Late  criticism  indicates  that  this 
work  was  not  the  production  of  an  8th  Century  Arab,  but  a  compilation  of  some  Latin  scholar 
of  the  I2th  or  I3th  Centuries.  Arnold  de  Villa  Nova,  born  about  1240,  died  in  1313, 
was  celebrated  as  a  physician,  philosopher,  and  chemist ;  his  first  works  were  published 
in  Lyons  in  1504 ;  many  of  them  have  apparently  never  been  printed,  for  references  may  be 
found  to  some  18  different  works.  Raymond  Lully,  a  Spaniard,  born  in  1235,  who 
was  a  disciple  of  Arnold  de  Villa  Nova,  was  stoned  to  death  in  Africa  in  1315.  There  are 
extant  over  100  works  attributed  to  this  author,  although  again  the  habit  of  disciples  of  writing 
under  the  master's  name  may  be  responsible  for  most  of  these.  John  Aurelio  Augurello^was 
an  Italian  Classicist,  born  in  Rimini  about  1453.  Thework  referred  to,  Chrysopoeia  et  Gerontica 
is  a  poem  on  the  art  of  making  gold,  etc.,  published  in  Venice,  1515,  and  re-published 
frequently  thereafter  ;  it  is  much  quoted  by  Alchemists.  With  regard  to  Merlin,  as  satis- 
factory an  account  as  any  of  this  truly  English  magician  may  be  found  in  Mark  Twain's 
'  Yankee  at  the  Court  of  King  Arthur."  It  is  of  some  interest  to  note  that  Agricola  omits 
from  his  list  Avicenna  (980-1037  A.D.),  Roger  Bacon  (1214-1294),  Albertus  Magnus  (1193- 
1280),  Basil  Valentine  (end  isth  century  ?),  and  Paracelsus,  a  contemporary  of  his  own. 
In  De  Ortu  et  Causis  he  expends  much  thought  on  refutation  of  theories  advanced  by  Avicenna 
and  Albertus,  but  of  the  others  we  have  found  no  mention,  although  their  work  is,  from  a 
chemical  point  of  view,  of  considerable  importance. 


PREFACE  xxxi. 

not  read  or  heard  of  from  persons  upon  whom  I  can  rely.  That  which  I  have 
neither  seen,  nor  carefully  considered  after  reading  or  hearing  of,  I  have  not 
written  about.  The  same  rule  must  be  understood  with  regard  to  all  my  in- 
struction, whether  I  enjoin  things  which  ought  to  be  done,  or  describe  things 
which  are  usual,  or  condemn  things  which  are  done.  Since  the  art  of  mining 
does  not  lend  itself  to  elegant  language,  these  books  of  mine  are  correspond- 
ingly lacking  in  refinement  of  style.  The  things  dealt  with  in  this  art  of 
metals  sometimes  lack  names,  either  because  they  are  new,  or  because,  even 
if  they  are  old,  the  record  of  the  names  by  which  they  were  formerly  known 
has  been  lost.  For  this  reason  I  have  been  forced  by  a  necessity,  for  which  I 
must  be  pardoned,  to  describe  some  of  them  by  a  number  of  words  combined, 
and  to  distinguish  others  by  new  names, — to  which  latter  class  belong  Ingestor, 
Discretor,  Lotor,  and  Excoctor.13  Other  things,  again,  I  have  alluded  to  by  old 
names,  such  as  the  Cisium;  for  when  Nonius  Marcellus  wrote,14  this  was 
the  name  of  a  two-wheeled  vehicle,  but  I  have  adopted  it  for  a  small  vehicle 
which  has  only  one  wheel ;  and  if  anyone  does  not  approve  of  these  names, 
let  him  either  find  more  appropriate  ones  for  these  things,  or  discover  the 
words  used  in  the  writings  of  the  Ancients. 

These  books,  most  illustrious  Princes,  are  dedicated  to  you  for  many 
reasons,  and,  above  all  others,  because  metals  have  proved  of  the  greatest 
value  to  you  ;  for  though  your  ancestors  drew  rich  profits  from  the  revenues 
of  their  vast  and  wealthy  territories,  and  likewise  from  the  taxes  which  were 
paid  by  the  foreigners  by  way  of  toll  and  by  the  natives  by  way  of  tithes,  yet 
they  drew  far  richer  profits  from  the  mines.  Because  of  the  mines  not  a  few 
towns  have  risen  into  eminence,  such  as  Freiberg,  Annaberg,  Marienberg, 
Schneeberg,  Geyer,  and  Altenberg,  not  to  mention  others.  Nay,  if  I  under- 
stand anything,  greater  wealth  now  lies  hidden  beneath  the  ground  in  the 
mountainous  parts  of  your  territory  than  is  visible  and  apparent  above 
ground.  Farewell.  , 

Chemnitz,  Saxony, 

December  First,  1550. 

^Ingestor, — Carrier  ;  Discretor, — Sorter ;  Lotor,— -Washer  ;  Excoctor, — Smelter. 
14Nonius    Marcellus  was  a  Roman   grammarian  of  the  4th  Century  B.C.     His  extant 
treatise  is  entitled,  De  Compendiosa  Doctrina  per  Litteras  ad  Filium. 


BOOK    I. 


ANY  persons  hold  the  opinion  that  the  metal  indus- 
tries are  fortuitous  and  that  the  occupation  is  one 
of  sordid  toil,  and  altogether  a  kind  of  business 
requiring  not  so  much  skill  as  labour.  But  as  for 
myself,  when  I  reflect  carefully  upon  its  special 
points  one  by  one,  it  appears  to  be  far  otherwise. 
For  a  miner  must  have  the  greatest  skill  in  his 
work,  that  he  may  know  first  of  all  what  mountain 
or  hill,  what  valley  or  plain,  can  be  prospected  most 
profitably,  or  what  he  should  leave  alone ;  moreover,  he  must  understand  the 
veins,  stringers1  and  seams  in  the  rocks2.  Then  he  must  be  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  many  and  varied  species  of  earths,  juices3,  gems, 
stones,  marbles,  rocks,  metals,  and  compounds4.  He  must  also  have  a 

1Fibrae — "  fibres."     See  Note  6,  p.  70. 

*Commissurae  saxorum — "  rock  joints,"  "  seams,"  or  "  cracks."  Agricola  and  all  of 
the  old  authors  laid  a  wholly  unwarranted  geologic  value  on  these  phenomena.  See  descrip- 
tion and  footnotes,  Book  III.,  pages  43  and  72. 

3Succi — "  juice,"  or  sued  concreli — "  solidified  juice."  Ger.  Trans.,  saffte.  The 
old  English  translators  and  mineralogists  often  use  the  word  juices  in  the  same  sense, 
and  we  have  adopted  it.  The  words  "  solutions  "  and  "  salts  "  convey  a  chemical  significance 
not  warranted  by  the  state  of  knowledge  in  Agricola's  time.  Instances  of  the  former  use  of 
this  word  maybe  seen  in  Barba's  "First  Book  of  the  Art  of  Metals,"  (Trans.  Earl  Sandwich, 
London,  1674,  p.  2,  etc.,)  and  in  Pryce's  Mineralogia  Cornubiensis  (London,  1778,  p.  25,  32). 

*In  order  that  the  reader  should  be  able  to  grasp  the  author's  point  of  view  as  to  his 
divisions  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  we  introduce  here  his  own  statement  from  De  Natura 
Fossilium,  (p.  180).  It  is  also  desirable  to  read  the  footnote  on  his  theory  of  ore-deposits  on 
pages  43  to  53,  and  the  review  of  De  Natura  Fossilium  given  in  the  Appendix. 

"  The  subterranean  inanimate  bodies  are  divided  into  two  classes,  one  of  which,  because 
"  it  is  a  fluid  or  an  exhalation,  is  called  by  those  names,  and  the  other  class  is  called  the 
"  minerals.  Mineral  bodies  are  solidified  from  particles  of  the  same  substance,  such  as  pure 
"  gold,  each  particle  of  which  is  gold,  or  they  are  of  different  substances  such  as  lumps  which 
"  consist  of  earth,  stone,  and  metal ;  these  latter  may  be  separated  into  earth,  stone  and 
"  metal,  and  therefore  the  first  is  not  a  mixture  while  the  last  is  called  a  mixture.  The  first 
"  are  again  divided  into  simple  and  compound  minerals.  The  simple  minerals  are  of  four 
"  classes,  namely  earths,  solidified  juices,  stones  and  metals,  while  the  mineral  compounds 
"  are  of  many  sorts,  as  I  shall  explain  later." 

"  Earth  is  a  simple  mineral  body  which  may  be  kneaded  in  the  hands  when  moistened, 
"  or  from  which  lute  is  made  when  it  has  been  wetted.  Earth,  properly  so  called,  is  found 
"  enclosed  in  veins  or  veinlets,  or  frequently  on  the  surface  in  fields  and  meadows.  This 
"  definition  is  a  general  one.  The  harder  earth,  although  moistened  by  water,  does  not  at 
"  once  become  lute,  but  does  turn  into  lute  if  it  remains  in  water  for  some  time.  There  are 
"  many  species  of  earths,  some  of  which  have  names  but  others  are  unnamed." 

"  Solidified  juices  are  dry  and  somewhat  hard  (subdurus)  mineral  bodies  which  when 
"  moistened  with  water  do  not  soften  but  liquefy  instead  ;  or  if  they  do  soften,  they  differ 
"  greatly  from  the  earths  by  their  unctuousness  (pingue)  or  by  the  material  of  which  they 
"  consist.  Although  occasionally  they  have  the  hardness  of  stone,  yet  because  they  preserve 
"  the  form  and  nature  which  they  had  when  less  hard,  they  can  easily  be  distinguished  from 
"  the  stones.  The  juices  are  divided  into  'meagre'  and  unctuous  (macer  et  pinguis).  The 
"'meagre'  juices,  since  they  originate  from  three  different  substances,  are  of  three  species. 
"  They  are  formed  from  a  liquid  mixed  with  earth,  or  with  metal,  or  with  a 
"  mineral  compound.  To  the  first  species  belong  salt  and  Nitrum  (soda)  ;  to  the  second, 
"  chrysocolla,  verdigris,  iron-rust,  and  azure  ;  to  the  third,  vitriol,  alum,  and  an  acrid  juice 
"  which  is  unnamed.  The  first  two  of  these  latter  are  obtained  from  pyrites,  which  is 
"  numbered  amongst  the  compound  minerals.  The  third  of  these  comes  from  Cadmia  (in 
"  this  case  the  cobalt-zinc-arsenic  minerals  ;  the  acrid  juice  is  probably  zinc  sulphate).  To 
"  the  unctuous  juices  belong  these  species  :  sulphur,  bitumen,  realgar  and  orpiment.  Vitriol 
"  and  alum,  although  they  are  somewhat  unctuous  yet  do  not  burn,  and  they  differ  in 
"  their  origin  from  the  unctuous  juices,  for  the  latter  are  forced  out  from  the  earth  by  heat, 
"  whereas  the  former  are  produced  when  pyrites  is  softened  by  moisture." 


2  BOOK    I. 

complete  knowledge  of  the  method  of  making  all  underground  works. 
Lastly,  there  are  the  various  systems  of  assaying5  substances  and  of 
preparing  them  for  smelting ;  and  here  again  there  are  many  altogether 
diverse  methods.  For  there  is  one  method  for  gold  and  silver,  another 
for  copper,  another  for  quicksilver,  another  for  iron,  another  for  lead,  and 

"  Stone  is  a  dry  and  hard  mineral  body  which  may  either  be  softened  by  remaining 
'  for  a  long  time  in  water  and  be  reduced  to  powder  by  a  fierce  fire ;  or  else  it  does  not 
"  soften  with  water  but  the  heat  of  a  great  fire  liquefies  it.  To  the  first  species  belong 
'  those  stones  which  have  been  solidified  by  heat,  to  the  second  those  solidified  (literally 
'  'congealed')  by  cold.  These  two  species  of  stones  are  constituted  from  their  own  material. 
'  However,  writers  on  natural  subjects  who  take  into  consideration  the  quantity  and  quality 
'  of  stones  and  their  value,  divide  them  into  four  classes.  The  first  of  these  has  no  name  of 
'  its  own  but  is  called  in  common  parlance  'stone*  :  to  this  class  belong  loadstone,  jasper  (or 
bloodstone)  and  Aetites  (geodes  ?).  The  second  class  comprises  hard  stones,  either  pellucid 
or  ornamental,  with  very  beautiful  and  varied  colours  which  sparkle  marvellously  ;  they 
are  called  gems.  The  third  comprises  stones  which  are  only  brilliant  after  they  have  been 
polished,  and  are  usually  called  marble.  The  fourth  are  called  rocks ;  they  are  found  in 
quarries,  from  which  they  are  hewn  out  for  use  in  building,  and  they  are  cut  into  various 
shapes.  None  of  the  rocks  show  colour  or  take  a  polish.  Few  of  the  stones  sparkle  ;  fewer 
still  are  transparent.  Marble  is  sometimes  only  distinguishable  from  opaque  gems  by  its 
volume  ;  rock  is  always  distinguishable  from  stones  properly  so-called  by  its  volume.  Both 
the  stones  and  the  gems  are  usually  to  be  found  in  veins  and  veinlets  which  traverse  the 
rocks  and  marble.  These  four  classes,  as  I  have  already  stated,  are  divided  into  many 
species,  which  I  will  explain  in  their  proper  place." 

"  Metal  is  a  mineral  body,  by  nature  either  liquid  or  somewhat  hard.  The  latter  may 
"  be  melted  by  the  heat  of  the  fire,  but  when  it  has  cooled  down  again  and  lost  all  heat,  it 
"  becomes  hard  again  and  resumes  its  proper  form.  In  this  respect  it  differs  from  the 
"  stone  which  melts  in  the  fire,  for  although  the  latter  regain  its  hardness,  yet  it  loses 
"  its  pristine  form  and  properties.  Traditionally  there  are  six  different  kinds  of  metals, 
"  namely  gold,  silver,  copper,  iron,  tin  and  lead.  There  are  really  others,  for  quicksilver  is  a 
"  metal,  although  the  Alchemists  disagree  with  us  on  this  subject,  and  bismuth  is  also.  The 
"  ancient  Greek  writers  seem  to  have  been  ignorant  of  bismuth,  wherefore  Ammonius  rightly 
'  states  that  there  are  many  species  of  metals,  animals,  and  plants  which  are  unknown  to  us. 
'  Stibium  when  smelted  in  the  crucible  and  refined  has  as  much  right  to  be  regarded  as  a 
'  proper  metal  as  is  accorded  to  lead  by  writers.  If  when  smelted,  a  certain  portion  be 
'  added  to  tin,  a  bookseller's  alloy  is  produced  from  which  the  type  is  made  that  is  used  by 
'  those  who  print  books  on  paper.  Each  metal  has  its  own  form  which  it  preserves  when 
'  separated  from  those  metals  which  were  mixed  with  it.  Therefore  neither  electrum  nor 
'  Stannum  is  of  itself  a  real  metal,  but  rather  an  alloy  of  two  metals.  Electrum  is  an  alloy 
'  of  gold  and  silver,  Stannum  of  lead  and  silver  (see  note  33  p  473).  And  yet  if  silver  be 
'  parted  from  the  electrum,  then  gold  remains  and  not  electrum  ;  if  silver  be  taken  away 
'  from  Stannum,  then  lead  remains  and  not  Stannum.  Whether  brass,  however,  is  found  as 
'  a  native  metal  or  not,  cannot  be  ascertained  with  any  surety.  We  only  know  of  the 
'  artificial  brass,  which  consists  of  copper  tinted  with  the  colour  of  the  mineral  calamine. 
'  And  yet  if  any  should  be  dug  up,  it  would  be  a  proper  metal.  Black  and  white  copper 
"  seem  to  be  different  from  the  red  kind.  Metal,  therefore,  is  by  nature  either  solid,  as  I 
"  have  stated,  or  fluid,  as  in  the  unique  case  of  quicksilver.  But  enough  now  concerning  the 
"  simple  kinds." 

"  I  will  now  speak  of  the  compounds  which  are  composed  of  the  simple  minerals 
"  cemented  together  by  nature,  and  under  the  word  '  compound  '  I  now  discuss  those 
"  mineral  bodies  which  consist  of  two  or  three  simple  minerals.  They  are  likewise  mineral 
"  substances,  but  so  thoroughly  mixed  and  alloyed  that  even  in  the  smallest  part  there  is 
"  not  wanting  any  substance  that  is  contained  in  the  whole.  Only  by  the  force  of  the  fire 
"  is  it  possible  to  separate  one  of  the  simple  mineral  substances  from  another  ;  either  the 
"  third  from  the  other  two,  or  two  from  the  third,  if  there  were  three  in  the  same  compound. 
"  These  two,  three  or  more  bodies  are  so  completely  mixed  into  one  new  species  that  the 
"  pristine  form  of  none  of  these  is  recognisable." 

"  The  '  mixed '  minerals,  which  are  composed  of  those  same  simple  minerals,  differ 

'  from  the  '  compounds,"  in  that  the  simple  minerals  each  preserves  its  own  form  so  that 

"  they  can  be  separated  one  from  the  other  not  only  by  fire  but  sometimes  by  water  and 

"  sometimes  by  hand.     As  these  two  classes  differ  so  greatly  from  one  another  I  usually  use 

"  two  different  words  in  order  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.     I  am  well  aware  that 

6Experiendae — "  a  trial."  That  actual  assaying  in  its  technical  sense  is  meant,  is 
sufficiently  evident  from  Book  VII. 


BOOK    I. 


even  tin  and  bismuth6  are  treated  differently  from  lead.  Although  the 
evaporation  of  juices  is  an  art  apparently  quite  distinct  from  metallurgy, 
yet  they  ought  not  to  be  considered  separately,  inasmuch  as  these  juices 
are  also  often  dug  out  of  the  ground  solidified,  or  they  are  produced  from 
certain  kinds  of  earth  and  stones  which  the  miners  dig  up,  and  some  of  the 
juices  are  not  themselves  devoid  of  metals.  Again,  their  treatment  is  not 
simple,  since  there  is  one  method  for  common  salt,  another  for  soda7, 
another  for  alum,  another  for  vitriol8,  another  for  sulphur,  and  another 
for  bitumen. 

Furthermore,  there  are  many  arts  and  sciences  of  which  a  miner  should 
not  be  ignorant.  First  there  is  Philosophy,  that  he  may  discern  the  origin, 
cause,  and  nature  of  subterranean  things  ;  for  then  he  will  be  able  to  dig 
out  the  veins  easily  and  advantageously,  and  to  obtain  more  abundant  results 
from  his  mining.  Secondly,  there  is  Medicine,  that  he  may  be  able  to  look 
after  his  diggers  and  other  workmen,  that  they  do  not  meet  with  those 

"  Galen  calls  the  metallic  earth  a  compound  which  is  really  a  mixture,  but  he  who  wishes  to 
"  instruct  others  should  bestow  upon  each  separate  thing  a  definite  name." 

For  convenience  of  reference  we  may  reduce  the  above  to  a  diagram  as  follows  : 
i.     Fluids  and  gases. 

Earths 
(a)     Simple 


A.     Homogenous  • 
bodies 


minerals 


Solidified  juices 

Stones 

Metals 


(b) 


2.     Mineral/ 
bodies  i 


Compound  i  Being  homogenous  mixtures 
minerals  1  of  (a) 


B.     Mixtures.     Being  heterogeneous  mixtures  of  (a) 

•...'..     plumbum     ....      candidum    ac    cinereum    vel    nigrum.       "  Lead 

"  .     .     .     white,  or  ash-coloured,  or  black."      Agricola  himself  coined  the  term  plumbum 

cinereum  for  bismuth,   no   doubt  following  the  Roman  term  for  tin — plumbum  candidum. 

The    following    passage    from    Bermannus    (p.    439)    is    of    interest,    for  it   appears  to  be 

the    first   description   of  bismuth,  although  mention  of  it  occurs  in  the  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin 

(see  Appendix  B).     "  Bermannus  :  I  will  show  you  another  kind  of  mineral  which  is  numbered 

amongst  metals,  but  appears  to  me  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  Ancients ;  we  call  it 

bisemutum.     Naevius  :   Then  in   your  opinion  there  are  more  kinds  of  metals  than  the 

seven  commonly  believed  ?      Bermannus  :   More,  I   consider  ;  for  this  which  just  now  I 

said  we  called  bisemutum,  cannot  correctly  be  called  plumbum  candidum  (tin),  nor  nigrum 

(lead),  but  is  different  from  both  and  is  a  third  one.     Plumbum  candidum  is  whiter  and 

plumbum  nigrum  is  darker,  as  you  see.     Naevius  :   We  see  that  this  is  of  the  colour  of 

galena.     Ancon  :    How  then  can  bisemutum,  as  you  call  it,  be  distinguished  from  galena  ? 

Bermannus  :    Easily  ;    when  you  take  it  in  your  hands  it  stains  them  with  black,  unless 

it   is   quite   hard.      The  hard  kind  is  not   friable   like   galena,   but   can   be   cut.      It  is 

blacker  than  the  kind  of  rudis  silver  which  we  say  is  almost  the  colour  of  lead,  and  thus 

is  different  from  both.     Indeed,  it  not  rarely  contains  some  silver.     It  generally  indicates 

that   there  is  silver  beneath  the  place  where  it  is  found,  and  because  of  this  our  miners 

are  accustomed  to  call  it  the  'roof  of  silver.'     They  are  wont  to  roast  this  mineral,  and 

from  the  better  part  they  make  metal ;  from  the  poorer  part  they  make  a  pigment  of  a 

kind  not  to  be  despised." 

''Nitrum.  The  Ancients  comprised  many  salts  under  this  head,  but  Agricola  in  the 
main  uses  it  for  soda,  although  sometimes  he  includes  potash.  He  usually,  however,  refers 
to  potash  as  lixivium  or  salt  therefrom,  and  by  other  distinctive  terms.  For  description 
of  method  of  manufacture  and  discussion,  see  Book  XII.,  p.  558. 

8Atramentum  sutorium — "  Shoemaker's  blacking."  See  p.  572  for  description  of  method 
of  manufacture  and  historical  footnote.  In  the  main  Agricola  means  green  vitriol,  but  he  does 
describe  three  main  varieties,  green,  blue,  and  white  (De  Natura  Fossilium,  p.  219).  The  blue 
was  of  course  copper  sulphate,  and  it  is  fairly  certain  that  the  white  was  zinc  vitriol. 


4  BOOK    I. 

diseases  to  which  they  are  more  liable  than  workmen  in  other  occupations, 
or  if  they  do  meet  with  them,  that  he  himself  may  be  able  to  heal  them  or 
may  see  that  the  doctors  do  so.  Thirdly  follows  Astronomy,  that  he  may 
know  the  divisions  of  the  heavens  and  from  them  judge  the  direction  of 
the  veins.  Fourthly,  there  is  the  science  of  Surveying  that  he  may  be  able 
to  estimate  how  deep  a  shaft  should  be  sunk  to  reach  the  tunnel  which  is 
being  driven  to  it,  and  to  determine  the  limits  and  boundaries  in  these 
workings,  especially  in  depth.  Fifthly,  his  knowledge  of  Arithmetical  Science 
should  be  such  that  he  may  calculate  the  cost  to  be  incurred  in  the 
machinery  and  the  working  of  the  mine.  Sixthly,  his  learning  must  comprise 
Architecture,  that  he  himself  may  construct  the  various  machines  and  timber 
work  required  underground,  or  that  he  may  be  able  to  explain  the  method 
of  the  construction  to  others.  Next,  he  must  have  knowledge  of  Drawing, 
that  he  can  draw  plans  of  his  machinery.  Lastly,  there  is  the  Law,  especially 
that  dealing  with  metals,  that  he  may  claim  his  own  rights,  that  he  may 
undertake  the  duty  of  giving  others  his  opinion  on  legal  matters,  that  he 
may  not  take  another  man's  property  and  so  make  trouble  for  himself,  and 
that  he  may  fulfil  his  obligations  to  others  according  to  the  law. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  that  those  who  take  an  interest  in  the  methods 
and  precepts  of  mining  and  metallurgy  should  read  these  and  others  of  our 
books  studiously  and  dil:gently  ;  or  on  every  point  they  should  consult 
expert  mining  people,  though  they  will  discover  few  who  are  skilled  in  the 
whole  art.  As  a  rule  one  man  understands  only  the  methods  of  mining, 
another  possesses  the  knowledge  of  washing9,  another  is  experienced  in  the 
art  of  smelting,  another  has  a  knowledge  of  measuring  the  hidden  parts  of 
the  earth,  another  is  skilful  in  the  art  of  making  machines,  and  finally, 
another  is  learned  in  mining  law.  But  as  for  us,  though  we  may  not  have 
perfected  the  whole  art  of  the  discovery  and  preparation  of  metals,  at  least 
we  can  be  of  great  assistance  to  persons  studious  in  its  acquisition. 

But  let  us  now  approach  the  subject  we  have  undertaken.  Since  there 
has  always  been  the  greatest  disagreement  amongst  men  concerning  metals 
and  mining,  some  praising,  others  utterly  condemning  them,  therefore  I  have 
decided  that  before  imparting  my  instruction,  I  should  carefully  weigh 
the  facts  with  a  view  to  discovering  the  truth  in  this  matter. 

So  I  may  begin  with  the  question  of  utility,  wlr'ch  is  a  two-fold  one, 
for  either  it  may  be  asked  whether  the  art  of  mining  is  really  profitable  or 
not  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  it,  or  whether  it  is  useful  or  not  to  the  rest 
of  mankind.  Those  who  think  mining  of  no  advantage  to  the  men  who  follow 
the  occupation  assert,  first,  that  scarcely  one  in  a  hundred  who  dig  metals  or 
other  such  things  derive  profit  therefrom ;  and  again,  that  miners,  because  they 
entrust  their  certain  and  well-established  wealth  to  dubious  and  slippery 
fortune,  generally  deceive  themselves,  and  as  a  result,  impoverished  by 

'Lavandi — "Washing."  By  this  term  the  author  includes  all  the  operations  of 
sluicing,  huddling,  and  wet  concentration  generally.  There  is  no  English  equivalent  of  such 
wide  application,  and  there  is  some  difficulty  in  interpretation  without  going  further  than 
the  author  intends.  Book  VIII.  is  devoted  to  the  subject. 


BOOK    I.  5 

expenses  and  losses,  in  the  end  spend  the  most  bitter  and  most  miserable  of 
lives.  But  persons  who  hold  these  views  do  not  perceive  how  much  a  learned 
and  experienced  miner  differs  from  one  ignorant  and  unskilled  in  the  art. 
The  latter  digs  out  the  ore  without  any  careful  discrimination,  while  the 
former  first  assays  and  proves  it,  and  when  he  finds  the  veins  either  too 
narrow  and  hard,  or  too  wide  and  soft,  he  infers  therefrom  that  these  cannot 
be  mined  profitably,  and  so  works  only  the  approved  ones.  What  wonder 
then  if  we  find  the  incompetent  miner  suffers  loss,  while  the  competent  one 
is  rewarded  by  an  abundant  return  from  his  mining  ?  The  same  thing 
applies  to  husbandmen.  For  those  who  cultivate  land  which  is  alike  arid, 
heavy,  and  barren,  and  in  which  they  sow  seeds,  do  not  make  so  great  a 
harvest  as  those  who  cultivate  a  fertile  and  mellow  soil  and  sow  their  grain 
in  that.  And  since  by  far  the  greater  number  of  miners  are  unskilled  rather 
than  skilled  in  the  art,  it  follows  that  mining  is  a  profitable  occupation  to 
very  few  men,  and  a  source  of  loss  to  many  more.  Therefore  the  mass  of 
miners  who  are  quite  unskilled  and  ignorant  in  the  knowledge  of  veins  not 
infrequently  lose  both  time  and  trouble10.  Such  men  are  accustomed  for  the 
most  part  to  take  to  mining,  either  when  through  being  weighted  with  the 
fetters  of  large  and  heavy  debts,  they  have  abandoned  a  business,  or  desiring  to 
change  their  occupation,  have  left  the  reaping-hook  and  plough ;  and  so 
if  at  any  time  such  a  man  discovers  rich  veins  or  other  abounding  mining 
produce,  this  occurs  more  by  good  luck  than  through  any  knowledge  on  his 
part.  We  learn  from  history  that  mining  has  brought  wealth  to  many,  for 
from  old  writings  it  is  well  known  that  prosperous  Republics,  not  a  few  kings, 
and  many  private  persons,  have  made  fortunes  through  mines  and  their 
produce.  This  subject,  by  the  use  of  many  clear  and  illustrious  examples,  I 
have  dilated  upon  and  explained  in  the  first  Book  of  my  work  entitled  "  De 
Veteribus  et  Novis  MetalUs,"  from  which  it  is  evident  that  mining  is  very 
profitable  to  those  who  give  it  care  and  attention. 

Again,  those  who  condemn  the  mining  industry  say  that  it  is  not  in  the 
least  stable,  and  they  glorify  agriculture  beyond  measure.  But  I  do  not  see 
how  they  can  say  this  with  truth,  for  the  silver-mines  at  Freiberg  in  Meissen 
remain  still  unexhausted  after  400  years,  and  the  lead  mines  of  Goslar  after  600 
years.  The  proof  of  this  can  be  found  in  the  monuments  of  history.  The 
gold  and  silver  mines  belonging  to  the  communities  of  Schemnitz  and 
Cremnitz  have  been  worked  for  800  years,  and  these  latter  are  said  to  be 
the  most  ancient  privileges  of  the  inhabitants.  Some  then  say  the  profit 
from  an  individual  mine  is  unstable,  as  if  forsooth,  the  miner  is,  or  ought  to 
be  dependent  on  only  one  mine,  and  as  if  many  men  do  not  bear  in  common 
their  expenses  in  mining,  or  as  if  one  experienced  in  his  art  does  not  dig 
another  vein,  if  fortune  does  not  amply  respond  to  his  prayers  in  the  first 
case.  The  New  Schonberg  at  Freiberg  has  remained  stable  beyond  the 
memory  of  man11. 

100peram  et  oleum  perdit — "  loss  of  labour  and  oil." 

uln  Veteribus  et  Novis  MetalUs,  and  Bermannus,   Agricola  states   that   the  mines  of 
Schemnitz  were  worked  800  years  before  that  time  (1530),  or  about  750  A.D.,  and,   further, 


6  BOOK    I. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  detract  anything  from  the  dignity  of  agri- 
culture, and  that  the  profits  of  mining  are  less  stable  I  will  always  and  readily 
admit,  for  the  veins  do  in  time  cease  to  yield  metals,  whereas  the  fields  bring 
forth  fruits  every  year.  But  though  the  business  of  mining  may  be  less 
reliable  it  is  more  productive,  so  that  in  reckoning  up,  what  is  wanting  in 
stability  is  found  to  be  made  up  by  productiveness.  Indeed,  the  yearly 
profit  of  a  lead  mine  in  comparison  with  the  fruitfulness  of  the  best  fields, 
is  three  times  or  at  least  twice  as  great.  How  much  does  the  profit  from 
gold  or  silver  mines  exceed  that  earned  from  agriculture  ?  Wherefore  truly 
and  shrewdly  does  Xenophon12  write  about  the  Athenian  silver  mines  : 
"  There  is  land  of  such  a  nature  that  if  you  sow,  it  does  not  yield  crops, 
but  if  you  dig,  it  nourishes  many  more  than  if  it  had  borne  fruit."  So  let 
the  farmers  have  for  themselves  the  fruitful  fields  and  cultivate  the  fertile 
hills  for  the  sake  of  their  produce  ;  but  let  them  leave  to  miners  the  gloomy 
valleys  and  sterile  mountains,  that  they  may  draw  forth  from  these,  gems 
and  metals  which  can  buy,  not  only  the  crops,  but  all  things  that  are  sold. 

The  critics  say  further  that  mining  is  a  perilous  occupation  to  pursue, 
because  the  miners  are  sometimes  killed  by  the  pestilential  air  which  they 
breathe ;  sometimes  their  lungs  rot  away  ;  sometimes  the  men  perish  by  being 
crushed  in  masses  of  rock  ;  sometimes,  falling  from  the  ladders  into  the 
shafts,  they  break  their  arms,  legs,  or  necks ;  and  it  is  added  there  is  no  com- 
pensation which  should  be  thought  great  enough  to  equalize  the  extreme 
dangers  to  safety  and  life.  These  occurrences,  I  confess,  are  of  exceeding 
gravity,  and  moreover,  fraught  with  terror  and  peril,  so  that  I  should  con- 
sider that  the  metals  should  not  be  dug  up  at  all,  if  such  things  were  to  happen 
very  frequently  to  the  miners,  or  if  they  could  not  safely  guard  against  such 
risks  by  any  means.  Who  would  not  prefer  to  live  rather  than  to  possess 
all  things,  even  the  metals  ?  For  he  who  thus  perishes  possesses  nothing, 
but  relinquishes  all  to  his  heirs.  But  since  things  like  this  rarely  happen, 
and  only  in  so  far  as  workmen  are  careless,  they  do  not  deter  miners  from 
carrying  on  their  trade  any  more  than  it  would  deter  a  carpenter  from  his, 
because  one  of  his  mates  has  acted  incautiously  and  lost  his  life  by  falling 
from  a  high  building.  I  have  thus  answered  each  argument  which  critics  are 
wont  to  put  before  me  when  they  assert  that  mining  is  an  undesirable  occupa- 
tion, because  it  involves  expense  with  uncertainty  of  return,  because  it  is 
changeable,  and  because  it  is  dangerous  to  those  engaged  in  it. 

Now  I  come  to  those  critics  who  say  that  mining  is  not  useful  to  the 
rest  of  mankind  because  forsooth,  gems,  metals,  and  other  mineral  products 
are  worthless  in  themselves.  This  admission  they  try  to  extort  from  us, 
partly  by  arguments  and  examples,  partly  by  misrepresentations  and  abuse  of 
us.  First,  they  make  use  of  this  argument :  "  The  earth  does  not  conceal 
and  remove  from  our  eyes  those  things  which  are  useful  and  necessary  to 

that  the  lead  mines  of  Goslar  in  the  Hartz  were    worked  by    Otho  the  Great  (936-973), 
and  that  the  silver  mines  at  Freiberg  were  discovered  during  the  rule  of  Prince   Otho   (about 
1170).      To  continue  the  argument  to-day  we  could  add  about  360  years  more  of  life  to  the 
mines  of  Goslar  and  Freiberg.     See  also  Note  16,  p.  36,  and  note  19,  p.  37. 
12Xenophon.     Essay  on  the  Revenues  of  Athens,  i.,  5. 


BOOK    I.  7 

mankind,  but  on  the  contrary,  like  a  beneficent  and  kindly  mother  she  yields 
in  large  abundance  from  her  bounty  and  brings  into  the  light  of  day  the 
herbs,  vegetables,  grains,  and  fruits,  and  the  trees.  The  minerals  on  the 
other  hand  she  buries  far  beneath  in  the  depth  of  the  ground;  therefore, 
they  should  not  be  sought.  But  they  are  dug  out  by  wicked  men  who,  as 
the  poets  say,  are  the  products  of  the  Iron  Age."  Ovid  censures  their 
audacity  in  the  following  lines  :— 

"  And  not  only  was  the  rich  soil  required  to  furnish  corn  and  due 

sustenance,  but  men  even  descended  into  the  entrails  of  the  earth,  and 

they  dug  up  riches,  those  incentives  to  vice,  which  the  earth  had  hidden 

and  had  removed  to  the  Stygian  shades.     Then  destructive  iron  came 

forth,  and  gold,  more  destructive  than  iron  ;  then  war  came  forth."13 

Another  of  their  arguments  is  this  :   Metals  offer  to  men  no  advantages, 

therefore  we  ought  not  to  search  them  out.     For  whereas  man  is  composed 

of  soul  and  body,  neither  is  in  want  of  minerals.     The  sweetest  food  of  the 

soul  is  the  contemplation  of  nature,  a  knowledge  of  the  finest  arts  and  sciences, 

an  understanding  of  virtue  ;  and  if  he  interests  his  mind  in  excellent  things, 

if  he  exercise  his  body,  he  will  be  satisfied  with  this  feast  of  noble  thoughts  and 

knowledge,  and  have  no  desire  for  other  things.     Now  although  the  human 

body  may  be  content  with  necessary  food  and  clothing,  yet  the  fruits  of  the 

earth  and  the  animals  of  different  kinds  supply  him  in  wonderful  abundance 

with  food  and  drink,  from  which  the  body  may  be  suitably  nourished  and 

strengthened  and  life  prolonged  to  old  age.     Flax,  wool,  and  the  skins  of 

many  animals  provide  plentiful  clothing  low  in  price  ;  while  a  luxurious  kind, 

not  hard  to  procure — that  is  the  so  called  seric  material,  is  furnished  by  the 

down  of  trees  and  the  webs  of  the  silk  worm.     So  that  the  body  has  absolutely 

no  need  of  the  metals,  so  hidden  in  the  depths  of  the  earth  and  for  the  greater 

part  very  expensive.     Wherefore  it  is  said  that  this  maxim  of  Euripides  is 

approved  in  assemblies  of  learned  men,  and  with  good  reason  was  always  on 

the  lips  of  Socrates  : 

"  Works  of  silver  and  purple  are  of  use,  not  for  human  life,  but 
rather  for  Tragedians."14 
These  critics  praise  also  this  saying  from  Timocreon  of  Rhodes  : 

"  O  Unseeing  Plutus,  would  that  thou  hadst  never  appeared  in  the 
earth  or  in  the  sea  or  on  the  land,  but  that  thou  didst  have  thy  habita- 
tion in  Tartarus  and  Acheron,  for  out  of  thee  arise  all  evil  things  which 
overtake  mankind  "15. 
They  greatly  extol  these  lines  from  Phocylides  : 

"  Gold  and  silver  are  injurious  to  mortals  ;  gold  is  the  source  of 
crime,  the  plague  of  life,  and  the  ruin  of  all  things.  Would  that  thou 
were  not  such  an  attractive  scourge  !  because  of  thee  arise  robberies, 

13Ovid,  Metamorphoses,  I.,  137  to  143. 

14Diogenes  Laertius,  n.,  5.  The  lines  are  assigned,  however,  to  Philemon,  not 
Euripides.  (Kock,  Comicorum  Atticorum  Fragmenta  u.,  512). 

1BWe  have  not  considered  it  of  sufficient  interest  to  cite  the  references  to  all  of  the 
minor  poets  and  those  whose  preserved  works  are  but  fragmentary.  The  translations  from 
the  Greek  into  Latin  are  not  literal  and  suffer  again  by  rendering  into  English  ;  we  have  how- 
ever considered  it  our  duty  to  translate  Agricola's  view  of  the  meaning. 


8  BOOK     I. 

homicides,    warfare,    brothers    are    maddened    against    brothers,    and 

children  against  parents." 
This  from  Naumachius  also  pleases  them  : 

"  Gold  and  silver  are  but  dust,  like  the  stones  that  lie  scattered  on 

the  pebbly  beach,  or  on  the  margins  of  the  rivers." 
On  the  other  hand,  they  censure  these  verses  of  Euripides  : 

"  Plutus  is  the  god  for  wise  men  ;   all  else  is  mere  folly  and  at  the 

same  time  a  deception  in  words." 
So  in  like  manner  these  lines  from  Theognis  : 

"  O  Plutus,  thou  most  beautiful  and  placid  god  !   whilst  I  have  thee, 

however  bad  I  am,  I  can  be  regarded  as  good." 
They  also  blame  Aristodemus,  the  Spartan,  for  these  words  : 

"  Money  makes  the  man  ;    no  one  who  is  poor  is  either  good  or 

honoured." 
And  they  rebuke  these  songs  of  Timocles  : 

"  Money  is  the  life  and  soul  of  mortal  men.     He  who  has  not 

heaped  up  riches  for  himself  wanders  like  a  dead  man  amongst  the 

living." 
Finally,  they  blame  Menander  when  he  wrote  : 

"  Epicharmus  asserts  that  the  gods  are  water,  wind,  fire,  earth,  sun, 

and  stars.     But  I  am  of  opinion  that  the  gods  of  any  use  to  us  are  silver 

and  gold  ;    for  if  thou  wilt  set  these  up  in  thy  house  thou  mayest  seek 

whatever  thou  wilt.    All  things  will  fall  to  thy  lot ;  land,  houses,  slaves, 

silver-work  ;  moreover  friends,  judges,  and  witnesses.    Only  give  freely, 

for  thus  thou  hast  the  gods  to  serve  thee." 

But  besides  this,  the  strongest  argument  of  the  detractors  is  that  the 
fields  are  devastated  by  mining  operations,  for  which  reason  formerly 
Italians  were  warned  by  law  that  no  one  should  dig  the  earth  for  metals  and 
so  injure  their  very  fertile  fields,  their  vineyards,  and  their  olive  groves. 
Also  they  argue  that  the  woods  and  groves  are  cut  down,  for  there  is  need  of 
an  endless  amount  of  wood  for  timbers,  machines,  and  the  smelting  of  metals. 
And  when  the  woods  and  groves  are  felled,  then  are  exterminated  the  beasts 
and  birds,  very  many  of  which  furnish  a  pleasant  and  agreeable  food  for  man. 
Further,  when  the  ores  are  washed,  the  water  which  has  been  used  poisons 
the  brooks  and  streams,  and  either  destroys  the  fish  or  drives  them  away. 
Therefore  the  inhabitants  of  these  regions,  on  account  of  the  devastation  of 
their  fields,  woods,  groves,  brooks  and  rivers,  find  great  difficulty  in  procuring 
the  necessaries  of  life,  and  by  reason  of  the  destruction  of  the  timber  they 
are  forced  to  greater  expense  in  erecting  buildings.  Thus  it  is  said,  it  is 
clear  to  all  that  there  is  greater  detriment  from  mining  than  the  value  of 
the  metals  which  the  mining  produces. 

So  in  fierce  contention  they  clamour,  showing  by  such  examples  as 
follow  that  every  great  man  has  been  content  with  virtue,  and  despised 
metals.  They  praise  Bias  because  he  esteemed  the  metals  merely 
as  fortune's  playthings,  not  as  his  real  wealth.  When  his  enemies  had 
captured  his  native  Priene,  and  his  fellow-citizens  laden  with  precious  things 


BOOK    I.  9 

had  betaken  themselves  to  flight,  he  was  asked  by  one,  why  he  carried 
away  none  of  his  goods  with  him,  and  he  replied,  "  I  carry  all  my  possessions 
with  me."  And  it  is  said  that  Socrates,  having  received  twenty  minae  sent 
to  him  by  Aristippus,  a  grateful  disciple,  refused  them  and  sent  them  back  to 
him  by  the  command  of  his  conscience.  Aristippus,  following  his  example 
in  this  matter,  despised  gold  and  regarded  it  as  of  no  value.  And  once 
when  he  was  making  a  journey  with  his  slaves,  and  they,  laden  with  the 
gold,  went  too  slowly,  he  ordered  them  to  keep  only  as  much  of  it  as  they 
could  carry  without  distress  and  to  throw  away  the  remainder16.  Moreover, 
Anacreon  of  Teos,  an  ancient  and  noble  poet,  because  he  had  been  troubled 
about  them  for  two  nights,  returned  five  talents  which  had  been  given  him 
by  Polycrates,  saying  that  they  were  not  worth  the  anxiety  which  he  had 
gone  through  on  their  account.  In  like  manner  celebrated  and  exceedingly 
powerful  princes  have  imitated  the  philosophers  in  their  scorn  and  contempt 
for  gold  and  silver.  There  was  for  example,  Phocion,  the  Athenian,  who  was 
appointed  general  of  the  army  so  many  times,  and  who,  when  a  large  sum  of  gold 
was  sent  to  him  as  a  gift  by  Alexander,  King  of  Macedon,  deemed  it  trifling  and 
scorned  it.  And  Marcus  Curius  ordered  the  gold  to  be  carried  back  to  the 
Samnites,  as  did  also  Fabricius  Luscinus  with  regard  to  the  silver  and 
copper.  And  certain  Republics  have  forbidden  their  citizens  the  use  and 
employment  of  gold  and  silver  by  law  and  ordinance  ;  the  Lacedaemonians, 
by  the  decrees  and  ordinances  of  Lycurgus,  used  diligently  to  enquire  among 
their  citizens  whether  they  possessed  any  of  these  things  or  not,  and  the 
possessor,  when  he  was  caught,  was  punished  according  to  law  and  justice. 
The  inhabitants  of  a  town  on  the  Tigris,  called  Babytace,  buried  their  gold 
in  the  ground  so  that  no  one  should  use  it.  The  Scythians  condemned  the 
use  of  gold  and  silver  so  that  they  might  not  become  avaricious. 

Further  are  the  metals  reviled ;  in  the  first  place  people  wantonly 
abuse  gold  and  silver  and  call  them  deadly  and  nefarious  pests  of  the  human 
race,  because  those  who  possess  them  are  in  the  greatest  peril,  for  those  who 
have  none  lay  snares  for  the  possessors  of  wealth,  and  thus  again  and  again 
the  metals  have  been  the  cause  of  destruction  and  ruin.  For  example, 
Polymnestor,  King  of  Thrace,  to  obtain  possession  of  his  gold,  killed  Polydorus, 
his  noble  guest  and  the  son  of  Priam,  his  father-in-law,  and  old  friend. 
Pygmalion,  the  King  of  Tyre,  in  order  that  he  might  seize  treasures  of  gold 
and  silver,  killed  his  sister's  husband,  a  priest,  taking  no  account  of  either 
kinship  or  religion.  For  love  of  gold  Eriphyle  betrayed  her  husband 
Amphiaraus  to  his  enemy.  Likewise  Lasthenes  betrayed  the  city  of 
Olynthus  to  Philip  of  Macedon.  The  daughter  of  Spurius  Tarpeius,  having 
been  bribed  with  gold,  admitted  the  Sabines  into  the  citadel  of  Rome. 
Claudius  Curio  sold  his  country  for  gold  to  Caesar,  the  Dictator.  Gold,  too, 
was  the  cause  of  the  downfall  of  Aesculapius,  the  great  physician,  who  it  was 
believed  was  the  son  of  Apollo.  Similarly  Marcus  Crassus,  through  his 
eager  desire  for  the  gold  of  the  Parthians,  was  completely  overcome  together 
with  his  son  and  eleven  legions,  and  became  the  jest  of  his  enemies  ;  for  they 

ieDiogenes  Laertius,  II. 


io  BOOK     I. 

poured  liquid  gold  into  the  gaping  mouth  of  the  slain  Crassus,   saying  : 
"  Thou  hast  thirsted  for  gold,  therefore  drink  gold." 

But  why  need  I  cite  here  these  many  examples  from  history  ?17  It  is 
almost  our  daily  experience  to  learn  that,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining  gold  and 
silver,  doors  are  burst  open,  walls  are  pierced,  wretched  travellers  are  struck 
down  by  rapacious  and  cruel  men  born  to  theft,  sacrilege,  invasion,  and 
robbery.  We  see  thieves  seized  and  strung  up  before  us,  sacrilegious  persons 
burnt  alive,  the  limbs  of  robbers  broken  on  the  wheel,  wars  waged  for  the 
same  reason,  which  are  not  only  destructive  to  those  against  whom  they  are 
waged,  but  to  those  also  who  carry  them  on.  Nay,  but  they  say  that  the 
precious  metals  foster  all  manner  of  vice,  such  as  the  seduction  of  women, 
adultery,  and  unchastity,  in  short,  crimes  of  violence  against  the  person. 
Therefore  the  Poets,  when  they  represent  Jove  transformed  into  a  golden 
shower  and  falling  into  the  lap  of  Danae,  merely  mean  that  he  had  found 
for  himself  a  safe  road  by  the  use  of  gold,  by  which  he  might  enter  the  tower 
for  the  purpose  of  violating  the  maiden.  Moreover,  the  fidelity  of  many 
men  is  overthrown  by  the  love  of  gold  and  silver,  judicial  sentences  are 
bought,  and  innumerable  crimes  are  perpetrated.  For  truly,  as  Propertius 
says  : 

"  This  is  indeed  the  Golden  Age.     The  greatest  rewards  come  from 

gold  ;  by  gold  love  is  won  ;  by  gold  is  faith  destroyed  ;  by  gold  is  justice 

bought ;   the  law  follows  the  track  of  gold,  while  modesty  will  soon 

follow  it  when  law  is  gone." 
Diphilus  says: 

"  I  consider  that   nothing  is  more  powerful  than  gold.     By  it  all 

things  are  torn  asunder  ;    all  things  are  accomplished." 
Therefore,    all   the   noblest   and   best   despise   these  riches,  deservedly  and 
with  justice,  and  esteem  them  as  nothing.     And  this  is  said  by  the  old  man 
in  Plautus  : 

"  I  hate  gold.     It  has  often  impelled  many  people  to  many  wrong 

acts." 

In  this  country  too,  the  poets  inveigh  with  stinging  reproaches  against  money 
coined  from  gold  and  silver.     And  especially  did  Juvenal : 

"  Since  the  majesty  of  wealth  is  the  most  sacred  thing  among  us ; 

although,  O  pernicious  money,  thou  dost  not  yet  inhabit  a  temple,  nor 

have  we  erected  altars  to  money." 
And  in  another  place  : 

"  Demoralising    money     first    introduced    foreign    customs,     and 

voluptuous  wealth  weakened  our  race  with  disgraceful  luxury."18 
And  very  many  vehemently  praise  the  barter  system  which  men  used  before 
money  was  devised,  and  which  even  now  obtains  among  certain   simple 
peoples. 

And  next  they  raise  a  great  outcry  against  other  metals,  as  iron,  than 

17An  inspection  of  the  historical  incidents  mentioned  here  and  further  on,  indicates 
that  Agricola  relied  for  such  information  on  Diogenes  Laertius,  Plutarch,  Livy,  Valerius 
Maximus,  Pliny,  and  often  enough  on  Homer,  Horace,  and  Virgil. 

"Juvenal.     Satires  i.,  1.  112,  and  vi.,  1.  298. 


BOOK    I.  ii 

which  they  say  nothing  more  pernicious  could  have  been  brought  into  the 
life  of  man.  For  it  is  employed  in  making  swords,  javelins,  spears,  pikes, 
arrows — weapons  by  which  men  are  wounded,  and  which  cause  slaughter, 
robbery,  and  wars.  These  things  so  moved  the  wrath  of  Pliny  that  he  wrote  : 
"  Iron  is  used  not  only  in  hand  to  hand  fighting,  but  also  to  form  the  winged 
missiles  of  war,  sometimes  for  hurling  engines,  sometimes  for  lances,  some- 
times even  for  arrows.  I  look  upon  it  as  the  most  deadly  fruit  of  human 
ingenuity.  For  to  bring  Death  to  men  more  quickly  we  have  given  wings  to 
iron  and  taught  it  to  fly."19  The  spear,  the  arrow  from  the  bow,  or  the  bolt 
from  the  catapult  and  other  engines  can  be  driven  into  the  body  of  only  one 
man,  while  the  iron  cannon-ball  fired  through  the  air,  can  go  through  the 
bodies  of  many  men,  and  there  is  no  marble  or  stone  object  so  hard  that  it 
cannot  be  shattered  by  the  force  and  shock.  Therefore  it  levels  the  highest 
towers  to  the  ground,  shatters  and  destroys  the  strongest  walls.  Certainly 
the  ballistas  which  throw  stones,  the  battering  rams  and  other  ancient  war 
engines  for  making  breaches  in  walls  of  fortresses  and  hurling  down  strong- 
holds, seem  to  have  little  power  in  comparison  with  our  present  cannon. 
These  emit  horrible  sounds  and  noises,  not  less  than  thunder,  flashes 
of  fire  burst  from  them  like  the  lightning,  striking,  crushing,  and  shatter- 
ing buildings,  belching  forth  flames  and  kindling  fires  even  as  lightning 
flashes.  So  that  with  more  justice  could  it  be  said  of  the  impious  men  of 
our  age  than  of  Salmoneus  of  ancient  days,  that  they  had  snatched  lightning 
from  Jupiter  and  wrested  it  from  his  hands.  Nay,  rather  there  has  been 
sent  from  the  infernal  regions  to  the  earth  this  force  for  the  destruction  of 
men,  so  that  Death  may  snatch  to  himself  as  many  as  possible  by  one  stroke. 

But  because  muskets  are  nowadays  rarely  made  of  iron,  and  the  large 
ones  never,  but  of  a  certain  mixture  of  copper  and  tin,  they  confer  more 
maledictions  on  copper  and  tin  than  on  iron.  In  this  connection  too,  they 
mention  the  brazen  bull  of  Phalaris,  the  brazen  ox  of  the  people  of  Per- 
gamus,  racks  in  the  shape  of  an  iron  dog  or  a  horse,  manacles,  shackles, 
wedges,  hooks,  and  red-hot  plates.  Cruelly  racked  by  such  instruments, 
people  are  driven  to  confess  crimes  and  misdeeds  which  they  have  never 
committed,  and  innocent  men  are  miserably  tortured  to  death  by  every 
conceivable  kind  of  torment. 

It  is  claimed  too,  that  lead  is  a  pestilential  and  noxious  metal,  for  men 
are  punished  by  means  of  molten  lead,  as  Horace  describes  in  the  ode 
addressed  to  the  Goddess  Fortune  :  "  Cruel  Necessity  ever  goes  before  thee 
bearing  in  her  brazen  hand  the  spikes  and  wedges,  while  the  awful  hook  and 
molten  lead  are  also  not  lacking."20  In  their  desire  to  excite  greater  odium 
for  this  metal,  they  are  not  silent  about  the  leaden  balls  of  muskets,  and  they 
find  in  it  the  cause  of  wounds  and  death. 

They  contend  that,  inasmuch  as  Nature  has  concealed  metals  far  within 
the  depths  of  the  earth,  and  because  they  are  not  necessary  to  human  life, 
they  are  therefore  despised  and  repudiated  by  the  noblest,  and  should  not  be 

"Pliny,  xxxiv.,  39. 

*°Horace.     Odes,  i.,  35,  11.,  17-20. 


la  BOOK    I. 

mined,  and  seeing  that  when  brought  to  light  they  have  always  proved  the 
cause  of  very  great  evils,  it  follows  that  mining  is  not  useful  to  mankind, 
but  on  the  contrary  harmful  and  destructive.  Several  good  men  have 
been  so  perturbed  by  these  tragedies  that  they  conceive  an  intensely  bitter 
hatred  toward  metals,  and  they  wish  absolutely  that  metals  had  never  been 
created,  or  being  created,  that  no  one  had  ever  dug  them  out.  The  more  I 
commend  the  singular  honesty,  innocence,  and  goodness  of  such  men,  the 
more  anxious  shall  I  be  to  remove  utterly  and  eradicate  all  error  from  their 
minds  and  to  reveal  the  sound  view,  which  is  that  the  metals  are  most  useful 
to  mankind. 

In  the  first  place  then,  those  who  speak  ill  of  the  metals  and  refuse  to 
make  use  of  them,  do  not  see  that  they  accuse  and  condemn  as  wicked  the 
Creator  Himself,  when  they  assert  that  He  fashioned  some  things  vainly 
and  without  good  cause,  and  thus  they  regard  Him  as  the  Author  of  evils, 
which  opinion  is  certainly  not  worthy  of  pious  and  sensible  men. 

In  the  next  place,  the  earth  does  not  conceal  metals  in  her  depths 
because  she  does  not  wish  that  men  should  dig  them  out,  but  because 
provident  and  sagacious  Nature  has  appointed  for  each  thing  its  place.  She 
generates  them  in  the  veins,  stringers,  and  seams  in  the  rocks,  as  though 
in  special  vessels  and  receptacles  for  such  material.  The  metals  cannot  be 
produced  in  the  other  elements  because  the  materials  for  their  formation 
are  wanting.  For  if  they  were  generated  in  the  air,  a  thing  that  rarely 
happens,  they  could  not  find  a  firm  resting-place,  but  by  their  own  force  and 
weight  would  settle  down  on  to  the  ground.  Seeing  then  that  metals  have 
their  proper  abiding  place  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth,  who  does  not  see  that 
these  men  do  not  reach  their  conclusions  by  good  logic  ? 

They  say,  "  Although  metals  are  in  the  earth,  each  located  in  its  own 
proper  place  where  it  originated,  yet  because  they  lie  thus  enclosed  and 
hidden  from  sight,  they  should  not  be  taken  out."  But,  in  refutation  of  these 
attacks,  which  are  so  annoying,  I  will  on  behalf  of  the  metals  instance  the 
fish,  which  we  catch,  hidden  and  concealed  though  they  be  in  the  water,  even 
in  the  sea.  Indeed,  it  is  far  stranger  that  man,  a  terrestrial  animal,  should 
search  the  interior  of  the  sea  than  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  For  as  birds  are 
born  to  fly  freely  through  the  air,  so  are  fishes  born  to  swim  through  the 
waters,  while  to  other  creatures  Nature  has  given  the  earth  that  they  might 
live  in  it,  and  particularly  to  man  that  he  might  cultivate  it  and  draw  out 
of  its  caverns  metals  and  other  mineral  products.  On  the  other  hand,  they 
say  that  we  eat  fish,  but  neither  hunger  nor  thirst  is  dispelled  by  minerals, 
nor  are  they  useful  in  clothing  the  body,  which  is  another  argument  by 
which  these  people  strive  to  prove  that  metals  should  not  be  taken  out.  But 
man  without  metals  cannot  provide  those  things  which  he  needs  for  food  and 
clothing.  For,  though  the  produce  of  the  land  furnishes  the  greatest 
abundance  of  food  for  the  nourishment  of  our  bodies,  no  labour  can  be 
carried  on  and  completed  without  tools.  The  ground  itself  is  turned  up 
with  ploughshares  and  harrows,  tough  stalks  and  the  tops  of  the  roots  are 
broken  off  and  dug  up  with  a  mattock,  the  sown  seed  is  harrowed,  the  corn 


BOOK    I.  13 

field  is  hoed  and  weeded  ;  the  ripe  grain  with  part  of  the  stalk  is  cut  down 
by  scythes  and  threshed  on  the  floor,  or  its  ears  are  cut  off  and  stored  in  the 
barn  and  later  beaten  with  flails  and  winnowed  with  fans,  until  finally  the 
pure  grain  is  stored  in  the  granary,  whence  it  is  brought  forth  again  when 
occasion  demands  or  necessity  arises.  Again,  if  we  wish  to  procure  better 
and  more  productive  fruits  from  trees  and  bushes,  we  must  resort  to 
cultivating,  pruning,  and  grafting,  which  cannot  be  done  without  tools. 
Even  as  without  vessels  we  cannot  keep  or  hold  liquids,  such  as  milk,  honey, 
wine,  or  oil,  neither  could  so  many  living  things  be  cared  for  without 
buildings  to  protect  them  from  long-continued  rain  and  intolerable  cold. 
Most  of  the  rustic  instruments  are  made  of  iron,  as  ploughshares,  share- 
beams,  mattocks,  the  prongs  of  harrows,  hoes,  planes,  hay-forks,  straw 
cutters,  pruning  shears,  pruning  hooks,  spades,  lances,  forks,  and  weed 
cutters.  Vessels  are  also  made  of  copper  or  lead.  Neither  are  wooden 
instruments  or  vessels  made  without  iron.  Wine  cellars,  oil-mills,  stables, 
or  any  other  part  of  a  farm  building  could  not  be  built  without  iron  tools. 
Then  if  the  bull,  the  wether,  the  goat,  or  any  other  domestic  animal  is  led 
away  from  the  pasture  to  the  butcher,  or  if  the  poulterer  brings  from  the  farm 
a  chicken,  a  hen,  or  a  capon  for  the  cook,  could  any  of  these  animals  be  cut 
up  and  divided  without  axes  and  knives  ?  I  need  say  nothing  here  about 
bronze  and  copper  pots  for  cooking,  because  for  these  purposes  one  could 
make  use  of  earthen  vessels,  but  even  these  in  turn  could  not  be  made  and 
fashioned  by  the  potter  without  tools,  for  no  instruments  can  be  made  out 
of  wood  alone,  without  the  use  of  iron.  Furthermore,  hunting,  fowling,  and 
fishing  supply  man  with  food,  but  when  the  stag  has  been  ensnared  does  not 
the  hunter  transfix  him  with  his  spear  ?  As  he  stands  or  runs,  does  he  not 
pierce  him  with  an  arrow  ?  Or  pierce  him  with  a  bullet  ?  Does  not  the 
fowler  in  the  same  way  kill  the  moor-fowl  or  pheasant  with  an  arrow  ?  Or 
does  he  not  discharge  into  its  body  the  ball  from  the  musket  ?  I  will  not 
speak  of  the  snares  and  other  instruments  with  which  the  woodcock,  wood- 
pecker, and  other  wild  birds  are  caught,  lest  I  pursue  unseasonably  and  too 
minutely  single  instances.  Lastly,  with  his  fish-hook  and  net  does  not  the 
fisherman  catch  the  fish  in  the  sea,  in  the  lakes,  in  fish-ponds,  or  in  rivers  ? 
But  the  hook  is  of  iron,  and  sometimes  we  see  lead  or  iron  weights  attached 
to  the  net.  And  most  fish  that  are  caught  are  afterward  cut  up  and  dis- 
embowelled with  knives  and  axes.  But,  more  than  enough  has  been  said  on 
the  matter  of  food. 

Now  I  will  speak  of  clothing,  which  is  made  out  of  wool,  flax,  feathers, 
hair,  fur,  or  leather.  First  the  sheep  are  sheared,  then  the  wool  is  combed. 
Next  the  threads  are  drawn  out,  while  later  the  warp  is  suspended  in  the 
shuttle  under  which  passes  the  wool.  This  being  struck  by  the  comb,  at  length 
cloth  is  formed  either  from  threads  alone  or  from  threads  and  hair.  Flax, 
when  gathered,  is  first  pulled  by  hooks.  Then  it  is  dipped  in  water  and 
afterward  dried,  beaten  into  tow  with  a  heavy  mallet,  and  carded,  then 
drawn  out  into  threads,  and  finally  woven  into  cloth.  But  has  the  artisan 
or  weaver  of  the  cloth  any  instrument  not  made  of  iron  ?  Can  one  be  made 

4 


14  BOOK    I. 

of  wood  without  the  aid  of  iron  ?  The  cloth  or  web  must  be  cut  into  lengths 
for  the  tailor.  Can  this  be  done  without  knife  or  scissors  ?  Can  the  tailor 
sew  together  any  garments  without  a  needle  ?  Even  peoples  dwelling  beyond 
the  seas  cannot  make  a  covering  for  their  bodies,  fashioned  of  feathers, 
without  these  same  implements.  Neither  can  the  furriers  do  without  them 
in  sewing  together  the  pelts  of  any  kind  of  animals.  The  shoemaker  needs 
a  knife  to  cut  the  leather,  another  to  scrape  it,  and  an  awl  to  perforate  it 
before  he  can  make  shoes.  These  coverings  for  the  body  are  either  woven 
or  stitched.  Buildings  too,  which  protect  the  same  body  from  rain,  wind, 
cold,  and  heat,  are  not  constructed  without  axes,  saws,  and  augers. 

But  what  need  of  more  words  ?  If  we  remove  metals  from  the  service 
of  man,  all  methods  of  protecting  and  sustaining  health  and  more  care- 
fully preserving  the  course  of  life  are  done  away  with.  If  there  were  no 
metals,  men  would  pass  a  horrible  and  wretched  existence  in  the  midst  of 
wild  beasts  ;  they  would  return  to  the  acorns  and  fruits  and  berries  of  the 
forest.  They  would  feed  upon  the  herbs  and  roots  which  they  plucked  up 
with  their  nails.  They  would  dig  out  caves  in  which  to  lie  down  at  night, 
and  by  day  they  would  rove  in  the  woods  and  plains  at  random  like  beasts, 
and  inasmuch  as  this  condition  is  utterly  unworthy  of  humanity,  with  its 
splendid  and  glorious  natural  endowment,  will  anyone  be  so  foolish  or 
obstinate  as  not  to  allow  that  metals  are  necessary  for  food  and  clothing  and 
that  they  tend  to  preserve  life  ? 

Moreover,  as  the  miners  dig  almost  exclusively  in  mountains  otherwise 
unproductive,  and  in  valleys  invested  in  gloom,  they  do  either  slight  damage 
to  the  fields  or  none  at  all.  Lastly,  where  woods  and  glades  are  cut  down, 
they  may  be  sown  with  grain  after  they  have  been  cleared  from  the  roots  of 
shrubs  and  trees.  These  new  fields  soon  produce  rich  crops,  so  that  they  repair 
the  losses  which  the  inhabitants  suffer  from  increased  cost  of  timber.  More- 
over, with  the  metals  which  are  melted  from  the  ore,  birds  without  number, 
edible  beasts  and  fish  can  be  purchased  elsewhere  and  brought  to  these 
mountainous  regions. 

I  will  pass  to  the  illustrations  I  have  mentioned.  Bias  of  Priene,  when  his 
country  was  taken,  carried  away  out  of  the  city  none  of  his  valuables.  So 
strong  a  man  with  such  a  reputation  for  wisdom  had  no  need  to  fear  personal 
danger  from  the  enemy,  but  this  in  truth  cannot  be  said  of  him  because  he 
hastily  took  to  flight ;  the  throwing  away  of  his  goods  does  not  seem  to  me 
so  great  a  matter,  for  he  had  lost  his  house,  his  estates,  and  even  his  country, 
than  which  nothing  is  more  precious.  Nay,  I  should  be  convinced  of  Bias's 
contempt  and  scorn  for  possessions  of  this  kind,  if  before  his  country  was 
captured  he  had  bestowed  them  freely  on  relations  and  friends,  or  had 
distributed  them  to  the  very  poor,  for  this  he  could  have  done  freely  and 
without  question.  Whereas  his  conduct,  which  the  Greeks  admire  so 
greatly,  was  due,  it  would  seem,  to  his  being  driven  out  by  the  enemy  and 
stricken  with  fear.  Socrates  in  truth  did  not  despise  gold,  but  would  not 
accept  money  for  his  teaching.  As  for  Aristippus  of  Cyrene,  if  he  had  gath- 
ered and  saved  the  gold  which  he  ordered  his  slaves  to  throw  away,  he  might 


BOOK     I.  15 

have  bought  the  things  which  he  needed  for  the  necessaries  of  life,  and  he 
would  not,  by  reason  of  his  poverty,  have  then  been  obliged  to  flatter  the 
tyrant  Dionysius,  nor  would  he  ever  have  been  called  by  him  a  King's  dog. 
For  this  reason  Horace,  speaking  of  Damasippus  when  reviling  Staberus  for 
valuing  riches  very  highly,  says  : 

"  What  resemblance  has  the  Grecian  Aristippus  to  this  fellow  ? 
He  who  commanded  his  slaves  to  throw  away  the  gold  in  the  midst  of 
Libya  because  they  went  too  slowly,  impeded  by  the  weight  of  their 
burden — which  of  these  two  men  is  the  more  insane  ?  "21 
Insane  indeed  is  he  who  makes  more  of  riches  than  of  virtue.  Insane 
also  is  he  who  rejects  them  and  considers  them  as  worth  nothing,  instead  of 
using  them  with  reason.  Yet  as  to  the  gold  which  Aristippus  on  another 
occasion  flung  into  the  sea  from  a  boat,  this  he  did  with  a  wise  and  prudent 
mind.  For  learning  that  it  was  a  pirate  boat  in  which  he  was  sailing,  and 
fearing  for  his  life,  he  counted  his  gold  and  then  throwing  it  of  his  own  will 
into  the  sea,  he  groaned  as  if  he  had  done  it  unwillingly.  But  afterward, 
when  he  escaped  the  peril,  he  said  :  "  It  is  better  that  this  gold  itself  should 
be  lost  than  that  I  should  have  perished  because  of  it."  Let  it  be  granted 
that  some  philosophers,  as  well  as  Anacreon  of  Teos,  despised  gold  and 
silver.  Anaxagoras  of  Clazomenae  also  gave  up  his  sheep-farms  and 
became  a  shepherd.  Crates  the  Theban  too,  being  annoyed  that  his 
estate  and  other  kinds  of  wealth  caused  him  worry,  and  that  in  his  con- 
templations his  mind  was  thereby  distracted,  resigned  a  property  valued  at 
ten  talents,  and  taking  a  cloak  and  wallet,  in  poverty  devoted  all  his 
thought  and  efforts  to  philosophy.  Is  it  true  that  because  these  philo- 
sophers despised  money,  all  others  declined  wealth  in  cattle  ?  Did  they 
refuse  to  cultivate  lands  or  to  dwell  in  houses  ?  There  were  certainly  many, 
on  the  other  hand,  who,  though  affluent,  became  famous  in  the  pursuit  of 
learning  and  in  the  knowledge  of  divine  and  human  laws,  such  as  Aristotle, 
Cicero,  and  Seneca.  As  for  Phocion,  he  did  not  deem  it  honest  to  accept  the 
gold  sent  to  him  by  Alexander.  For  if  he  had  consented  to  use  it,  the 
king  as  much  as  himself  would  have  incurred  the  hatred  and  aversion  of 
the  Athenians,  and  these  very  people  were  afterward  so  ungrateful  toward 
this  excellent  man  that  they  compelled  him  to  drink  hemlock.  For  what 
would  have  been  less  becoming  to  Marcus  Curius  and  Fabricius  Luscinus 
than  to  accept  gold  from  their  enemies,  who  hoped  that  by  these  means 
those  leaders  could  be  corrupted  or  would  become  odious  to  their  fellow 
citizens,  their  purpose  being  to  cause  dissentions  among  the  Romans  and 
destroy  the  Republic  utterly.  Lycurgus,  however,  ought  to  have  given 
instructions  to  the  Spartans  as  to  the  use  of  gold  and  silver,  instead  of 
abolishing  things  good  in  themselves.  As  to  the  Babytacenses,  who  does 
not  see  that  they  were  senseless  and  envious  ?  For  with  their  gold  they  might 
have  bought  things  of  which  they  were  in  need,  or  even  given  it  to  neigh- 
bouring peoples  to  bind  them  more  closely  to  themselves  with  gifts  and 
favours.  Finally,  the  Scythians,  by  condemning  the  use  of  gold  and  silver 

"Horace.     Satires,  II.,  3,  11.,  99-102. 


16  BOOK    I. 

alone,  did  not  free  themselves  utterly  from  avarice,  because  although  he  is  not 
enjoying  them,  one  who  can  possess  other  forms  of  property  may  also 
become  avaricious. 

Now  let  us  reply  to  the  attacks  hurled  against  the  products  of  mines. 
In  the  first  place,  they  call  gold  and  silver  the  scourge  of  mankind  because 
they  are  the  cause  of  destruction  and  ruin  to  their  possessors.  But  in  this 
manner,  might  not  anything  that  we  possess  be  called  a  scourge  to 
human  kind, — whether  it  be  a  horse,  or  a  garment,  or  anything  else  ? 
For,  whether  one  rides  a  splendid  horse,  or  journeys  well  clad,  he  would 
give  occasion  to  a  robber  to  kill  him.  Are  we  then  not  to  ride  on  horses, 
but  to  journey  on  foot,  because  a  robber  has  once  committed  a  murder  in 
order  that  he  may  steal  a  horse  ?  Or  are  we  not  to  possess  clothing,  because 
a  vagabond  with  a  sword  has  taken  a  traveller's  life  that  he  may  rob  him 
of  his  garment  ?  The  possession  of  gold  and  silver  is  similar.  Seeing 
then  that  men  cannot  conveniently  do  all  these  things,  we  should  be  on  our 
guard  against  robbers,  and  because  we  cannot  always  protect  ourselves 
from  their  hands,  it  is  the  special  duty  of  the  magistrate  to  seize  wicked  and 
villainous  men  for  torture,  and,  if  need  be,  for  execution. 

Again,  the  products  of  the  mines  are  not  themselves  the  cause  of  war. 
Thus,  for  example,  when  a  tyrant,  inflamed  with  passion  for  a  woman  of 
great  beauty,  makes  war  on  the  inhabitants  of  her  city,  the  fanlt  lies  in  the 
unbridled  lust  of  the  tyrant  and  not  in  the  beauty  of  the  woman.  Likewise, 
when  another  man,  blinded  by  a  passion  for  gold  and  silver,  makes  war 
upon  a  wealthy  people,  we  ought  not  to  blame  the  metals  but  transfer  all 
blame  to  avarice.  For  frenzied  deeds  and  disgraceful  actions,  which  are 
wont  to  weaken  and  dishonour  natural  and  civil  laws,  originate  from  our 
own  vices.  Wherefore  Tibullus  is  wrong  in  laying  the  blame  for  war  on 
gold,  when  he  says  :  "  This  is  the  fault  of  a  rich  man's  gold  ;  there  were 
no  wars  when  beech  goblets  were  used  at  banquets."  But  Virgil,  speaking  of 
Polymnestor,  says  that  the  crime  of  the  murderer  rests  on  avarice  : 

"  He  breaks  all  law  ;   he  murders  Polydorus,  and  obtains  gold  by 

violence.     To  what  wilt  thou  not  drive  mortal  hearts,  thou  accursed 

hunger  for  gold  ?" 
And  again,  justly,  he  says,  speaking  of  Pygmalion,  who  killed  Sichaeus  : 

"  And  blinded  with  the  love  of  gold,  he  slew  him  unawares  with 

stealthy  sword."22 

For  lust  and  eagerness  after  gold  and  other  things  make  men  blind,  and 
this  wicked  greed  for  money,  all  men  in  all  times  and  places  have  considered 
dishonourable  and  criminal.  Moreover,  those  who  have  been  so  addicted  to 
avarice  as  to  be  its  slaves  have  always  been  regarded  as  mean  and  sordid. 
Similarly,  too,  if  by  means  of  gold  and  silver  and  gems  men  can  overcome 
the  chastity  of  women,  corrupt  the  honour  of  many  people,  bribe  the  course 
of  justice  and  commit  innumerable  wickednesses,  it  is  not  the  metals  which 
are  to  be  blamed,  but  the  evil  passions  of  men  which  become  inflamed  and 
ignited ;  or  it  is  due  to  the  blind  and  impious  desires  of  their  minds.  But 
"Virgil.  Mneid,  in.,  1.  55,  and  i,  1.  349. 


BOOK    I.  17 

although  these  attacks  against  gold  and  silver  may  be  directed  especially 
against  money,  yet  inasmuch  as  the  Poets  one  after  another  condemn  it, 
their  criticism  must  be  met,  and  this  can  be  done  by  one  argument  alone. 
Money  is  good  for  those  who  use  it  well ;  it  brings  loss  and  evil  to  those  who 
use  it  ill.  Hence,  very  rightly,  Horace  says  : 

"  Dost  thou  not  know  the  value  of  money  ;  and  what  uses  it  serves  ? 

It  buys  bread,  vegetables,  and  a  pint  of  wine." 
And  again  in  another  place  : 

"  Wealth  hoarded  up  is  the  master  or  slave  of  each  possessor ;    it 

should  follow  rather  than  lead,  the  '  twisted  rope.'  "23 

When  ingenious  and  clever  men  considered  carefully  the  system  of  barter, 
which  ignorant  men  of  old  employed  and  which  even  to-day  is  used  by 
certain  uncivilised  and  barbarous  races,  it  appeared  to  them  so  troublesome 
and  laborious  that  they  invented  money.  Indeed,  nothing  more  useful 
could  have  been  devised,  because  a  small  amount  of  gold  and  silver  is  of  as 
great  value  as  things  cumbrous  and  heavy  ;  and  so  peoples  far  distant  from  one 
another  can,  by  the  use  of  money,  trade  very  easily  in  those  things  which 
civilised  life  can  scarcely  do  without. 

The  curses  which  are  uttered  against  iron,  copper,  and  lead  have  no 
weight  with  prudent  and  sensible  men,  because  if  these  metals  were  done 
away  with,  men,  as  their  anger  swelled  and  their  fury  became  unbridled, 
would  assuredly  fight  like  wild  beasts  with  fists,  heels,  nails,  and  teeth. 
They  would  strike  each  other  with  sticks,  hit  one  another  with  stones,  or 
dash  their  foes  to  the  ground.  Moreover,  a  man  does  not  kill  another  with 
iron  alone,  but  slays  by  means  of  poison,  starvation,  or  thirst.  He  may 
seize  him  by  the  throat  and  strangle  him  ;  he  may  bury  him  ah' ve  in  the 
ground  ;  he  may  immerse  him  in  water  and  suffocate  him ;  he  may  burn 
or  hang  him  ;  so  that  he  can  make  every  element  a  participant  in  the  death 
of  men.  Or,  finally,  a  man  may  be  thrown  to  the  wild  beasts.  Another 
may  be  sewn  up  wholly  except  his  head  in  a  sack,  and  thus  be  left  to  be 
devoured  by  worms ;  or  he  may  be  immersed  in  water  until  he  is  torn  to 
pieces  by  sea-serpents.  A  man  may  be  boiled  in  oil ;  he  may  be  greased, 
tied  with  ropes,  and  left  exposed  to  be  stung  by  flies  and  hornets ;  he  may 
be  put  to  death  by  scourging  with  rods  or  beating  with  cudgels,  or  struck 
down  by  stoning,  or  flung  from  a  high  place.  Furthermore,  a  man 
may  be  tortured  in  more  ways  than  one  without  the  use  of  metals  ;  as  when 
the  executioner  burns  the  groins  and  armpits  of  his  victim  with  hot  wax ; 
or  places  a  cloth  in  his  mouth  gradually,  so  that  when  in  breathing  he 
draws  it  slowly  into  his  gullet,  the  executioner  draws  it  back  suddenly  and 
violently  ;  or  the  victim's  hands  are  fastened  behind  his  back,  and  he  is 
drawn  up  little  by  little  with  a  rope  and  then  let  down  suddenly.  Or 
similarly,  he  may  be  tied  to  a  beam  and  a  heavy  stone  fastened  by  a 
cord  to  his  feet,  or  finally  his  limbs  may  be  torn  asunder.  From  these 
examples  we  see  that  it  is  not  metals  that  are  to  be  condemned,  but  our 
vices,  such  as  anger,  cruelty,  discord,  passion  for  power,  avarice,  and  lust. 

"Horace.     Satires,  I.,  1.  73  ;  and  Epistle,  i.,  10,  1.  47. 


i8  BOOK     I. 

The  question  next  arises,  whether  we  ought  to  count  metals  amongst 
the  number  of  good  things  or  class  them  amongst  the  bad.  The  Peripatetics 
regarded  all  wealth  as  a  good  thing,  and  merely  spoke  of  externals  as  having 
to  do  with  neither  the  mind  nor  the  body.  Well,  let  riches  be  an  external 
thing.  And,  as  they  said,  many  other  things  may  be  classed  as  good  if  it  is 
in  one's  power  to  use  them  either  well  or  ill.  For  good  men  employ  them  for 
good,  and  to  them  they  are  useful.  The  wicked  use  them  badly,  and  to 
them  they  are  harmful.  There  is  a  saying  of  Socrates,  that  just  as  wine 
is  influenced  by  the  cask,  so  the  character  of  riches  is  like  their  possessors. 
The  Stoics,  whose  custom  it  is  to  argue  subtly  and  acutely,  though  they  did 
not  put  wealth  in  the  category  of  good  things,  they  did  not  count  it  amongst 
the  evil  ones,  but  placed  it  in  that  class  which  they  term  neutral.  For  to 
them  virtue  alone  is  good,  and  vice  alone  evil.  The  whole  of  what  remains 
is  indifferent.  Thus,  in  their  conviction,  it  matters  not  whether  one  be  in 
good  health  or  seriously  ill ;  whether  one  be  handsome  or  deformed.  In 
short : 

"  Whether,    sprung    from    Inachus    of    old,   and    thus    hast    lived 

beneath  the  sun  in  wealth,  or  hast  been  poor  and  despised  among  men, 

it  matters  not." 

For  my  part,  I  see  no  reason  why  anything  that  is  in  itself  of  use  should 
not  be  placed  in  the  class  of  good  things.  At  all  events,  metals  are  a 
creation  of  Nature,  and  they  supply  many  varied  and  necessary  needs  of  the 
human  race,  to  say  nothing  about  their  uses  in  adornment,  which  are  so 
wonderfully  blended  with  utility.  Therefore,  it  is  not  right  to  degrade  them 
from  the  place  they  hold  among  the  good  things.  In  truth,  if  there  is  a 
bad  use  made  of  them,  should  they  on  that  account  be  rightly  called  evils  ? 
For  of  what  good  things  can  we  not  make  an  equally  bad  or  good  use  ?  Let 
me  give  examples  from  both  classes  of  what  we  term  good.  Wine,  by  far 
the  best  drink,  if  drunk  in  moderation,  aids  the  digestion  of  food,  helps  to 
produce  blood,  and  promotes  the  juices  in  all  parts  of  the  body.  It  is  of  use 
in  nourishing  not  only  the  body  but  the  mind  as  well,  for  it  disperses  our 
dark  and  gloomy  thoughts,  frees  us  from  cares  and  anxiety,  and  restores 
our  confidence.  If  drunk  in  excess,  however,  it  injures  and  prostrates  the 
body  with  serious  disease.  An  intoxicated  man  keeps  nothing  to  himself  ; 
he  raves  and  rants,  and  commits  many  wicked  and  infamous  acts.  On 
this  subject  Theognis  wrote  some  very  clever  lines,  which  we  may  render 
thus  : 

'  Wine  is  harmful   if   taken   with   greedy  lips,   but  if   drunk   in 

moderation  it  is  wholesome."25 

But  I  linger  too  long  over  extraneous  matters.  I  must  pass  on  to  the 
gifts  of  body  and  mind,  amongst  which  strength,  beauty,  and  genius 
occur  to  me.  If  then  a  man,  relying  on  his  strength,  toils  hard  to  maintain 
himself  and  his  family  in  an  honest  and  respectable  manner,  he  uses  the 
gift  aright,  but  if  he  makes  a  living  out  of  murder  and  robbery,  he  uses  it 
wrongly.  Likewise,  too,  if  a  lovely  woman  is  anxious  to  please  her  husband 

a6Theognis.     Maxims,  n.,  1.  210. 


BOOK     I.  19 

alone  she  uses  her  beauty  aright,  but  if  she  lives  wantonly  and  is  a  victim 
of  passion,  she  misuses  her  beauty.  In  like  manner,  a  youth  who  devotes 
himself  to  learning  and  cultivates  the  liberal  arts,  uses  his  genius  rightly. 
But  he  who  dissembles,  lies,  cheats,  and  deceives  by  fraud  and  dishonesty, 
misuses  his  abilities.  Now,  the  man  who,  because  they  are  abused,  denies  that 
wine,  strength,  beauty,  or  genius  are  good  things,  is  unjust  and  blasphemous 
towards  the  Most  High  God,  Creator  of  the  World  ;  so  he  who  would  remove 
metals  from  the  class  of  blessings  also  acts  unjustly  and  blasphemously 
against  Him.  Very  true,  therefore,  are  the  words  which  certain  Greek 
poets  have  written,  as  Pindar  : 

"  Money  glistens,  adorned  with  virtue  ;    it  supplies  the  means  by 

which  thou    mayest  act  well    in  whatever    circumstances    fate    may 

have  in  store  for  thee."26 
And  Sappho : 

"  Without  the  love  of  virtue  gold  is  a  dangerous  and  harmful  guest, 

but  when  it  is  associated  with  virtue,  it  becomes  the  source  and  height 

of  good." 
And  Callimachus  : 

"  Riches  do  not  make  men  great  without  virtue  ;  neither  do  virtues 

themselves  make  men  great  without  some  wealth." 
And  Antiphanes  : 

"  Now,  by  the  gods,  why  is  it  necessary  for  a  man  to  grow  rich  ? 

Why   does   he   desire   to   possess  much  money  unless  that  he  may,  as 

much  as  possible,  help  his  friends,   and  sow  the  seeds  of  a  harvest  of 

gratitude,  sweetest  of  the  goddesses."27 

Having  thus  refuted  the  arguments  and  contentions  of  adversaries, 
let  us  sum  up  the  advantages  of  the  metals.  In  the  first  place,  they  are 
useful  to  the  physician,  for  they  furnish  liberally  the  ingredients  for  medi- 
cines, by  which  wounds  and  ulcers  are  cured,  and  even  plagues  ;  so  that 
certainly  if  there  were  no  other  reasons  why  we  should  explore  the  depths  of 
the  earth,  we  should  for  the  sake  of  medicine  alone  dig  in  the  mines.  Again, 
the  metals  are  of  use  to  painters,  because  they  yield  certain  pigments  which, 
when  united  with  the  painter's  slip,  are  injured  less  than  others  by  the  moisture 
from  without.  Further,  mining  is  useful  to  the  architects,  for  thus  is  found 
marble,  which  is  suitable  not  only  for  strengthening  large  buildings,  but 
also  for  decoration.  It  is,  moreover,  helpful  to  those  whose  ambition  urges 
them  toward  immortal  glory,  because  it  yields  metals  from  which  are  made 
coins,  statues,  and  other  monuments,  which,  next  to  literary  records,  give  men 
in  a  sense  immortality.  The  metals  are  useful  to  merchants  with  very  great  cause, 
for,  as  I  have  stated  elsewhere,  the  use  of  money  which  is  made  from  metals  is 
much  more  convenient  to  mankind  than  the  old  system  of  exchange  of  commodi- 
ties. In  short,  to  whom  are  the  metals  not  of  use  ?  In  very  truth,  even  the  works 
of  art,  elegant,  embellished,  elaborate,  useful,  are  fashioned  in  various  shapes  by 
the  artist  from  the  metals  gold,  silver,  brass,  lead,  and  iron.  How  few  artists 

"Pindar.     Olymp.  n.,  58-60. 
''Antiphanes,  4. 


20  BOOK    I. 

could  make  anything  that  is  beautiful  and  perfect  without  using  metals  ?  Even 
if  tools  of  iron  or  brass  were  not  used,  we  could  not  make  tools  of  wood  and 
stone  without  the  help  of  metal.  From  all  these  examples  are  evident  the 
benefits  and  advantages  derived  from  metals.  We  should  not  have  had 
these  at  all  unless  the  science  of  mining  and  metallurgy  had  been  discovered 
and  handed  down  to  us.  Who  then  does  not  understand  how  highly  useful 
they  are,  nay  rather,  how  necessary  to  the  human  race  ?  In  a  word,  man 
could  not  do  without  the  mining  industry,  nor  did  Divine  Providence  will 
that  he  should. 

Further,  it  has  been  asked  whether  to  work  in  metals  is  honourable 
employment  for  respectable  people  or  whether  it  is  not  degrading  and 
dishonourable.  We  ourselves  count  it  amongst  the  honourable  arts.  For 
that  art,  the  pursuit  of  which  is  unquestionably  not  impious,  nor  offensive, 
nor  mean,  we  may  esteem  honourable.  That  this  is  the  nature  of  the 
mining  profession,  inasmuch  as  it  promotes  wealth  by  good  and  honest 
methods,  we  shall  show  presently.  With  justice,  therefore,  we  may  class 
it  amongst  honourable  employments.  In  the  first  place,  the  occupation 
of  the  miner,  which  I  must  be  allowed  to  compare  with  other  methods  of 
acquiring  great  wealth,  is  just  as  noble  as  that  of  agriculture;  for,  as  the 
farmer,  sowing  his  seed  in  his  fields  injures  no  one,  however  profitable  they 
may  prove  to  him,  so  the  miner  digging  for  his  metals,  albeit  he  draws  forth 
great  heaps  of  gold  or  silver,  hurts  thereby  no  mortal  man.  Certainly  these 
two  modes  of  increasing  wealth  are  in  the  highest  degree  both  noble  and 
honourable.  The  booty  of  the  soldier,  however,  is  frequently  impious, 
because  in  the  fury  of  the  fighting  he  seizes  all  goods,  sacred  as  well  as 
profane.  The  most  just  king  may  have  to  declare  war  on  cruel  tyrants, 
but  in  the  course  of  it  wicked  men  cannot  lose  their  wealth  and  possessions 
without  dragging  into  the  same  calamity  innocent  and  poor  people,  old 
men,  matrons,  maidens,  and  orphans.  But  the  miner  is  able  to  accumu- 
late great  riches  in  a  short  time,  without  using  any  violence,  fraud,  or 
malice.  That  old  saying  is,  therefore,  not  always  true  that  "  Every  rich 
man  is  either  wicked  himself,  or  is  the  heir  to  wickedness." 

Some,  however,  who  contend  against  us,  censure  and  attack  miners  by 
saying  that  they  and  their  children  must  needs  fall  into  penury  after  a  short 
time,  because  they  have  heaped  up  riches  by  improper  means.     According 
to  them  nothing  is  truer  than  the  saying  of  the  poet  Naevius  : 
"  111  gotten  gains  in  ill  fashion  slip  away." 

The  following  are  some  of  the  wicked  and  sinful  methods  by  which 
they  say  men  obtain  riches  from  mining.  When  a  prospect  of  obtaining 
metals  shows  itself  in  a  mine,  either  the  ruler  or  magistrate  drives  out  the 
rightful  owners  of  the  mines  from  possession,  or  a  shrewd  and  cunning 
neighbour  perhaps  brings  a  law-suit  against  the  old  possessors  in  order  to 
rob  them  of  some  part  of  their  property.  Or  the  mine  superintendent  imposes 
on  the  owners  such  a  heavy  contribution  on  shares,  that  if  they  cannot  pay, 
or  will  not,  they  lose  their  rights  of  possession  ;  while  the  superintendent, 
contrary  to  all  that  is  right,  seizes  upon  all  that  they  have  lost.  Or, 


BOOK     I.  21 

finally,  the  mine  foreman  may  conceal  the  vein  by  plastering  over  with 
clay  that  part  where  the  metal  abounds,  or  by  covering  it  with  earth, 
stones,  stakes,  or  poles,  in  the  hope  that  after  several  years  the  pro- 
prietors, thinking  the  mine  exhausted,  will  abandon  it,  and  the  foreman 
can  then  excavate  that  remainder  of  the  ore  and  keep  it  for  himself. 
They  even  state  that  the  scum  of  the  miners  exist  wholly  by  fraud, 
deceit,  and  lying.  For  to  speak  of  nothing  else,  but  only  of  those 
deceits  which  are  practised  in  buying  and  selling,  it  is  said  they  either 
advertise  the  veins  with  false  and  imaginary  praises,  so  that  they  can 
sell  the  shares  in  the  mines  at  one-half  more  than  they  are  worth,  or 
on  the  contrary,  they  sometimes  detract  from  the  estimate  of  them  so 
that  they  can  buy  shares  for  a  small  price.  By  exposing  such  frauds  our 
critics  suppose  all  good  opinion  of  miners  is  lost.  Now,  all  wealth, 
whether  it  has  been  gained  by  good  or  evil  means,  is  liable  by  some  adverse 
chance  to  vanish  away.  It  decays  and  is  dissipated  by  the  fault  and  care- 
lessness of  the  owner,  since  he  loses  it  through  laziness  and  neglect,  or 
wastes  and  squanders  it  in  luxuries,  or  he  consumes  and  exhausts  it  in  gifts, 
or  he  dissipates  and  throws  it  away  in  gambling  : 

'  Just  as  though  money  sprouted  up  again,  renewed  from  an  exhausted 
coffer,  and  was  always  to  be  obtained  from  a  full  heap." 

It  is  therefore  not  to  be  wondered  at  if  miners  do  not  keep  in  mind  the 
counsel  given  by  King  Agathocles  :  "  Unexpected  fortune  should  be  held 
in  reverence,"  for  by  not  doing  so  they  fall  into  penury ;  and  particularly 
when  the  miners  are  not  content  with  moderate  riches,  they  not  rarely  spend 
on  new  mines  what  they  have  accumulated  from  others.  But  no  just  ruler 
or  magistrate  deprives  owners  of  their  possessions  ;  that,  however,  may  be 
done  by  a  tyrant,  who  may  cruelly  rob  his  subjects  not  only  of  their  goods 
honestly  obtained,  but  even  of  life  itself.  And  yet  whenever  I  have  inquired 
into  the  complaints  which  are  in  common  vogue,  I  always  find  that  the 
owners  who  are  abused  have  the  best  of  reasons  for  driving  the  men  from 
the  mines  ;  while  those  who  abuse  the  owners  have  no  reason  to  complain 
about  them.  Take  the  case  of  those  who,  not  having  paid  their  contributions, 
have  lost  the  right  of  possession,  or  those  who  have  been  expelled  by  the  magis- 
trate out  of  another  man's  mine  :  for  some  wicked  men,  mining  the  small 
veins  branching  from  the  veins  rich  in  metal,  are  wont  to  invade  the  property 
of  another  person.  So  the  magistrate  expels  these  men  accused  of  wrong, 
and  drives  them  from  the  mine.  They  then  very  frequently  spread 
unpleasant  rumours  concerning  this  amongst  the  populace.  Or,  to  take 
another  case:  when,  as  often  happens,  a  dispute  arises  between  neighbours, 
arbitrators  appointed  by  the  magistrate  settle  it,  or  the  regular  judges 
investigate  and  give  judgment.  Consequently,  when  the  judgment  is  given, 
inasmuch  as  each  party  has  consented  to  submit  to  it,  neither  side  should 
complain  of  injustice  ;  and  when  the  controversy  is  adjudged,  inasmuch  as 
the  decision  is  in  accordance  with  the  laws  concerning  mining,  one  of  the 
parties  cannot  be  injured  by  the  law.  I  do  not  vigorously  contest  the  point, 
that  at  times  a  mine  superintendent  may  exact  a  larger  contribution 


22  BOOK     I. 

from  the  owners  than  necessity  demands.  Nay,  I  will  admit  that  a  fore- 
man may  plaster  over,  or  hide  with  a  structure,  a  vein  where  it  is  rich  in 
metals.  Is  the  wickedness  of  one  or  two  to  brand  the  many  honest  with 
fraud  and  trickery  ?  What  body  is  supposed  to  be  more  pious  and  virtuous 
in  the  Republic  than  the  Senate  ?  Yet  some  Senators  have  been  detected 
in  peculations,  and  have  been  punished.  Is  this  any  reason  that  so  honour- 
able a  house  should  lose  its  good  name  and  fame  ?  The  superintendent 
cannot  exact  contributions  from  the  owners  without  the  knowledge  and 
permission  of  the  Bergmeister  or  the  deputies ;  for  this  reason  decep- 
tion of  this  kind  is  impossible.  Should  the  foremen  be  convicted  of 
fraud,  they  are  beaten  with  rods ;  or  of  theft,  they  are  hanged.  It 
is  complained  that  some  sellers  and  buyers  of  the  shares  in  mines  are 
fraudulent.  I  concede  it.  But  can  they  deceive  anyone  except  a  stupid, 
careless  man,  unskilled  in  mining  matters  ?  Indeed,  a  wise  and  prudent 
man,  skilled  in  this  art,  if  he  doubts  the  trustworthiness  of  a  seller  or 
buyer,  goes  at  once  to  the  mine  that  he  may  for  himself  examine  the  vein 
which  has  been  so  greatly  praised  or  disparaged,  and  may  consider  whether 
he  will  buy  or  sell  the  shares  or  not.  But  people  say,  though  such  an  one 
can  be  on  his  guard  against  fraud,  yet  a  simple  man  and  one  who  is  easily 
credulous,  is  deceived.  But  we  frequently  see  a  man  who  is  trying  to  mislead 
another  in  this  way  deceive  himself,  and  deservedly  become  a  laughing- 
stock for  everyone  ;  or  very  often  the  defrauder  as  well  as  the  dupe  is 
entirely  ignorant  of  mining.  If,  for  instance,  a  vein  has  been  found  to  be 
abundant  in  ore,  contrary  to  the  idea  of  the  would-be  deceiver,  then  he  who 
was  to  have  been  cheated  gets  a  profit,  and  he  who  has  been  the  deceiver 
loses.  Nevertheless,  the  miners  themselves  rarely  buy  or  sell  shares',  but 
generally  they  have  jurati  venditores28  who  buy  and  sell  at  such  prices  as  they 
have  been  instructed  to  give  or  accept.  Seeing  therefore,  that  magistrates 
decide  disputes  on  fair  and  just  principles,  that  honest  men  deceive  nobody, 
while  a  dishonest  one  cannot  deceive  easily,  or  if  he  does  he  cannot  do  so 
with  impunity,  the  criticism  of  those  who  wish  to  disparage  the  honesty  of 
miners  has  therefore  no  force  or  weight. 

In  the  next  place,  the  occupation  of  the  miner  is  objectionable  to 
nobody.  For  who,  unless  he  be  naturally  malevolent  and  envious,  will 
hate  the  man  who  gains  wealth  as  it  were  from  heaven  ?  Or  who  will  hate 
a  man  who  to  amplify  his  fortune,  adopts  a  method  which  is  free  from 
reproach  ?  A  moneylender,  if  he  demands  an  excessive  interest,  incurs  the 
hatred  of  men.  If  he  demands  a  moderate  and  lawful  rate,  so  that  he  is  not 
injurious  to  the  public  generally  and  does  not  impoverish  them,  he  fails  to 
become  very  rich  from  his  business.  Further,  the  gain  derived  from  mining 
is  not  sordid,  for  how  can  it  be  such,  seeing  that  it  is  so  great,  so  plentiful, 
and  of  so  innocent  a  nature.  A  merchant's  profits  are  mean  and  base  when 
he  sells  counterfeit  and  spurious  merchandise,  or  puts  far  too  high  a  price 
on  goods  that  he  has  purchased  for  little ;  for  this  reason  the  merchant 

38 Jurati    Venditores — "  Sworn  brokers."  (?) 


BOOK     I.  23 

would  be  held  in  no  less  odium  amongst  good  men  than  is  the  usurer,  did 
they  not  take  account  of  the  risk  he  runs  to  secure  his  merchandise.  In 
truth,  those  who  on  this  point  speak  abusively  of  mining  for  the  sake  of 
detracting  from  its  merits,  say  that  in  former  days  men  convicted  of  crimes 
and  misdeeds  were  sentenced  to  the  mines  and  were  worked  as  slaves.  But 
to-day  the  miners  receive  pay,  and  are  engaged  like  other  workmen  in  the 
common  trades. 

Certainly,  if  mining  is  a  shameful  and  discreditable  employment  for  a 
gentleman  because  slaves  once  worked  mines,  then  agriculture  also  will  not  be 
a  very  creditable  employment,  because  slaves  once  cultivated  the  fields,  and 
even  to-day  do  so  among  the  Turks  ;  nor  will  architecture  be  considered 
honest,  because  some  slaves  have  been  found  skilful  in  that  profession  ; 
nor  medicine,  because  not  a  few  doctors  have  been  slaves  ;  nor  will  any  other 
worthy  craft,  because  men  captured  by  force  of  arms  have  practised  it. 
Yet  agriculture,  architecture,  and  medicine  are  none  the  less  counted 
amongst  the  number  of  honourable  professions  ;  therefore,  mining 
ought  not  for  this  reason  to  be  excluded  from  them.  But  suppose  we 
grant  that  the  hired  miners  have  a  sordid  employment.  We  do  not  mean 
by  miners  only  the  diggers  and  other  workmen,  but  also  those  skilled  in  the 
mining  arts,  and  those  who  invest  money  in  mines.  Amongst  them  can  be 
counted  kings,  princes,  republics,  and  from  these  last  the  most  esteemed 
citizens.  And  finally,  we  include  amongst  the  overseers  of  mines  the  noble 
Thucydides,  the  historian,  whom  the  Athenians  placed  in  charge  of  the 
mines  of  Thasos.29  And  it  would  not  be  unseemly  for  the  owners  themselves 
to  work  with  their  own  hands  on  the  works  or  ore,  especially  if  they  them- 
selves have  contributed  to  the  cost  of  the  mines.  Just  as  it  is  not  undignified 
for  great  men  to  cultivate  their  own  land.  Otherwise  the  Roman  Senate 
would  not  have  created  Dictator  L.  Quintius  Cincinnatus,  as  he  was  at 
work  in  the  fields,  nor  would  it  have  summoned  to  the  Senate  House  the 
chief  men  of  the  State  from  their  country  villas.  Similarly,  in  our  day, 
Maximilian  Caesar  would  not  have  enrolled  Conrad  in  the  ranks  of  the  nobles 
known  as  Counts  ;  Conrad  was  really  very  poor  when  he  served  in  the  mines 
of  Schneeberg,  and  for  that  reason  he  was  nicknamed  the  "  poor  man  "  ;  but 

28There  is  no  doubt  that  Thucydides  had  some  connection  with  gold  mines  ;  he  himself 
is  the  authority  for  the  statement  that  he  worked  mines  in  Thrace.     Agricola  seems  to  have 
obtained    his  idea  that  Thucydides  held  an  appointment  from  the  Athenians  in  charge    of 
mines  in  Thasos,  from  Marcellinus  (Vita,  Thucydides,  30),    who  also  says  that  Thucydides 
obtained  possession  of  mines  in  Thrace  through  his  marriage  with  a  Thracian  woman,  and 
that  it  was  while  residing  on  the  mines  at  Scapte-Hyle  that  he  wrote  his  history.       Later 
scholars,  however,  find  little  warrant  for  these  assertions.     The  gold  mines  of  Thasos — an 
island   off   the   mainland   of   Thrace — are    frequently   mentioned   by   the   ancient   authors. 
Herodotus,  vi.,  46-47,  says  : — "  Their  (the   Thasians')    revenue   was   derived   partly   from 
'  their  possessions   upon   the   mainland,  partly  from  the  mines  which  they  owned.     They 
'  were  masters  of  the  gold  mines  of   Scapte-Hyle,  the  yearly  produce  of  which  amounted  to 
'  eighty  talents.     Their  mines  in  Thasos  yielded  less,  but  still  were  so  prolific  that  besides 
'  being  entirely  free  from  land-tax   they  had  a  surplus  of  income  derived  from  the  two 
'  sources  of  their  territory  on  the  mainland  and  their  mines,  in  common  years  two  hundred 
'  and  in  best  years  three  hundred  talents.     I  myself  have  seen  the  mines  in  question.     By 
'  far  the  most  curious  of  them  are  those  which  the  Phoenicians    discovered  at  the  time 
'  when  they  went  with  Thasos  and  colonized  the  island,  which   took  its  name  from    him. 


24  BOOK     I. 

not  many  years  after,  he  attained  wealth  from  the  mines  of  Fiirst,  which 
is  a  city  in  Lorraine,  and  took  his  name  from  "  Luck."30  Nor  would 
King  Vladislaus  have  restored  to  the  Assembly  of  Barons,  Tursius,  a 
citizen  of  Cracow,  who  became  rich  through  the  mines  in  that  part  of  the 
kingdom  of  Hungary  which  was  formerly  called  Dacia.31  Nay,  not  even  the 
common  worker  in  the  mines  is  vile  and  abject.  For,  trained  to  vigilance 
and  work  by  night  and  day,  he  has  great  powers  of  endurance  when  occasion 
demands,  and  easily  sustains  the  fatigues  and  duties  of  a  soldier,  for  he  is 
accustomed  to  keep  long  vigils  at  night,  to  wield  iron  tools,  to  dig  trenches, 
to  drive  tunnels,  to  make  machines,  and  to  carry  burdens.  Therefore,  experts 
in  military  affairs  prefer  the  miner,  not  only  to  a  commoner  from  the  town, 
but  even  to  the  rustic. 

But  to  bring  this  discussion  to  an  end,  inasmuch  as  the  chief  callings 
are  those  of  the  moneylender,  the  soldier,  the  merchant,  the  farmer,  and  the 
miner,  I  say,  inasmuch  as  usury  is  odious,  while  the  spoil  cruelly  captured 
from  the  possessions  of  the  people  innocent  of  wrong  is  wicked  in  the  sight 
of  God  and  man,  and  inasmuch  as  the  calling  of  the  miner  excels  in  honour 
and  dignity  that  of  the  merchant  trading  for  lucre,  while  it  is  not  less  noble 
though  far  more  profitable  than  agriculture,  who  can  fail  to  realize  that 
mining  is  a  calling  of  peculiar  dignity  ?  Certainly,  though  it  is  but  one  of 
ten  important  and  excellent  methods  of  acquiring  wealth  in  an  honourable 
way,  a  careful  and  diligent  man  can  attain  this  result  in  no  easier  way 
than  by  mining. 

"  These  Phoenician  workings  are  in  Thasos  itself,  between  Coenyra  and  a  place  called 
"  Aenyra  over  against  Samothrace  ;  a  high  mountain  has  been  turned  upside  down  in 
"  the  search  for  ores."  (Rawlinson's  Trans.).  The  occasion  of  this  statement  of  Herodotus 
was  the  relations  of  the  Thasians  with  Darius  (521-486  B.C.).  The  date  of  the  Phoenician 
colonization  of  Thasos  is  highly  nebular— anywhere  from  1200  to  900  B.C. 

30Agricola,  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Melallis,  Book  I.,  p.  392,  says  : — "  Conrad,  whose 
"  nickname  in  former  years  was  '  pauper,"  suddenly  became  rich  from  the  silver  mines  of 
"  Mount  Jura,  known  as  the  Firstum."  He  was  ennobled  with  the  title  of  Graf  Cuntz 
von  Gliick  by  the  Emperor  Maximilian  (who  was  Emperor  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire, 
I493"I5I9)-  Conrad  was  originally  a  working  miner  at  Schneeberg  where  he  was  known 
as  Armer  Cuntz  (poor  Cuntz  or  Conrad)  and  grew  wealthy  from  the  mines  of  Fiirst  in 
Leberthal.  This  district  is  located  in  the  Vosges  Mountains  on  the  borders  of  Lorraine 
and  Upper  Alsace.  The  story  of  Cuntz  or  Conrad  von  Gliick  is  mentioned  by  Albinus 
(Meissnische  Land  und  Berg  Chronica,  Dresden,  1589,  p.  116),  Mathesius  (Sarepta,  Nurem- 
berg, 1578,  fol.  xvi.),  and  by  others. 

31Vladislaus  III.  was  King  of  Poland,  1434-44,  and  also  became  King  of  Hungary  in 
1440.  Tursius  seems  to  be  a  Latinized  name  and  cannot  be  identified. 

END    OF    BOOK    I. 


BOOK    II. 


UALITIES  which  the  perfect  miner  should  possess 
and  the  arguments  which  are  urged  for  and  against 
the  arts  of  mining  and  metallurgy,  as  well 
as  the  people  occupied  in  the  industry,  I 
have  sufficiently  discussed  in  the  first  Book.  Now 
I  have  determined  to  give  more  ample  information 
concerning  the  miners. 

In  the  first  place,  it  is  indispensable  that  they 
should  worship  God  with  reverence,  and  that  they 
understand  the  matters  of  which  I  am  going  to  speak,  and  that  they 
take  good  care  that  each  individual  performs  his  duties  efficiently  and 
diligently.  It  is  decreed  by  Divine  Providence  that  those  who  know 
what  they  ought  to  do  and  then  take  care  to  do  it  properly,  for  the 
most  part  meet  with  good  fortune  in  all  they  undertake  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  misfortune  overtakes  the  indolent  and  those  who  are  careless  in 
their  work.  No  person  indeed  can,  without  great  and  sustained  effort  and 
labour,  store  in  his  mind  the  knowledge  of  every  portion  of  the  metallic 
arts  which  are  involved  in  operating  mines.  If  a  man  has  the  means 
of  paying  the  necessary  expense,  he  hires  as  many  men  as  he  needs,  and 
sends  them  to  the  various  works.  Thus  formerly  Sosias,  the  Thracian,  sent 
into  the  silver  mines  a  thousand  slaves  whom  he  had  hired  from  the  Athenian 
Nicias,  the  son  of  Niceratus1.  But  if  a  man  cannot  afford  the  expenditure 
he  chooses  of  the  various  kinds  of  mining  that  work  which  he  himself  can 
most  easily  and  efficiently  do.  Of  these  kinds,  the  two  most  important 
are  the  making  prospect  trenches  and  the  washing  of  the  sands  of  rivers,  for 
out  of  these  sands  are  often  collected  gold  dust,  or  certain  black  stones 
from  which  tin  is  smelted,  or  even  gems  are  sometimes  found  in  them  ;  the 
trenching  occasionally  lays  bare  at  the  grass-roots  veins  which  are  found  rich 
in  metals.  If  therefore  by  skill  or  by  luck,  such  sands  or  veins  shall  fall 
into  his  hands,  he  will  be  able  to  establish  his  fortune  without  expenditure, 
and  from  poverty  rise  to  wealth.  If  on  the  contrary,  his  hopes  are  not  realised, 
then  he  can  desist  from  washing  or  digging. 

When  anyone,  in  an  endeavour  to  increase  his  fortune,  meets  the 
expenditure  of  a  mine  alone,  it  is  of  great  importance  that  he  should  attend 
to  his  works  and  personally  superintend  everything  that  he  has  ordered  to 
be  done.  For  this  reason,  he  should  either  have  his  dwelling  at  the  mine, 

^enophon.     Essay  on  the  Revenues  of  Athens,  iv.,  14. 

"  But  we  cannot  but  feel  surprised  that  the  State,  when  it  sees  many  private  individuals 

'  enriching  themselves  from  its  resources,  does  not  imitate  their  proceedings  ;  for  we  heard 

'  long  ago,  indeed,  at  least  such  of  us  as  attended  to  these  matters,  that  Nicias  the  son  of 

'Niceratus    kept  a  thousand  men  employed  in  the  silver  mines,  whom  he  let  on  hire  to 

'  Sosias  of  Thrace  on  condition  that  he  should  give  him  for  each  an  obolus  a  day,  free  of  all 

'  charges ;    and    this    number    he    always    supplied    undiminished."      (See   also  Note  6). 

An  obolus  a  day  each,  would  be  about  23  oz.  Troy  of  silver  per  day  for  the  whole  number. 

In  modern  value  this  would,  of  course,  be  but  about  505.  per  day,  but  in  purchasing  power 

the  value  would  probably  be  100  to  i  (see  Note  on  p  28).      Nicias  was  estimated  to  have  a 

fortune  of  100  talents — about  83,700  Troy  ounces  of  silver,  and  was  one  of  the  wealthiest  of 

the  Athenians.     (Plutarch,  Life  of  Nicias). 


26  BOOK     II. 

where  he  may  always  be  in  sight  of  the  workmen  and  always  take  care  that 
none  neglect  their  duties,  or  else  he  should  live  in  the  neighbourhood,  so 
that  he  may  frequently  inspect  his  mining  works.  Then  he  may  send  word 
by  a  messenger  to  the  workmen  that  he  is  coming  more  frequently  than 
he  really  intends  to  come,  and  so  either  by  his  arrival  or  by  the  intimation 
of  it,  he  so  frightens  the  workmen  that  none  of  them  perform  their  duties 
otherwise  than  diligently.  When  he  inspects  the  mines  he  should  praise  the 
diligent  workmen  and  occasionally  give  them  rewards,  that  they  and  the 
others  may  become  more  zealous  in  their  duties  ;  on  the  other  hand,  he 
should  rebuke  the  idle  and  discharge  some  of  them  from  the  mines  and 
substitute  industrious  men  in  their  places.  Indeed,  the  owner  should 
frequently  remain  for  days  and  nights  in  the  mine,  which,  in  truth,  is  no 
habitation  for  the  idle  and  luxurious  ;  it  is  important  that  the  owner  who 
is  diligent  in  increasing  his  wealth,  should  frequently  himself  descerid  into 
the  mine,  and  devote  some  time  to  the  study  of  the  nature  of  the  veins  and 
stringers,  and  should  observe  and  consider  all  the  methods  of  working,  both 
inside  and  outside  the  mine.  Nor  is  this  all  he  ought  to  do,  for  sometimes 
he  should  undertake  actual  labour,  not  thereby  demeaning  himself,  but  in 
order  to  encourage  his  workmen  by  his  own  diligence,  and  to  teach 
them  their  art  ;  for  that  mine  is  well  conducted  in  which  not  only  the 
foreman,  but  also  the  owner  himself,  gives  instruction  as  to  what  ought  to 
be  done.  A  certain  barbarian,  according  to  Xenophon,  rightly  remarked 
to  the  King  of  Persia  that  "  the  eye  of  the  master  feeds  the  horse,"2  for  the 
master's  watchfulness  in  all  things  is  of  the  utmost  importance. 

When  several  share  together  the  expenditure  on  a  mine,  it  is  convenient 
and  useful  to  elect  from  amongst  their  own  number  a  mine  captain,  ar  1 
also  a  foreman.  For,  since  men  often  look  after  their  own  interests  but 
neglect  those  of  others,  they  cannot  in  this  case  take  care  of  their  own  without 
at  the  same  time  looking  after  the  interests  of  the  others,  neither  can  they 
neglect  the  interests  of  the  others  without  neglecting  their  own.  But  if 
no  man  amongst  them  be  willing  or  able  to  undertake  and  sustain  the  bur- 
dens of  these  offices,  it  will  be  to  the  common  interest  to  place  them  in  the 
hands  of  most  diligent  men.  Formerly  indeed,  these  things  were  looked 
after  by  the  mining  prefect3,  because  the  owners  were  kings,  as  Priam,  who 
owned  the  gold  mines  round  Abydos,  or  as  Midas,  who  was  the  owner  of 
those  situated  in  Mount  Bermius,  or  as  Gyges,  or  as  Alyattes,  or  as  Croesus, 
who  was  the  owner  of  those  mines  near  a  deserted  town  between  Atarnea 
and  Pergamum*  ;  sometimes  the  mines  belonged  to  a  Republic,  as,  for 

2Xenophon.  Oeconomicus  xn.,  20.  "'I  approve,'  said  Ischomachus,  'of  the  bar- 
"  barian's  answer  to  the  King  who  found  a  good  horse,  and,  wishing  to  fatten  it  as  soon  as 
"  possible,  asked  a  man  with  a  good  reputation  for  horsemanship  what  would  do  it  ? '  The 
"  man's  reply  was  :  '  Its  master's  eye.'  ' 

zPraefecius  Metallorum.  In  Saxony  this  official  was  styled  the  Berghauptmann.  For 
further  information  see  page  94  and  note  on  page  78. 

*This  statement  is  either  based  upon  Apollodorus,  whom  Agricola  does  not  mention 
among  his  authorities,  or  on  Strabo,  whom  he  does  so  include.  The  former  in  his  work  on 
Mythology  makes  such  a  statement,  for  which  Strabo  (xiv.,  5,  28)  takes  him  to  task  as 
follows  :  "  With  this  vain  intention  they  collected  the  stories  related  by  the  Scepsian 


BOOK     II.  27 

instance,  the  prosperous  silver  mines  in  Spain  which  belonged  to  Carthage6  ; 
sometimes  the}'  were  the  property  of  great  and  illustrious  families,  as  were 
the  Athenian  mines  in  Mount  Laurion6. 

When  a  man  owns  mines  but  is  ignorant  of  the  art  of  mining,  then 
it  is  advisable  that  he  should  share  in  common  with  others  the  expenses, 
not  of  one  only,  but  of  several  mines.  When  one  man  alone  meets  the 
expense  for  a  long  time  of  a  whole  mine,  if  good  fortune  bestows  on  him  a 
vein  abundant  in  metals,  or  in  other  products,  he  becomes  very  wealthy  ;  if, 
on  the  contrary,  the  mine  is  poor  and  barren,  in  time  he  will  lose  everything 
which  he  has  expended  on  it.  But  the  man  who,  in  common  with  others, 
has  laid  out  his  money  on  several  mines  in  a  region  renowned  for  its  wealth 
of  metals,  rarely  spends  it  in  vain,  for  fortune  usually  responds  to  his 
hopes  in  part.  For  when  out  of  twelve  veins  in  which  he  has  a  joint  interest 

"  (Demetrius),  and  taken  from  Callisthenes  and  other  writers,  who  did  not  clear  them  from 
"  false  notions  respecting  the  Halizones;  for  exam  pie,  that  the  wealth  of  Tantalus  and  of  the 
"  Pelopidae  was  derived,  it  is  said,  from  the  mines  about  Phrygia  and  Sipylus  ;  that  of  Cadmus 
"  from  the  mines  of  Thrace  and  Mount  Pangaeum  ;  that  of  Priam  from  the  gold  mines  of 
"  Astyra,  near  Abydos  (of  which  at  present  there  are  small  remains,  yet  there  is  a  large 
"  quantity  of  matter  ejected,  and  the  excavations  are  proofs  of  former  workings)  ;  that  of 
"  Midas  from  the  mines  about  Mount  Bermium  ;  that  of  Gyges,  Alyattes,  and  Croesus,  from 
"  the  mines  in  Lydia  and  the  small  deserted  city  between  Atarneus  and  Pergamum,  where 
"  are  the  sites  of  exhausted  mines."  (Hamilton's  Trans.,  Vol.  in.,  p.  66). 

In  adopting  this  view,  Agricola  apparently  applied  a  wonderful  realism  to  some  Greek 
mythology — for  instance,  in  the  legend  of  Midas,  which  tells  of  that  king  being  rewarded  by 
the  god  Dionysus,  who  granted  his  request  that  all  he  touched  might  turn  to  gold  ;  but  the 
inconvenience  of  the  gift  drove  him  to  pray  for  relief,  which  he  obtained  by  bathing  in  the 
Pactolus,  the  sands  of  which  thereupon  became  highly  auriferous.  Priam  was,  of  course,  King 
of  Troy,  but  Homer  does  not  exhibit  him  as  a  mine-owner.  Gyges,  Alyattes,  and  Croesus 
were  successively  Kings  of  Lydia,  from  687  to  546  B.C.,  and  were  no  doubt  possessed  of  great 
treasure  in  gold.  Some  few  years  ago  we  had  occasion  to  inquire  into  extensive  old  workings 
locally  reputed  to  be  Croesus'  mines,  at  a  place  some  distance  north  of  Smyrna,  which  would 
correspond  very  closely  to  the  locality  here  mentioned. 

6There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Carthaginians  worked  the  mines  of  Spain  on  an 
extensive  scale  for  a  very  long  period  anterior  to  their  conquest  by  the  Romans,  but  whether 
the  mines  were  worked  by  the  Government  or  not  we  are  unable  to  find  any  evidence. 

6The  silver  mines  of  Mt.  Laurion  formed  the  economic  mainstay  of  Athens  for  the 
three  centuries  during  which  the  State  had  the  ascendency  in  Greece,  and  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  the  dominance  of  Athens  and  its  position  as  a  sea-power  were  directly  due  to  the 
revenues  from  the  mines.  The  first  working  of  the  mines  is  shrouded  in  mystery.  The 
scarcity  of  silver  in  the  time  of  Solon  (638-598  B.C.)  would  not  indicate  any  very  considerable 
output  at  that  time.  According  to  Xenophon  (Essay  on  Revenue  of  Athens,  iv.,  2),  written 
about  355  B.C.,  "  they  were  wrought  in  very  ancient  times."  The  first  definite  discussion  of 
the  mines  in  Greek  record  begins  about  500  B.C.,  for  about  that  time  the  royalties  began  to 
figure  in  the  Athenian  Budget  (Aristotle,  Constitution  of  Athens,  47).  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  mines  reached  great  prosperity  prior  to  the  Persian  invasion.  In  the  year  484  B.C. 
the  mines  returned  100  Talents  (about  83,700  oz.  Troy)  to  the  Treasury,  and  this,  on  the 
advice  of  Themistocles,  was  devoted  to  the  construction  of  the  fleet  which  conquered  the 
Persians  at  Salamis  (480  B.C.).  The  mines  were  much  interfered  with  by  the  Spartan 
invasions  from  431  to  425  B.C.,  and  again  by  their  occupation  in  413  B.C.  ;  and  by  355  B.C., 
when  Xenophon  wrote  the  "  Revenues,"  exploitation  had  fallen  to  a  low  ebb,  for  which  he 
proposes  the  remedies  noted  by  Agricola  on  p.  28.  By  the  end  of  the  4th  Century, 
B.C.,  the  mines  had  again  reached  considerable  prosperity,  as  is  evidenced  by  Demosthenes' 
orations  against  Pantaenetus  and  against  Phaenippus,  and  by  Lycurgus'  prosecution  of 
Diphilos  for  robbing  the  supporting  pillars.  The  domination  of  the  Macedonians  under  Philip 
and  Alexander  at  the  end  of  the  4th  and  beginning  of  the  3rd  Centuries  B.C.,  however,  so 
flooded  Greece  with  money  from  the  mines  of  Thrace,  that  this  probably  interfered  with 
Laurion,  at  this  time,  in  any  event,  began  'the  'decadence  of  these  mines.  Synchronous 
also  was  the  decadence  of  Athens,  and,  but  for  fitful  displays,  the  State  was  not  able  to  main- 
tain even  its  own  independence,  not  to  mention  its  position  as  a  dominant  State.  Finally, 
Strabo,  writing  about  30  B.C.  gives  the  epitaph  of  every  mining  district — reworking  the 
dumps.  He  says  (ix.,  i,  23) :  "  The  silver  mines  in  Attica  were  at  first  of  importance,  but 


28  BOOK     II. 

one  yields  an  abundance  of  metals,  it  not  only  gives  back  to  the  owner  the 
money  he  has  spent,  but  also  gives  a  profit  besides  ;  certainly  there  will 
be  for  him  rich  and  profitable  mining,  if  of  the  whole  number,  three,  or  four, 
or  more  veins  should  yield  metal.  Very  similar  to  this  is  the  advice  which 
Xenophon  gave  to  the  Athenians  when  they  wished  to  prospect  for  new 
veins  of  silver  without  suffering  loss.  "  There  are,"  he  said,  "  ten  tribes 
of  Athenians ;  if,  therefore,  the  State  assigned  an  equal  number  of 
slaves  to  each  tribe,  and  the  tribes  participated  equally  in  all  the  new  veins, 
undoubtedly  by  this  method,  if  a  rich  vein  of  silver  were  found  by  one  tribe, 
whatever  profit  were  made  from  it  would  assuredly  be  shared  by  the  whole 
number.  And  if  two,  three,  or  four  tribes,  or  even  half  the  whole  number 
find  veins,  their  works  would  then  become  more  profitable  ;  and  it  is  not 
"  probable  that  the  work  of  all  the  tribes  will  be  disappointing  "7.  Although 
this  advice  of  Xenophon  is  full  of  prudence,  there  is  no  opportunity  for  it 
except  in  free  and  wealthy  States  ;  for  those  people  who  are  under  the 
authority  of  kings  and  princes,  or  are  kept  in  subjection  by  tyranny,  do  not 
dare,  without  permission,  to  incur  such  expenditure  ;  those  who  are  endowed 
with  little  wealth  and  resources  cannot  do  so  on  account  of  insufficient  funds. 
Moreover,  amongst  our  race  it  is  not  customary  for  Republics  to  have  slaves 
whom  they  can  hire  out  for  the  benefit  of  the  people8  ;  but,  instead,  now- 
adays those  who  are  in  authority  administer  the  funds  for  mining  in  the  name 
of  the  State,  not  unlike  private  individuals. 

"  are  now  exhausted.  The  workmen,  when  the  mines  yielded  a  bad  return  to  their  labour, 
"  committed  to  the  furnace  the  old  refuse  and  scoria,  and  hence  obtained  very  pure  silver, 
"  for  the  former  workmen  had  carried  on  the  process  in  the  furnace  unskilfully." 

Since  1860,  the  mines  have  been  worked  with  some  success  by  a  French  Company, 
thus  carrying  the  mining  history  of  this  district  over  a  period  of  twenty-seven  centuries. 
The  most  excellent  of  many  memoirs  upon  the  mines  at  Laurion,  not  only  for  its  critical, 
historical,  and  archaeological  value,  but  also  because  of  its  author's  great  insight  into  mining 
and  metallurgy,  is  that  of  Edouard  Ardaillon  (Les  Mines  du  Laurion  dans  I  Antiquite.  Paris, 
1897).  We  have  relied  considerably  upon  this  careful  study  for  the  following  notes,  and 
would  refer  others  to  it  for  a  short  bibliography  on  the  subject.  We  would  mention  in  passing 
that  Augustus  Boeckh's  "  Silver  Mines  of  Laurion,"  which  is  incorporated  with  his  "  Public 
Economy  of  Athens  "  (English  Translation  by  Lewis,  London,  1842)  has  been  too  much 
relied  upon  by  English  students.  It  is  no  doubt  the  product  of  one  acquainted  with  written 
history,  but  without  any  special  knowledge  of  the  industry  and  it  is  based  on  no  antiquarian  re- 
search. The  Mt.  Laurion  mining  district  is  located  near  the  southern  end  of  the  Attic  Peninsula. 
The  deposits  are  silver-lead,  and  they  occur  along  the  contact  between  approximately  hori- 
zontal limestones  and  slates.  There  are  two  principal  beds  of  each,  thus  forming  three 
principal  contacts.  The  most  metalliferous  of  these  contacts  are  those  at  the  base  of  the 
slates,  the  lowest  contact  of  the  series  being  the  richest.  The  ore-bodies  were  most  irregular, 
varying  greatly  in  size,  from  a  thin  seam  between  schist  planes,  to  very  large  bodies  containing 
as  much  as  200,000  cubic  metres.  The  ores  are  argentiferous  galena,  accompanied  by  con- 
siderable amounts  of  blende  and  pyrites,  all  oxidized  near  the  surface.  The  ores  worked  by 
the  Ancients  appear  to  have  been  fairly  rich  in  lead,  for  the  discards  worked  in  recent  years  by 
the  French  Company,  and  the  pillars  left  behind,  ran  8%  to  10%  lead.  The  ratio  of  silver  was 
from  40  to  go  ounces  per  ton  of  lead.  The  upper  contacts  were  exposed  by  erosion  and  could 
be  entered  by  tunnels,  but  the  lowest  and  most  prolific  contact  line  was  only  to  be  reached  by 
shafts.  The  shafts  were  ordinarily  from  four  to  six  feet  square,  and  were  undoubtedly  cut  by 
hammer  and  chisel ;  they  were  as  much  as  380  feet  deep.  In  some  cases  long  inclines  for 
travelling  roads  join  the  vertical  shafts  in  depth.  The  drives,  whether  tunnels  or  from 
shafts,  were  not  level,  but  followed  every  caprice  of  the  sinuous  contact.  They  were  from 
two  to  two  and  a  half  feet  wide,  often  driven  in  parallels  with  cross-cuts  between,  in  order  to 
exploit  every  corner  of  the  contact.  The  stoping  of  ore-bodies  discovered  was  undertaken 
quite  systematically,  the  methods  depending  in  the  main  on  the  shape  of  the  ore-body.  If 
the  body  was  large,  its  dimensions  were  first  determined  by  drives,  crosscuts,  rises,  and 


BOOK     II.  29 

Some  owners  prefer  to  buy  shares9  in  mines  abounding  in  metals, 
rather  than  to  be  troubled  themselves  to  search  for  the  veins  ;  these  men 
employ  an  easier  and  less  uncertain  method  of  increasing  their  property. 
Although  their  hopes  in  the  shares  of  one  or  another  mine  may  be  frustrated, 
the  buyers  of  shares  should  not  abandon  the  rest  of  the  mines,  for  all  the 
money  expended  will  be  recovered  with  interest  from  some  other  mine. 
They  should  not  buy  only  high  priced  shares  in  those  mines  producing  metals, 
nor  should  they  buy  too  many  in  neighbouring  mines  where  metal  has  not 
yet  been  found,  lest,  should  fortune  not  respond,  they  may  be  exhausted  by 
their  losses  and  have  nothing  with  which  they  may  meet  their  expenses 
or  buy  other  shares  which  may  replace  their  losses.  This  calamity  over- 
takes those  who  wish  to  grow  suddenly  rich  from  mines,  and  instead,  they 
become  very  much  poorer  than  before.  So  then,  in  the  buying  of  shares, 
as  in  other  matters,  there  should  be  a  certain  limit  of  expenditure  which 
miners  should  set  themselves,  lest  blinded  by  the  desire  for  excessive  wealth, 
they  throw  all  their  money  away.  Moreover,  a  prudent  owner,  before  he 
buys  shares,  ought  to  go  to  the  mine  and  carefully  examine  the  nature  of  the 
vein,  for  it  is  very  important  that  he  should  be  on  his  guard  lest  fraudulent 
sellers  of  shares  should  deceive  him.  Investors  in  shares  may  perhaps 
become  less  wealthy,  but  they  are  more  certain  of  some  gain  than  those  who 
mine  for  metals  at  their  own  expense,  as  they  are  more  cautious  in  trusting 
to  fortune.  Neither  ought  miners  to  be  altogether  distrustful  of  fortune,  as 
we  see  some  are,  who  as  soon  as  the  shares  of  any  mine  begin  to  go  up  in 

winzes,  as  the  case  might  require.  If  the  ore  was  mainly  overhead  it  was  overhand-stoped, 
and  the  stopes  filled  as  work  progressed,  inclined  winzes  being  occasionally  driven  from  the 
stopes  to  the  original  entry  drives.  If  the  ore  was  mainly  below,  it  was  underhand-stoped, 
pillars  being  left  if  necessary — such  pillars  in  some  cases  being  thirty  feet  high.  They  also 
employed  timber  and  artificial  pillars.  The  mines  were  practically  dry.  There  is  little 
evidence  of  breaking  by  fire.  The  ore  was  hand-sorted  underground  and  carried  out  by  the 
slaves,  and  in  some  cases  apparently  the  windlass  was  used.  It  was  treated  by  grinding  in 
mills  and  concentrating  upon  a  sort  of  buddle.  These  concentrates — mostly  galena — were 
smelted  in  low  furnaces  and  the  lead  was  subsequently  cupelled.  Further  details  of 
metallurgical  methods  will  be  found  in  Notes  on  p.  391  and  p.  465,  on  metallurgical  subjects. 

The  mines  were  worked  by  slaves.  Even  the  overseers  were  at  times  apparently 
slaves,  for  we  find  (Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  n.,  5)  that  Nicias  paid  a  whole  talent  for  a  good 
overseer.  A  talent  would  be  about  837  Troy  ounces  of  silver.  As  wages  of  skilled  labour 
were  about  two  and  one  half  pennyweights  of  silver  per  diem,  and  a  family  income  of  100 
ounces  of  silver  per  annum  was  affluence,  the  ratio  of  purchasing  power  of  Attic  coinage  to 
modern  would  be  about  100  to  I.  Therefore  this  mine  manager  was  worth  in  modern  value 
roughly  £8,000.  The  mines  were  the  property  of  the  State.  The  areas  were  defined  by 
vertical  boundaries,  and  were  let  on  lease  for  definite  periods  for  a  fixed  annual  rent. 
More  ample  discussion  of  the  law  will  be  found  on  p.  83. 

'Xenophon.  (Essay  on  The  Revenues,  iv.,  30).  "  I  think,  however,  that  I  am 
'  able  to  give  some  advice  with  regard  to  this  difficulty  also  (the  risk  of  opening  new  mines), 
'  and  to  show  how  new  operations  may  be  conducted  with  the  greatest  safety.  There  are  ten 
'  tribes  at  Athens,  and  if  to  each  of  these  the  State  should  assign  an  equal  number  of  slaves, 
'  and  the  tribes  should  all  make  new  cuttings,  sharing  their  fortunes  in  common,  then  if  but 
'  one  tribe  should  make  any  useful  discovery  it  would  point  out  something  profitable  to  the 
'  whole  ;  but  if  two,  three,  or  four,  or  half  the  number  should  make  some  discovery,  it  is 
'  plain  that  the  works  would  be  more  profitable  in  proportion,  and  that  they  should  all  fail 
'  is  contrary  to  all  experience  in  past  times."  (Watson's  Trans,  p.  258). 

8Agricola  here  refers  to  the  proposal  of  Xenophon  for  the  State  to  collect  slaves  and 
hire  them  to  work  the  mines  of  Laurion.  There  is  no  evidence  that  this  recommendation  was 
ever  carried  out. 

*Partes.  Agricola,  p.  89-91,  describes  in  detail  the  organization  and  management  of 
these  share  companies.  See  Note  8,  p.  90. 


30  BOOK     II. 

value,  sell  them,  on  which  account  they  seldom  obtain  even  moderate  wealth. 
There  are  some  people  who  wash  over  the  dumps  from  exhausted  and 
abandoned  mines,  and  those  dumps  which  are  derived  from  the  drains  of 
tunnels  ;  and  others  who  smelt  the  old  slags  ;  from  all  of  which  they  make  an 
ample  return. 

Now  a  miner,  before  he  begins  to  mine  the  veins,  must  consider  seven 
things,,  namely  : — the  situation,  the  conditions,  the  water,  the  roads,  the 
climate,  the  right  of  ownership,  and  the  neighbours.  There  are  four  kinds 
of  situations — mountain,  hill,  valley,  and  plain.  Of  these  four,  the 
first  two  are  the  most  easily  mined,  because  in  them  tunnels  can  be 
driven  to  drain  off  the  water,  which  often  makes  mining  operations  very 
laborious,  if  it  does  not  stop  them  altogether.  The  last  two  kinds  of 
ground  are  more  troublesome,  especially  because  tunnels  cannot  be  driven 
in  such  places.  Nevertheless,  a  prudent  miner  considers  all  these  four 
sorts  of  localities  in  the  region  in  which  he  happens  to  be,  and  he  searches  for 
veins  in  those  places  where  some  torrent  or  other  agency  has  removed  and 
swept  the  soil  away  ;  yet  he  need  not  prospect  everywhere,  but  since  there 
is  a  great  variety,  both  in  mountains  and  in  the  three  other  kinds  of 
localities,  he  always  selects  from  them  those  which  will  give  him  the  best 
chance  of  obtaining  wealth. 

In  the  first  place,  mountains  differ  greatly  in  position,  some  being 
situated  in  even  and  level  plains,  while  others  are  found  in  broken  and 
elevated  regions,  and  others  again  seem  to  be  piled  up,  one  mountain  upon 
another.  The  wise  miner  does  not  mine  in  mountains  which  are  situated  on 
open  plains,  neither  does  he  dig  in  those  which  are  placed  on  the  summits  of 
mountainous  regions,  unless  by  some  chance  the  veins  in  those  mountains 
have  been  denuded  of  their  surface  covering,  and  abounding  in  metals  and 
other  products,  are  exposed  plainly  to  his  notice, — for  with  regard  to  what 
I  have  already  said  more  than  once,  and  though  I  never  repeat  it  again, 
I  wish  to  emphasize  this  exception  as  to  the  localities  which  should 
not  be  selected.  All  districts  do  not  possess  a  great  number  of  mountains 
crowded  together  ;  some  have  but  one,  others  two,  others  three,  or  perhaps 
a  few  more.  In  some  places  there  are  plains  lying  between  them  ;  in  others 
the  mountains  are  joined  together  or  separated  only  by  narrow  valleys. 
The  miner  should  not  dig  in  those  solitary  mountains,  dispersed  through 
the  plains  and  open  regions,  but  only  in  those  which  are  connected  and 
joined  with  others.  Then  again,  since  mountains  differ  in  size,  some  being 
very  large,  others  of  medium  height,  and  others  more  like  hills  than 
mountains,  the  miner  rarely  digs  in  the  largest  or  the  smallest  of  them, 
but  generally  only  in  those  of  medium  size.  Moreover,  mountains  have  a 
great  variety  of  shapes  ;  for  with  some  the  slopes  rise  gradually,  while 
others,  on  the  contrary,  are  all  precipitous  ;  in  some  others  the  slopes  are 
gradual  on  one  side,  and  on  the  other  sides  precipitous  ;  some  are  drawn 
out  in  length ;  some  are  gently  curved ;  others  assume  different 
shapes.  But  the  miner  may  dig  in  all  parts  of  them,  except  where  there 
are  precipices,  and  he  should  not  neglect  even  these  latter  if  metallic  veins 


BOOK    II.  31 

are  exposed  before  his  eyes.  There  are  just  as  great  differences  in  hills  as 
there  are  in  mountains,  yet  the  miner  does  not  dig  except  in  those  situated 
in  mountainous  districts,  and  even  very  rarely  in  those.  It  is  however  very 
little  to  be  wondered  at  that  the  hill  in  the  Island  of  Lemnos  was  excavated, 
for  the  whole  is  of  a  reddish-yellow  colour,  which  furnishes  for  the  inhabit- 
ants that  valuable  clay  so  especially  beneficial  to  mankind10.  In  like 
manner,  other  hills  are  excavated  if  chalk  or  other  varieties  of  earth  are 
exposed,  but  these  are  not  prospected  for. 

There  are  likewise  many  varieties  of  valleys  and  plains.  One  kind  is 
enclosed  on  the  sides  with  its  outlet  and  entrance  open  ;  another  has  either 
its  entrance  or  its  outlet  open  and  the  rest  of  it  is  closed  in  ;  both  of  these  are 
properly  called  valleys.  There  is  a  third  variety  which  is  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  mountains,  and  these  are  called  convalles.  Some  valleys  again, 
have  recesses,  and  others  have  none  ;  one  is  wide,  another  narrow  ;  one 
is  long,  another  short ;  yet  another  kind  is  not  higher  than  the  neighbouring 
plain,  and  others  are  lower  than  the  surrounding  flat  country.  But  the 
miner  does  not  dig  in  those  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  mountains,  nor  in  those 
that  are  open,  unless  there  be  a  low  plain  close  at  hand,  or  unless  a  vein 
of  metal  descending  from  the  mountains  should  extend  into  the  valley. 
Plains  differ  from  one  another,  one  being  situated  at  low  elevation, 
and  others  higher,  one  being  level  and  another  with  a  slight  incline.  The 
miner  should  never  excavate  the  low-lying  plain,  nor  one  which  is  perfectly 
level,  unless  it  be  in  some  mountain,  and  rarely  should  he  mine  in  the  other 
kinds  of  plains. 

With  regard  to  the  conditions  of  the  locality  the  miner  should 
not  contemplate  mining  without  considering  whether  the  place  be 
covered  with  trees  or  is  bare.  If  it  be  a  wooded  place,  he  who  digs  there 
has  this  advantage,  besides  others,  that  there  will  be  an  abundant  supply  of 
wood  for  his  underground  timbering,  his  machinery,  buildings,  smelting, 
and  other  necessities.  If  there  is  no  forest  he  should  not  mine  there  unless 
there  is  a  river  near,  by  which  he  can  carry  down  the  timber.  Yet  wherever 
there  is  a  hope  that  pure  gold  or  gems  may  be  found,  the  ground  can 
be  turned  up,  even  though  there  is  no  forest,  because  the  gems  need  only 
to  be  polished  and  the  gold  to  be  purified.  Therefore  the  inhabitants  of 
hot  regions  obtain  these  substances  from  rough  and  sandy  places,  where 
sometimes  there  are  not  even  shrubs,  much  less  woods. 

The  miner  should  next  consider  the  locality,  as  to  whether  it  has  a 
perpetual  supply  of  running  water,  or  whether  it  is  always  devoid  of  water 
except  when  a  torrent  supplied  by  rains  flows  down  from  the  summits  of  the 
mountains.  The  place  that  Nature  has  provided  with  a  river  or  stream  can 

10This  island  in  the  northern  ^Egean  Sea  has  produced  this  "  earth  "  from  before 
Theophrastus'  time  (372-287  B.C.)  down  to  the  present  day.  According  to  Dana  (System  of 
Mineralogy  689),  it  is  cimolite,  a  hydrous  silicate  of  aluminium.  The  Ancients  distinguished 
two  kinds, — one  sort  used  as  a  pigment,  and  the  other  for  medicinal  purposes.  This  latter 
was  dug  with  great  ceremony  at  a  certain  time  of  the  year,  moulded  into  cubes,  and  stamped 
with  a  goat, — the  symbol  of  Diana.  It  thus  became  known  as  terra  sigillata,  and  was  an 
article  of  apothecary  commerce  down  to  the  last  century.  It  is  described  by  Galen  (xn.,  12), 
Dioscorides  (v.,  63),  and  Pliny  (xxxv.,  14),  as  a  remedy  for  ulcers  and  snake  bites. 


32  BOOK     II. 

be  made  serviceable  for  many  things  ;  for  water  will  never  be  wanting  and 
can  be  carried  through  wooden  pipes  to  baths  in  dwelling-houses  ;  it  may 
be  carried  to  the  works,  where  the  metals  are  smelted  ;  and  finally,  if  the 
conditions  of  the  place  will  allow  it,  the  water  can  be  diverted  into  the 
tunnels,  so  that  it  may  turn  the  underground  machinery.  Yet  on  the  other 
hand,  to  convey  a  constant  supply  of  water  by  artificial  means  to  mines 
where  Nature  has  denied  it  access,  or  to  convey  the  ore  to  the  stream, 
increases  the  expense  greatly,  in  proportion  to  the  distance  the  mines  are 
away  from  the  river. 

The  miner  also  should  consider  whether  the  roads  from  the  neighbouring 
regions  to  the  mines  are  good  or  bad,  short  or  long.  For  since  a  region 
which  is  abundant  in  mining  products  very  often  yields  no  agricultural 
produce,  and  the  necessaries  of  life  for  the  workmen  and  others  must  all  be 
imported,  a  bad  and  long  road  occasions  much  loss  and  trouble  with 
porters  and  carriers,  and  this  increases  the  cost  of  goods  brought  in,  which, 
therefore,  must  be  sold  at  high  prices.  This  injures  not  so  much  the  work- 
men as  the  masters  ;  since  on  account  of  the  high  price  of  goods,  the  work- 
men are  not  content  with  the  wages  customary  for  their  labour,  nor  can 
they  be,  and  they  ask  higher  pay  from  the  owners.  And  if  the  owners 
refuse,  the  men  will  not  work  any  longer  in  the  mines  but  will  go  elsewhere. 
Although  districts  which  yield  metals  and  other  mineral  products  are 
generally  healthy,  because,  being  often  situated  on  high  and  lofty  ground, 
they  are  fanned  by  every  wind,  yet  sometimes  they  are  unhealthy,  as  has 
been  related  in  my  other  book,  which  is  called  "  De  Natiira  Eorum  Quae 
Effluunt  ex  Terra."  Therefore,  a  wise  miner  does  not  mine  in  such  places, 
even  if  they  are  very  productive,  when  he  perceives  unmistakable'  signs 
of  pestilence.  For  if  a  man  mines  in  an  unhealthy  region  he  may  be  alive 
one  hour  and  dead  the  next. 

Then,  the  miner  should  make  careful  and  thorough  investigation  con- 
cerning the  lord  of  the  locality,  whether  he  be  a  just  and  good  man  or  a 
tyrant,  for  the  latter  oppresses  men  by  force  of  his  authority,  and  seizes 
their  possessions  for  himself  ;  but  the  former  governs  justly  and  lawfully 
and  serves  the  common  good.  The  miner  should  not  start  mining  opera- 
tions in  a  district  which  is  oppressed  by  a  tyrant,  but  should  carefully 
consider  if  in  the  vicinity  there  is  any  other  locality  suitable  for  mining  and 
make  up  his  mind  if  the  overlord  there  be  friendly  or  inimical.  If  he  be 
inimical  the  mine  will  be  rendered  unsafe  through  hostile  attacks,  in  one  of 
which  all  of  the  gold  or  silver,  or  other  mineral  products,  laboriously  col- 
lected with  much  cost,  will  be  taken  away  from  the  owner  and  his  workmen 
will  be  struck  with  terror  ;  overcome  by  fear,  they  will  hastily  fly,  to  free 
themselves  from  the  danger  to  which  they  are  exposed.  In  this  case,  not 
only  are  the  fortunes  of  the  miner  in  the  greatest  peril  but  his  very  life  is 
in  jeopardy,  for  which  reason  he  should  not  mine  in  such  places. 

Since  several  miners  usually  come  to  mine  the  veins  in  one  locality,  a 
settlement  generally  springs  up,  for  the  miner  who  began  first  cannot  keep 
it  exclusively  for  himself.  The  Bergmeister  gives  permits  to  some  to  mine 


BOOK     II.  33 

the  superior  and  some  the  inferior  parts  of  the  veins  ;  to  some  he  gives 
the  cross  veins,  to  others  the  inclined  veins.  If  the  man  who  first  starts 
work  finds  the  vein  to  be  metal-bearing  or  yielding  other  mining  products, 
it  will  not  be  to  his  advantage  to  cease  work  because  the  neighbourhood  may 
be  evil,  but  he  will  guard  and  defend  his  rights  both  by  arms  and  by  the  law. 
When  the  Bergmeister11  delimits  the  boundaries  of  each  owner,  it  is  the  duty 
of  a  good  miner  to  keep  within  his  bounds,  and  of  a  prudent  one  to  repel 
encroachments  of  his  neighbours  by  the  help  of  the  law.  But  this  is  enough 
about  the  neighbourhood. 

The  miner  should  try  to  obtain  a  mine,  to  which  access  is  not  difficult, 
in  a  mountainous  region,  gently  sloping,  wooded,  healthy,  safe,  and  not  far 
distant  from  a  river  or  stream  by  means  of  which  he  may  convey  his 
mining  products  to  be  washed  and  smelted.  This  indeed,  is  the  best 
position.  As  for  the  others,  the  nearer  they  approximate  to  this  position  the 
better  they  are  ;  the  further  removed,  the  worse. 

Now  I  will  discuss  that  kind  of  minerals  for  which  it  is  not  necessary 
to  dig,  because  the  force  of  water  carries  them  out  of  the  veins.  Of  these 
there  are  two  kinds,  minerals — and  their  fragments12 — and  juices.  When 
there  are  springs  at  the  outcrop  of  the  veins  from  which,  as  I  have  already  said, 
the  above-mentioned  products  are  emitted,  the  miner  should  consider  these 
first,  to  see  whether  there  are  metals  or  gems  mixed  with  the  sand,  or  whether 
the  waters  discharged  are  filled  with  juices.  In  case  metals  or  gems  have 
settled  in  the  pool  of  the  spring,  not  only  should  the  sand  from  it  be 
washed,  but  also  that  from  the  streams  which  flow  from  these  springs,  and 
even  from  the  river  itself  into  which  they  again  discharge.  If  the  springs  dis- 
charge water  containing  some  juice,  this  also  should  be  collected  ;  the  further 
such  a  stream  has  flowed  from  the  source,  the  more  it  receives  plain  water  and 
the  more  diluted  does  it  become,  and  so  much  the  more  deficient  in  strength. 
If  the  stream  receives  no  water  of  another  kind,  or  scarcely  any,  not  only 
the  rivers,  but  likewise  the  lakes  which  receive  these  waters,  are  of  the  same 
nature  as  the  springs,  and  serve  the  same  uses  ;  of  this  kind  is  the  lake 
which  the  Hebrews  call  the  Dead  Sea,  and  which  is  quite  full  of  bituminous 
fluids13.  But  I  must  return  to  the  subject  of  the  sands. 

Springs  may  discharge  their  waters  into  a  sea,  a  lake,  a  marsh,  a  river, 
or  a  stream  ;  but  the  sand  of  the  sea-shore  is  rarely  washed,  for  although  the 
water  flowing  down  from  the  springs  into  the  sea  carries  some  metals  or 
gems  with  it,  yet  these  substances  can  scarcely  ever  be  reclaimed,  because 
they  are  dispersed  through  the  immense  body  of  waters  and  mixed  up  with 

llMagisler  Metallorum.  See  Note  I,  p.  78,  for  the  reasons  of  the  adoption  of 
the  term  Bergmeister  and  page  95  for  details  of  his  duties. 

l2Ramenta.  "  Particles."  The  author  uses  this  term  indifferently  for  fragments, 
particles  of  mineral,  concentrates,  gold  dust,  black  tin,  etc.,  in  all  cases  the  result  of  either 
natural  or  artificial  concentration.  As  in  technical  English  we  have  no  general  term  for  both 
natural  and  artificial  "  concentrates,"  we  have  rendered  it  as  the  context  seemed  to  demand. 

13A  certain  amount  of  bitumen  does  float  ashore  in  the  Dead  Sea  ;  the  origin  of  it  is, 
however,  uncertain.  Strabo  (xvi.,  2,  42),  Pliny  (v.,  15  and  16),  and  Josephus  (iv.,  8),  all 
mention  this  fact.  The  lake  for  this  reason  is  often  referred  to  by  the  ancient  writers  by  the 
name  Asphaltites. 


34  BOOK    II. 

other  sand,  and  scattered  far  and  wide  in  different  directions,  or  they 
sink  down  into  the  depths  of  the  sea.  For  the  same  reasons,  the  sands  of 
lakes  can  very  rarely  be  washed  successfully,  even  though  the  streams  rising 
from  the  mountains  pour  their  whole  volume  of  water  into  them.  The 
particles  of  metals  and  gems  from  the  springs  are  very  rarely  carried  into  the 
marshes,  which  are  generally  in  level  and  open  places.  Therefore,  the 
miner,  in  the  first  place,  washes  the  sand  of  the  spring,  then  of  the  stream 
which  flows  from  it,  then  finally,  that  of  the  river  into  which  the  stream 
discharges.  It  is  not  worth  the  trouble  to  wash  the  sands  of  a  large 
river  which  is  on  a  level  plain  at  a  distance  from  the  mountains.  Where 
several  springs  carrying  metals  discharge  their  waters  into  one  river,  there 
is  more  hope  of  productive  results  from  washing.  The  miner  does  not 
neglect  even  the  sands  of  the  streams  in  which  excavated  ores  have  been 
washed. 

The  waters  of  springs  taste  according  to  the  juice  they  contain,  and 
they  differ  greatly  in  this  respect.  There  are  six  kinds  of  these  tastes  which 
the  worker14  especially  observes  and  examines ;  there  is  the  salty  kind, 
which  shows  that  salt  may  be  obtained  by  evaporation  ;  the  nitrous,  which 
indicates  soda  ;  the  aluminous  kind,  which  indicates  alum  ;  the  vitrioline, 
which  indicates  vitriol ;  the  sulphurous  kind,  which  indicates  sulphur ; 
and  as  for  the  bituminous  juice,  out  of  which  bitumen  is  melted  down,  the 
colour  itself  proclaims  it  to  the  worker  who  is  evaporating  it.  The  sea- 
water  however,  is  similar  to  that  of  salt  springs,  and  may  be  drawn  into 
low-lying  pits,  and,  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  changes  of 
itself  into  salt ;  similarly  the  water  of  some  salt-lakes  turns  to  salt  when  dried 
by  the  heat  of  summer.  Therefore  an  industrious  and  diligent  man  observes 
and  makes  use  of  these  things  and  thus  contributes  something  to  the 
common  welfare. 

The  strength  of  the  sea  condenses  the  liquid  bitumen  which  flows  into 
it  from  hidden  springs,  into  amber  and  jet,  as  I  have  described  already  in 
my  books  "  De  Subterraneorum  Ortu  el  Causis  "15.  The  sea,  with  certain 

"Excoctor—  literally,  "  Smelter  "  or  "  Metallurgist." 

"This  reference  should  be  to  the  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  230),  although  there  is  a  short 

reference  to  the  matter  in  De  Ortu  et  Causis  (p.  59).     Agricola  maintained  that  not  only  were 

jet  and  amber  varieties  of  bitumen,  but  also  coal  and  camphor  and  obsidian.      As  jet 

(gagates)  is  but  a  compact  variety  of  coal,  the  ancient  knowledge  of  this  substance  has  more 

interest  than  would  otherwise  attach  to  the  gem,  especially  as  some  materials  described  in  this 

connection  were  no  doubt  coal.     The  Greeks  often  refer  to  a  series  of  substances  which  burned, 

contained  earth,  and  which  no  doubt  comprised  coal.     Such  substances  are  mentioned  by 

Aristotle    (De   Mirabilibus.  33,   41,    125),    Nicander  (Theriaca.  37),  and  others,  previous    to 

the  2nd  Century  B.C.,  but  the  most  ample  description  is  that  of  Theophrastus  (23-28) :  "  Some 

'  of  the  more  brittle  stones  there  also  are,  which  become  as  it  were  burning  coals  when  put  into 

'  a  fire,  and  continue  so  a  long  time  ;   of  this  kind  are  those  about  Bena,  found  in  mines  and 

'  washed  down  by  the  torrents,  for  they  will  take  fire  on  burning  coals  being  thrown  on  them, 

'  and  will  continue  burning  as  long  as  anyone  blows  them  ;    afterward  they  will  deaden,  and 

'  may  after  that  be  made  to  burn  again.     They  are  therefore  of  long  continuance,  but  their 

'  smell  is  troublesome  and  disagreeable.    That  also  which  is  called  the  spinus,  is  found  in 

'  mines.     This  stone,  cut  in  pieces  and  thrown  together  in  a  heap,  exposed  to  the  sun,  burns  ; 

'  and  that  the  more,  if  it  be  moistened  or  sprinkled  with  water  (a  pyritiferous  shale  ?).     But 

'  the   Lipara  stone   empties  itself,  as  it  were,  in   burning,  and  becomes  like  the   pumice, 

'  changing  at  once  both  its  colour  and  density ;    for  before  burning  it  is  black,  smooth,  and 

'  compact.     This  stone  is  found  in  the  Pumices,  separately  in  different  places,  as  it  were,  in 


• 


BOOK    II.  35 

directions  of  the  wind,  throws  both  these  substances  on  shore,  and  for  this 
reason  the  search  for  amber  demands  as  much  care  as  does  that  for  coral. 

Moreover,  it  is  necessary  that  those  who  wash  the  sand  or  evaporate 
the  water  from  the  springs,  should  be  careful  to  learn  the  nature  of  the 
locality,  its  roads,  its  salubrity,  its  overlord,  and  the  neighbours,  lest  on 
account  of  difficulties  in  the  conduct  of  their  business  they  become  either 
impoverished  by  exhaustive  expenditure,  or  their  goods  and  lives  are 
imperilled.  But  enough  about  this. 

The  miner,  after  he  has  selected  out  of  many  places  one  particular  spot 
adapted  by  Nature  for  mining,  bestows  much  labour  and  attention  on  the 
veins.  These  have  either  been  stripped  bare  of  their  covering  by  chance 
and  thus  lie  exposed  to  our  view,  or  lying  deeply  hidden  and  concealed  they 
are  found  after  close  search ;  the  latter  is  more  usual,  the  former  more 
rarely  happens,  and  both  of  these  occurrences  must  be  explained.  There 
is  more  than  one  force  which  can  lay  bare  the  veins  unaided  by  the  industry 
or  toil  of  man ;  since  either  a  torrent  might  strip  off  the  surface,  which  hap- 
pened in  the  case  of  the  silver  mines  of  Freiberg  (concerning  which  I  have 

'  cells,  nowhere  continuous  to  the  matter  of  them.  It  is  said  that  in  Melos  the  pumice 
'  is  produced  in  this  manner  in  some  other  stone,  as  this  is  on  the  contrary  in  it ;  but  the 
'  stone  which  the  pumice  is  found  in  is  not  at  all  like  the  Lipara  stone  which  is  found  in  it. 
'  Certain  stones  there  are  about  Tetras,  in  Sicily,  which  is  over  against  Lipara,  which 
'  empty  themselves  in  the  same  manner  in  the  fire.  And  in  the  promontory  called  Erineas, 
'  there  is  a  great  quantity  of  stone  like  that  found  about  Bena,  which,  when 
'  burnt,  emits  a  bituminous  smell,  and  leaves  a  matter  resembling  calcined  earth.  Those 
'  fossil  substances  that  are  called  coals,  and  are  broken  for  use,  are  earthy ;  they  kindle, 
'  however,  and  burn  like  wood  coals.  These  are  found  in  Liguria,  where  there  also  is  amber, 
'  and  in  Elis,  on  the  way  to  Olympia  over  the  mountains.  These  are  used  by  smiths." 
(Based  on  Hill's  Trans.).  Dioscorides  and  Pliny  add  nothing  of  value  to  this  description. 

Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  229-230)  not  only  gives  various  localities  of  jet,  but  also 
records  its  relation  to  coal.  As  to  the  latter,  he  describes  several  occurrences,  and  describes 
the  deposits  as  vena  dilatata.  Coal  had  come  into  considerable  use  all  over  Europe,  particu- 
larly in  England,  long  before  Agricola's  time  ;  the  oft-mentioned  charter  to  mine  sea-coal 
given  to  the  Monks  of  Newbottle  Abbey,  near  Preston,  was  dated  1210. 

Amber  was  known  to  the  Greeks  by  the  name  elecirum,  but  whether  the  alloy  of  the 
same  name  took  its  name  from  the  colour  of  amber  or  vice  versa  is  uncertain.  The  gum  is 
supposed  to  be  referred  to  by  Homer  (Od.  xv.  460),  and  Thales  of  Miletus  (640-546  B.C.) 
is  supposed  to  have  first  described  its  power  of  attraction.  It  is  mentioned  by  many  other 
Greek  authors,  ^Eschylus,  Euripides,  Aristotle,  and  others.  The  latter  (De  Mirabilibus, 
81)  records  of  the  amber  islands  in  the  Adriatic,  that  the  inhabitants  tell  the  story  that 
on  these  islands  amber  falls  from  poplar  trees.  "  This,  they  say,  resembles  gum  and  hardens 
"  like  stone,  the  story  of  the  poets  being  that  after  Phaeton  was  struck  by  lightning  his  sisters 
"  turned  to  poplar  trees  and  shed  tears  of  amber."  Theophrastus  (53)  says  :  "  Amber  is 
"  also  a  stone  ;  it  is  dug  out  of  the  earth  in  Liguria  and  has,  like  the  before-mentioned  (lode- 
"  stone),  a  power  of  attraction."  Pliny  (xxxvn.,  n)  gives  a  long  account  of  both  the 
substance,  literature,  and  mythology  on  the  subject.  His  view  of  its  origin  was  : 
"  Certainly  amber  is  obtained  from  the  islands  of  the  Northern  Ocean,  and  is  called  by  the 
"  Germans  glaesum.  For  this  reason  the  Romans,  when  Germanicus  Caesar  commanded  in 
"  those  parts,  called  one  of  them  Glaesaria,  which  was  known  to  the  barbarians  as 
"  Austeravia.  Amber  originates  from  gum  discharged  by  a  kind  of  pine  tree,  like  gum  from 
"  cherry  and  resin  from  the  ordinary  pine.  It  is  liquid  at  first,  and  issues  abundantly  and 
"  hardens  in  time  by  cold,  or  by  the  sea  when  the  rising  tides  carry  off  the  fragments  from 
"  the  shores  of  those  islands.  Certainly  it  is  thrown  on  the  coasts,  and  is  so  light  that  it 
"  appears  to  roll  in  the  water.  Our  forefathers  believed  that  it  was  the  juice  of  a  tree,  for 
"  they  called  it  succinum.  And  that  it  belongs  to  a  kind  of  pine  tree  is  proved  by  the  odour 
"  of  the  pine  tree  which  it  gives  when  rubbed,  and  that  it  burns  when  ignited  like  a  pitch 
"  pine  torch."  The  term  amber  is  of  Arabic  origin — from  Ambar — and  this  term  was 
adopted  by  the  Greeks  after  the  Christian  era.  Agricola  uses  the  Latin  term 
Kuccinum  and  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  231-5)  disputes  the  origin  from  tree  gum,  and  contends  for 
submarine  bitumen  springs. 


36  BOOK     II. 

written  in  Book  I.  of  my  work  "  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallic  ")16 ;  or  they 
may  be  exposed  through  the  force  of  the  wind,  when  it  uproots  and  destroys 
the  trees  which  have  grown  over  the  veins  ;  or  by  the  breaking  away  of  the 
rocks ;  or  by  long-continued  heavy  rains  tearing  away  the  mountain ;  or  by 
an  earthquake  ;  or  by  a  lightning  flash  ;  or  by  a  snowslide  ;  or  by  the 
violence  of  the  winds  :  "Of  such  a  nature  are  the  rocks  hurled  down  from 
the  mountains  by  the  force  of  the  winds  aided  by  the  ravages  of  time."  Or 
the  plough  may  uncover  the  veins,  for  Justin  relates  in  his  history  that 
nuggets  of  gold  had  been  turned  up  in  Galicia  by  the  plough  ;  or  this  may 
occur  through  a  fire  in  the  forest,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  tells  us  happened  in  the 
silver  mines  in  Spain  ;  and  that  saying  of  Posidonius  is  appropriate  enough  : 
"  The  earth  violently  moved  by  the  fires  consuming  the  forest  sends  forth  new 
products,  namely,  gold  and  silver."  17.  And  indeed,  Lucretius  has  ex- 
plained the  same  thing  more  fully  in  the  following  lines  :  "  Copper  and  gold 
and  iron  were  discovered,  and  at  the  same  time  weighty  silver  and  the  sub- 
stance of  lead,  when  fire  had  burned  up  vast  forests  on  the  great  hills,  either 
by  a  discharge  of  heaven's  lightning,  or  else  because,  when  men  were  waging 
war  with  one  another,  forest  fires  had  carried  fire  among  the  enemy  in  order  to 
strike  terror  to  them,  or  because,  attracted  by  the  goodness  of  the  soil,  they 
wished  to  clear  rich  fields  and  bring  the  country  into  pasture,  or  else  to  destroy 
wild  beasts  and  enrich  themselves  with  the  game  ;  for  hunting  with  pitfalls 
and  with  fire  came  into  use  before  the  practice  of  enclosing  the  wood  with 
toils  and  rousing  the  game  with  dogs.  Whatever  the  fact  is,  from 

18The  statement  in  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis  (p.  394)  is  as  follows  : — 
"  It  came  about  by  chance  and  accident  that  the  silver  mines  were  discoyered  at 
"  Freiberg  in  Meissen.  By  the  river  Sala,  which  is  not  unknown  to  Strabo,  is  Hala,  which 
"  was  once  country,  but  is  now  a  large  town  ;  the  site,  at  any  rate,  even  from  Roman  times 
"  was  famous  and  renowned  for  its  salt  springs,  for  the  possession  of  which  the  Hermunduri 
"  fought  with  the  Chatti.  When  people  carried  the  salt  thence  in  wagons,  as  they  now  do 
"  straight  through  Meissen  (Saxony)  into  Bohemia — which  is  lacking  in  that  seasoning  to-day 
"  no  less  than  formerly — they  saw  galena  in  the  wheel  tracks,  which  had  been  uncovered  by 
"  the  torrents.  This  lead  ore,  since  it  was  similar  to  that  of  Goslar,  they  put  into  their  carts 
"  and  carried  to  Goslar,  for  the  same  carriers  were  accustomed  to  carry  lead  from  that  city. 
"  And  since  much  more  silver  was  smelted  from  this  galena  than  from  that  of  Goslar,  certain 
"  miners  betook  themselves  to  that  part  of  Meissen  in  which  is  now  situated  Freiberg,  a 
"  great  and  wealthy  town  ;  and  we  are  told  by  consistent  stories  and  general  report  that 
"  they  grew  rich  out  of  the  mines."  Agricola  places  the  discovery  of  the  mines  at  Freiberg 
at  about  1170.  See  Note  II,  p.  5. 

17Diodorus  Siculus  (v.,  35).  "  These  places  being  covered  with  woods,  it  is  said  that 
"  in  ancient  times  these  mountains  were  set  on  fire  by  shepherds,  and  continued  burning  for 
"  many  days,  and  parched  the  earth,  so  that  an  abundance  of  silver  ore  was  melted,  and 
"  the  metal  flowed  in  streams  of  pure  silver  like  a  river."  Aristotle,  nearly  three  centuries 
belore  Diodorus,  mentions  this  same  story  (De  Mirabilibus,  87)  :  "  They  say  that  in  Ibernia 
"  the  woods  were  set  on  fire  by  certain  shepherds,  and  the  earth  thus  heated,  the  country 
"  visibly  flowed  silver  ;  and  when  some  time  later  there  were  earthquakes,  and  the  earth 
"  burst  asunder  at  different  places,  a  large  amount  of  silver  was  collected."  As  the  works 
of  Posidonius  are  lost,  it  is  probable  that  Agricola  was  quoting  from  Strabo  (in.,  2,  9), 
who  says,  in  describing  Spain  :  "  Posidonius,  in  praising  the  amount  and  excellence  of  the 
"  metals,  cannot  refrain  from  his  accustomed  rhetoric,  and  becomes  quite  enthusiastic  in 
"  exaggeration.  He  tells  us  we  are  not  to  disbelieve  the  fable  that  formerly  the  forests 
"  having  been  set  on  fire,  the  earth,  which  was  loaded  with  silver  and  gold,  melted  and 
"  threw  up  these  metals  to  the  surface,  for  inasmuch  as  every  mountain  and  wooded  hill 
"  seemed  to  be  heaped  up  with  money  by  a  lavish  fortune."  (Hamilton's  Trans.  I.,  p.  220). 
Or  he  may  have  been  quoting  from  the  Deipnosophistae  of  Athenaeus  (vi.),  where  Posidonius 
is  quoted  :  "  And  the  mountains  .  .  .  when  once  the  woods  upon  them  had  caught  fire, 
spontaneously  ran  with  liquid  silver." 


BOOK     II.  37 

whatever  cause  the  heat  of  flame  had  swallowed  up  the  forests  with  a  frightful 
crackling  from  their  very  roots,  and  had  thoroughly  baked  the  earth  with 
fire,  there  would  run  from  the  boiling  veins  and  collect  into  the  hollows  of  the 
grounds  a  stream  of  silver  and  gold,  as  well  as  of  copper  and  lead."18  But 
yet  the  poet  considers  that  the  veins  are  not  laid  bare  in  the  first  instance 
so  much  by  this  kind  of  fire,  but  rather  that  all  mining  had  its 
origin  in  this.  And  lastly,  some  other  force  may  by  chance  disclose  the 
veins,  for  a  horse,  if  this  tale  can  be  believed,  disclosed  the  lead  veins  at 
Goslar  by  a  blow  from  his  hoof19.  By  such  methods  as  these  does  fortune 
disclose  the  veins  to  us. 

But  by  skill  we  can  also  investigate  hidden  and  concealed  veins,  by 
observing  in  the  first  place  the  bubbling  waters  of  springs,  which  cannot  be 
very  far  distant  from  the  veins  because  the  source  of  the  water  is  from 
them  ;  secondly,  by  examining  the  fragments  of  the  veins  which  the  torrents 
break  off  from  the  earth,  for  after  a  long  time  some  of  these  fragments  are 
again  buried  in  the  ground.  Fragments  of  this  kind  lying  about  on  the 
ground,  if  they  are  rubbed  smooth,  are  a  long  distance  from  the  veins, 
because  the  torrent,  which  broke  them  from  the  vein,  polished  them  while 
it  rolled  them  a  long  distance  ;  but  if  they  are  fixed  in  the  ground,  or  if 
they  are  rough,  they  are  nearer  to  the  veins.  The  soil  also  should  be  con- 
sidered, for  this  is  often  the  cause  of  veins  being  buried  more  or  less  deeply 
under  the  earth  ;  in  this  case  the  fragments  protrude  more  or  less  widely 
apart,  and  miners  are  wont  to  call  the  veins  discovered  in  this  manner 
"  fragmenta."20 

Further,  we  search  for  the  veins  by  observing  the  hoar-frosts, 
which  whiten  all  herbage  except  that  growing  over  the  veins,  because  the 
veins  emit  a  warm  and  dry  exhalation  which  hinders  the  freezing  of  the 
moisture,  for  which  reason  such  plants  appear  rather  wet  than  whitened  by 
the  frost.  This  may  be  observed  in  all  cold  places  before  the  grass  has  grown 
to  its  full  size,  as  in  the  months  of  April  and  May  ;  or  when  the  late  crop  of 

"Lucretius  De  Rerum  Natura  v.  1241. 

19Agricola's  account  of  this  event  in  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis  is  as  follows  (p. 
393)  :  "  Now  veins  are  not  always  first  disclosed  by  the  hand  and  labour  of  man,  nor  has  art 
'  always  demonstrated  them ;  sometimes  they  have  been  disclosed  rather  by  chance  or  by 
'  good  fortune.  I  will  explain  briefly  what  has  been  written  upon  this  matter  in  history, 
'  what  miners  tell  us,  and  what  has  occurred  in  our  times.  Thus  the  mines  at  Goslar  are 
'  said  to  have  been  found  in  the  following  way.  A  certain  noble,  whose  name  is  not  recorded, 
'  tied  his  horse,  which  was  named  Ramelus,  to  the  branch  of  a  tree  which  grew  on  the 
'  mountain.  This  horse,  pawing  the  earth  with  its  hoofs,  which  were  iron  shod,  and  thus 
'  turning  it  over,  uncovered  a  hidden  vein  of  lead,  not  unlike  the  winged  Pegasus,  who  in  the 
'  legend  of  the  poets  opened  a  spring  when  he  beat  the  rock  with  his  hoof.  So  just  as  that 
'  spring  is  named  Hipprocrene  after  that  horse,  so  our  ancestors  named  the  mountain 
'  Rammelsberg.  Whereas  the  perennial  water  spring  of  the  poets  would  long  ago  have  dried 
'  up,  the  vein  even  to-day  exists,  and  supplies  an  abundant  amount  of  excellent  lead.  That 
'  a  horse  can  have  opened  a  vein  will  seem  credible  to  anyone  who  reflects  in  how  many  ways 
'  the  signs  of  veins  are  shown  by  chance,  all  of  which  are  explained  in  my  work  De  Re 
'  Metallica.  Therefore,  here  we  will  believe  the  story,  both  because  it  may  happen  that  a 
'  horse  may  disclose  a  vein,  and  because  the  name  of  the  mountain  agrees  with  the  story." 
Agricola  places  the  discovery  of  Goslar  in  the  Hartz  at  prior  to  936.  See  Note  n,  p.  5. 

*°Fragmenta.  The  glossary  gives  "  Geschube."  This  term  is  denned  in  the  Bergwerks' 
Lexicon  (Chemnitz,  1743,  p  250)  as  the  pieces  of  stone,  especially  tin-stone,  broken  from 
the  vein  and  washed  out  by  the  water — the  croppings. 


38  BOOK    II. 

hay,  which  is  called  the  cordum,  is  cut  with  scythes  in  the  month  of 
September.  Therefore  in  places  where  the  grass  has  a  dampness  that  is  not  con- 
gealed into  frost,  there  is  a  vein  beneath  :  also  if  the  exhalation  be  excessively 
hot,  the  soil  will  produce  only  small  and  pale-coloured  plants.  Lastly,  there 
are  trees  whose  foliage  in  spring-time  has  a  bluish  or  leaden  tint,  the  upper 
branches  more  especially  being  tinged  with  black  or  with  any  other  unnatural 
colour,  the  trunks  cleft  in  two,  and  the  branches  black  or  discoloured. 
These  phenomena  are  caused  by  the  intensely  hot  and  dry  exhalations 
which  do  not  spare  even  the  roots,  but  scorching  them,  render  the  trees 
sickly  ;  wherefore  the  wind  will  more  frequently  uproot  trees  of  this  kind 
than  any  others.  Verily  the  veins  do  emit  this  exhalation.  Therefore,  in  a 
place  where  there  is  a  multitude  of  trees,  if  a  long  row  of  them  at  an  unusual 
time  lose  their  verdure  and  become  black  or  discoloured,  and  frequently  fall 
by  the  violence  of  the  wind,  beneath  this  spot  there  is  a  vein.  Likewise 
along  a  course  where  a  vein  extends,  there  grows  a  certain  herb  or  fungus 
which  is  absent  from  the  adjacent  space,  or  sometimes  even  from  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  veins.  By  these  signs  of  Nature  a  vein  can  be  discovered. 
There  are  many  great  contentions  between  miners  concerning  the  forked 
twig21,  for  some  say  that  it  is  of  the  greatest  use  in  discovering  veins,  and 
others  deny  it.  Some  of  those  who  manipulate  and  use  the  twig,  first  cut 
a  fork  from  a  hazel  bush  with  a  knife,  for  this  bush  they  consider  more 
efficacious  than  any  other  for  revealing  the  veins,  especially  if  the  hazel 

21So  far  as  we  are  able  to  discover,  this  is  the  first  published  description  of  the  divining 
rod  as  applied  to  minerals  or  water.  Like  Agricola,  many  authors  have  sought  to  find  its 
origin  among  the  Ancients.  The  magic  rods  of  Moses  and  Homer,  especially  the  rod  with 
which  the  former  struck  the  rock  at  Horeb,  the  rod  described  by  Ctesias  (died  398  B.C.)  which 
attracted  gold  and  silver,  and  the  virgula  divina  of  the  Romans  have  all  been  called  up  for 
proof.  It  is  true  that  the  Romans  are  responsible  for  the  name  virgula  divina,  "  divining 
rod,"  but  this  rod  was  used  for  taking  auguries  by  casting  bits  of  wood  (Cicero,  De 
Divinatione).  Despite  all  this,  while  the  ancient  naturalists  all  give  detailed  directions  for 
finding  water,  none  mention  anything  akin  to  the  divining  rod  of  the  Middle  Ages.  It  is 
also  worth  noting  that  the  Monk  Theophilus  in  the  I2th  Century  also  gives  a  detailed 
description  of  how  to  find  water,  but  makes  no  mention  of  the  rod.  There  are  two  authori- 
ties sometimes  cited  as  prior  to  Agricola,  the  first  being  Basil  Valentine  in  his  "  Last  Will 
and  Testament"  (xxiv-vm.),  and  while  there  may  be  some  reason  (see  Appendix)  for  accepting 
the  authenticity  of  the  "  Triumphal  Chariot  of  Antimony  "  by  this  author,  as  dating  about 
1500,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  "  Last  Will  and  Testament  "  was  spurious  and  dated 
about  50  years  after  Agricola.  Paracelsus  (De  Natura  Rerum  ix.),  says  :  "  These  (divina- 
"  tions)  are  vain  and  misleading,  and  among  the  first  of  them  are  divining  rods,  which  have 
"  deceived  many  miners.  If  they  once  point  rightly  they  deceive  ten  or  twenty  times." 
In  his  De  Origine  Morborum  Invisibilium  (Book  I.)  he  adds  that  the  "  faith  turns  the  rod." 
These  works  were  no  doubt  written  prior  to  De  Re  Metallica — Paracelsus  died  in  1541 — 
but  they  were  not  published  until  some  time  afterward.  Those  interested  in  the  strange 
persistence  of  this  superstition  down  to  the  present  day — and  the  files  of  the  patent  offices 
of  the  world  are  full  of  it — will  find  the  subject  exhaustively  discussed  in  M.  E.  ChevreuTs 
"  De  la  Baguette  Diainatoire,"  Paris,  1845;  L.  Figuier,  "  Histoire  du  Merveilleux  dans  les 
temps  moderne  II.",  Paris,  1860 ;  W.  F.  Barrett,  Proceedings  of  the  Society  of  Psychical 
Research,  part  32,  1897,  and  38,  1900  ;  R.  W.  Raymond,  American  Inst.  of  Mining  Engin- 
eers, 1883,  p.  411.  Of  the  descriptions  by  those  who  believed  in  it  there  is  none  better 
than  that  of  William  Pryce  (Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  London,  1778,  pp.  113-123),  who 
devotes  much  pains  to  a  refutation  of  Agricola.  When  we  consider  that  a  century  later  than 
Agricola  such  an  advanced  mind  as  Robert  Boyle  (1626-1691),  the  founder  of  the  Royal 
Society,  was  convinced  of  the  genuineness  of  the  divining  rod,  one  is  more  impressed  with 
the  clarity  of  Agricola's  vision.  In  fact,  there  were  few  indeed,  down  to  the  igth  Century, 
who  did  not  believe  implicitly  in  the  effectiveness  of  this  instrument,  and  while  science  has 
long  since  abandoned  it,  not  a  year  passes  but  some  new  manifestation  of  its  hold  on  the 
popular  mind  breaks  out. 


BOOK    II.  39 

bush  grows  above  a  vein.  Others  use  a  different  kind  of  twig  for  each  metal, 
when  they  are  seeking  to  discover  the  veins,  for  they  employ  hazel  twigs 
for  veins  of  silver ;  ash  twigs  for  copper  ;  pitch  pine  for  lead  and  especially 
tin,  and  rods  made  of  iron  and  steel  for  gold.  All  alike  grasp  the  forks  of 
the  twig  with  their  hands,  clenching  their  fists,  it  being  necessary  that  the 
clenched  fingers  should  be  held  toward  the  sky  in  order  that  the  twig  should 
be  raised  at  that  end  where  the  two  branches  meet.  Then  they  wander 
hither  and  thither  at  random  through  mountainous  regions.  It  is  said 
that  the  moment  they  place  their  feet  on  a  vein  the  twig  immediately  turns 
and  twists,  and  so  by  its  action  discloses  the  vein  ;  when  they  move 
their  feet  again  and  go  away  from  that  spot  the  twig  becomes  once  more 
immobile. 

The  truth  is,  they  assert,  the  movement  of  the  twig  is  caused  by  the 
power  of  the  veins,  and  sometimes  this  is  so  great  that  the  branches  of  trees 
growing  near  a  vein  are  deflected  toward  it.  On  the  other  hand,  those 
who  say  that  the  twig  is  of  no  use  to  good  and  serious  men,  also  deny  that 
the  motion  is  due  to  the  power  of  the  veins,  because  the  twigs  will  not  move 
for  everybody,  but  only  for  those  who  employ  incantations  and  craft.  More- 
over, they  deny  the  power  of  a  vein  to  draw  to  itself  the  branches  of  trees, 
but  they  say  that  the  warm  and  dry  exhalations  cause  these  contortions. 
Those  who  advocate  the  use  of  the  twig  make  this  reply  to  these  objections  : 
when  one  of  the  miners  or  some  other  person  holds  the  twig  in  his  hands, 
and  it  is  not  turned  by  the  force  of  a  vein,  this  is  due  to  some  peculiarity 
of  the  individual,  which  hinders  and  impedes  the  power  of  the  vein,  for  since 
the  power  of  the  vein  in  turning  and  twisting  the  twig  may  be  not  unlike 
that  of  a  magnet  attracting  and  drawing  iron  toward  itself,  this  hidden 
quality  of  a  man  weakens  and  breaks  the  force,  just  the  same  as  garlic 
weakens  and  overcomes  the  strength  of  a  magnet.  For  a  magnet  smeared 
with  garlic  juice  cannot  attract  iron  ;  nor  does  it  attract  the  latter  when 
rusty.  Further,  concerning  the  handling  of  the  twig,  they  warn  us  that 
we  should  not  press  the  fingers  together  too  lightly,  nor  clench  them  too 
firmly,  for  if  the  twig  is  held  lightly  they  say  that  it  will  fall  before  the  force 
of  the  vein  can  turn  it ;  if  however,  it  is  grasped  too  firmly  the  force  of  the 
hands  resists  the  force  of  the  veins  and  counteracts  it.  Therefore,  they 
consider  that  five  things  are  necessary  to  insure  that  the  twig  shall  serve 
its  purpose  :  of  these  the  first  is  the  size  of  the  twig,  for  the  force  of  the 
veins  cannot  turn  too  large  a  stick  ;  secondly,  there  is  the  shape  of  the  twig, 
which  must  be  forked  or  the  vein  cannot  turn  it ;  thirdly,  the  power  of  the 
vein  which  has  the  nature  to  turn  it ;  fourthly,  the  manipulation  of  the  twig ; 
fifthly,  the  absence  of  impeding  peculiarities.  These  advocates  of  the  twig 
sum  up  their  conclusions  as  follows  :  if  the  rod  does  not  move  for  every- 
body, it  is  due  to  unskilled  manipulation  or  to  the  impeding  peculiarities 
of  the  man  which  oppose  and  resist  the  force  of  the  veins,  as  we  said  above, 
and  those  who  search  for  veins  by  means  of  the  twig  need  not  necessarily  make 
incantations,  but  it  is  sufficient  that  they  handle  it  suitably  and  are  devoid 
of  impeding  power  ;  therefore,  the  twig  may  be  of  use  to  good  and  serious 


4o 


BOOK    II. 


A — TWIG.     B — TRENCH. 


men  in  discovering  veins.     With  regard  to  deflection  of  branches  of  trees 
they  say  nothing  and  adhere  to  their  opinion. 

Since  this  matter  remains  in  dispute  and  causes  much  dissention 
amongst  miners,  I  consider  it  ought  to  be  examined  011  its  own  merits.  The 
wizards,  who  also  make  use  of  rings,  mirrors  and  crystals,  seek  for  veins 
with  a  divining  rod  shaped  like  a  fork  ;  but  its  shape  makes  no  difference 
in  the  matter, — it  might  be  straight  or  of  some  other  form — for  it  is  not 
the  form  of  the  twig  that  matters,  but  the  wizard's  incantations 
which  it  would  not  become  me  to  repeat,  neither  do  I  wish  to  do  so.  The 
Ancients,  by  means  of  the  divining  rod,  not  only  procured  those  things  neces- 
sary for  a  livelihood  or  for  luxuty,  but  they  were  also  able  to  alter  the  forms 
of  things  by  it ;  as  when  the  magicians  changed  the  rods  of  the  Egyptians 
into  serpents,  as  the  writings  of  the  Hebrews  relate22 ;  and  as  in  Homer, 
Minerva  with  a  divining  rod  turned  the  aged  Ulysses  suddenly  into  a  youth, 
and  then  restored  him  back  again  to  old  age  ;  Circe  also  changed  Ulysses' 
companions  into  beasts,  but  afterward  gave  them  back  again  their  human 
form23  ;  moreover  by  his  rod,  which  was  called  "  Caduceus,"  Mercury  gave 

22Exodus  vii.,  10,  ii,  12. 
"Odyssey  xvi.,  172,  and  x.,  238. 


I 


BOOK    II. 


sleep  to  watchmen  and  awoke  slumberers24.  Therefore  it  seems  that  the 
divining  rod  passed  to  the  mines  from  its  impure  origin  with  the  magicians. 
Then  when  good  men  shrank  with  horror  from  the  incantations  and  rejected 
them,  the  twig  was  retained  by  the  unsophisticated  common  miners,  and 
in  searching  for  new  veins  some  traces  of  these  ancient  usages  remain. 

But  since  truly  the  twigs  of  the  miners  do  move,  albeit  they  do  not 
generally  use  incantations,  some  say  this  movement  is  caused  by  the 
power  of  the  veins,  others  say  that  it  depends  on  the  manipulation,  and 
still  others  think  that  the  movement  is  due  to  both  these  causes.  But,  in 
truth,  all  those  objects  which  are  endowed  with  the  power  of  attraction 
do  not  twist  things  in  circles,  but  attract  them  directly  to  themselves  ;  for 
instance,  the  magnet  does  not  turn  the  iron,  but  draws  it  directly  to  itself, 
and  amber  rubbed  until  it  is  warm  does  not  bend  straws  about,  but  simply 
draws  them  to  itself.  If  the  power  of  the  veins  were  of  a  similar  nature  to 
that  of  the  magnet  and  the  amber,  the  twig  would  not  so  much  twist  as 
move  once  only,  in  a  semi-circle,  and  be  drawn  directly  to  the  vein,  and  unless 
the  strength  of  the  man  who  holds  the  twig  were  to  resist  and  oppose  the 
force  of  the  vein,  the  twig  would  be  brought  to  the  ground;  wherefore, 
since  this  is  not  the  case,  it  must  necessarily  follow  that  the  manipulation 
is  the  cause  of  the  twig's  twisting  motion.  It  is  a  conspicuous  fact  that 
these  cunning  manipulators  do  not  use  a  straight  twig,  but  a  forked  one 
cut  from  a  hazel  bush,  or  from  some  other  wood  equally  flexible,  so  that  if  it 
be  held  in  the  hands,  as  they  are  accustomed  to  hold  it,  it  turns  in  a  circle 
for  any  man  wherever  he  stands.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  the  twig  does  not 
turn  when  held  by  the  inexperienced,  because  they  either  grasp  the  forks  of 
the  twig  too  tightly  or  hold  them  too  loosely.  Nevertheless,  these  things 
give  rise  to  the  faith  among  common  miners  that  veins  are  discovered  by 
the  use  of  twigs,  because  whilst  using  these  they  do  accidentally  discover 
some  ;  but  it  more  often  happens  that  they  lose  their  labour,  and  although 
they  might  discover  a  vein,  they  become  none  the  less  exhausted  in 
digging  useless  trenches  than  do  the  miners  who  prospect  in  an  unfortunate 
locality.  Therefore  a  miner,  since  we  think  he  ought  to  be  a  good  and 
serious  man,  should  not  make  use  of  an  enchanted  twig,  because  if  he  is 
prudent  and  skilled  in  the  natural  signs,  he  understands  that  a  forked  stick 
is  of  no  use  to  him,  for  as  I  have  said  before,  there  are  the  natural  indica- 
tions of  the  veins  which  he  can  see  for  himself  without  the  help  of  twigs. 
So  if  Nature  or  chance  should  indicate  a  locality  suitable  for  mining,  the 
miner  should  dig  his  trenches  there  ;  if  no  vein  appears  he  must  dig 
numerous  trenches  until  he  discovers  an  outcrop  of  a  vein. 

A  vena  dilatata  is  rarely  discovered  by  men's  labour,  but  usually  some 
force  or  other  reveals  it,  or  sometimes  it  is  discovered  by  a  shaft  or  a  tunnel 
on  a  vena  pro/undo.25. 

24Odyssey  xxiv.,  I,  etc.  The  Caduceus  of  Hermes  had  also  the  power  of  turning 
things  to  gold,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  its  oldest  form,  as  the  insignia  of  heralds 
and  of  ambassadors,  it  had  two  prongs. 

25In  a  general  way  venae  profundae  were  fissure  veins  and  venae  dilatatae  were  sheeted 
deposits.  For  description  see  Book  III. 


42  BOOK    II. 

The  veins  after  they  have  been  discovered,  and  likewise  the  shafts  and 
tunnels,  have  names  given  them,  either  from  their  discoverers,  as  in  the 
case  at  Annaberg  of  the  vein  called  "  Kolergang,"  because  a  charcoal 
burner  discovered  it ;  or  from  their  owners,  as  the  Geyer,  in  Joachimstal, 
because  part  of  the  same  belonged  to  Geyer ;  or  from  their  products, 
as  the  "  Pleygang  "  from  lead,  or  the  "  Bissmutisch  "  at  Schneeberg  from 
bismuth26 ;  or  from  some  other  circumstances,  such  as  the  rich  alluvials  from 
the  torrent  by  which  they  were  laid  bare  in  the  valley  of  Joachim.  More 
often  the  first  discoverers  give  the  names  either  of  persons,  as  those  of 
German  Kaiser,  Apollo,  Janus ;  or  the  name  of  an  animal,  as  that  of  lion, 
bear,  ram,  or  cow  ;  or  of  things  inanimate,  as  "  silver  chest  "  or  "ox  stalls  "; 
or  of  something  ridiculous,  as  "  glutton's  nightshade"  ;  or  finally,  for  the  sake 
of  a  good  omen,  they  call  it  after  the  Deity.  In  ancient  times  they 
followed  the  same  custom  and  gave  names  to  the  veins,  shafts  and  tunnels, 
as  we  read  in  Pliny  :  "  It  is  wonderful  that  the  shafts  begun  by  Hannibal  in 
Spain  are  still  worked,  their  names  being  derived  from  their  discoverers. 
One  of  these  at  the  present  day,  called  Baebelo,  furnished  Hannibal  with 
three  hundred  pounds  weight  (of  silver)  per  day."  27 

"These  mines  are  in  the  Erzgebirge.     We  have  adopted  the  names  given  in  the  German 
translation. 

27    The  quotation  from  Pliny  (xxxm.,  31)  as  a  whole  reads  as  follows : — 

"  Silver  is  found  in  nearly  all  the  provinces,  but  the  finest  of  all  in  Spain  ;   where  it 

is  found  in  the  barren  lands,  and  in  the  mountains.     V/herever  one  vein  of  silver  has  been 

found,  another  is  sure  to  be  found  not  far  away.     This  is  the  case  of  nearly  all  the  metals, 

whence  it  appears  that  the  Greeks  derived  metalla.     It  is  wonderful  that  the  shafts  begun 

by  Hannibal  in  Spain  still  remain,  their  names  being  derived  from  their  makers.     One  of 

these  at  the  present  day  called  Baebelo,  furnished  Hannibal  with  three  hundred  pounds' 

weight  (of  silver)  per  day.     This  mountain  is  excavated  for  a  distance  of  fifteen,  hundred 

paces  ;    and  for  this  distance  there  are  waterbearers  lighted  by  torches  standing  night  and 

day  baling  out  the  water  in  turns,  thus  making  quite  a  river."     Hannibal  dates  247-183  B.C. 

and  was  therefore  dead  206  years  when  Pliny  was  born.     According  to  a  footnote  in  Bostock 

and  Riley's  translation  of  Pliny,  these  workings  were  supposed  to  be  in  the  neighbourhood 

of  Castulo,  now  Cazlona,  near  Linares.     It  was  at  Castulo  that  Hannibal  married  his  rich  wife 

Himilce  ;   and  in  the  hills  north  of  Linares  there  are  ancient  silver  mines  still  known  as  Los 

Pozos  de  Anibal. 

END    OF    BOOK    II. 


BOOK    III. 


REVIOUSLY  I  have  given  much  information 
concerning  the  miners,  also  I  have  discussed  the 
choice  of  localities  for  mining,  for  washing  sands, 
and  for  evaporating  waters ;  further,  I  described 
the  method  of  searching  for  veins.  With  such 
matters  I  was  occupied  in  the  second  book ;  now  I 
come  to  the  third  book,  which  is  about  veins  and 
stringers,  and  the  seams  in  the  rocks1.  The 
term  "vein"  is  sometimes  used  to  indicate  canales 
in  the  earth,  but  very  often  elsewhere  by  this  name  I  have  described  that 
which  may  be  put  in  vessels2 ;  I  now  attach  a  second  significance  to 
these  words,  for  by  them  I  mean  to  designate  any  mineral  substances  which 
the  earth  keeps  hidden  within  her  own  deep  receptacles. 

1Modern  nomenclature  in  the  description  of  ore-deposits  is  so  impregnated  with  modern 
views  of  their  origin,  that  we  have  considered  it  desirable  in  many  instances  to  adopt  the 
Latin  terms  used  by  the  author,  for  we  believe  this  method  will  allow  the  reader  greater 
freedom  of  judgment  as  to  the  author's  views.     The  Latin  names  retained  are  usually 
expressive  even  to  the  non-Latin  student.     In  a  general  way,  a  vena  profunda  is  a  fissure  vein, 
a  vena  dilatata  is  a  bedded  deposit,  and  a  vena  cumulata  an  impregnation,  or  a  replacement 
or  a  stockwerk.      The  canales,  as  will  appear  from  the  following  footnote,  were  ore  channels. 
"  The  seams  of  the  rocks"  (commissurae  saxorum)  are  very  puzzling.     The  author  states,  as 
appears  in  the  following  note,  that  they  are  of  two  kinds, — contemporaneous  with  the  formation 
of  the  rocks,  and  also  of  the  nature  of  veinlets.     However,  as  to  their  supposed  relation  to 
the  strike  of  veins,  we  can  offer  no  explanation.     There  are  passages  in  this  chapter  where 
if  the  word  "ore-shoot"  were  introduced  for  "seams  in  the   rocks"  the  text  would  be  in- 
telligible.    That  is,  it  is  possible  to  conceive  the  view  that  the  determination  of  whether  an 
east-west  vein  ran  east  or  ran  west  was  dependent  on  the  dip  of  the    ore-shoot   along   the 
strike.     This  view,  however,  is  utterly  impossible    to   reconcile   with    the  description  and 
illustration  of  commissurae  saxorum  given   on  page  54,  where  they  are  defined  as  the  finest 
stringers.       The      following     passage    from    the    Nutzliche    Bergbuchlin     (see     Appendix), 
reads  very  much  as  though  the  dip  of  ore-shoots  was  understood  at  this  time  in  relation  to 
the  direction  of   veins.     "  Every  vein    (gang)   has    two    (outcrops)    ausgehen,    one    of    the 
'  ausgehen  is  toward  daylight  along  the  whole  length  of  the  vein,  which  is  called  the  ausgehen 
'  of  the  whole  vein.      The  other  ausgehen  is  contrary  to  or  toward  the  strike  (slreichen)  of 
'  the  vein,  according  to  its  rock  (gestein),  that  is  called  the  gesteins  ausgehen ;    for  instance, 
'  every  vein  that  has  its  strike  from  east  to  west  has  its  gesleins  ausgehen  to  the  east,  and 
'  vice-versa," 

Agricola's  classification  of  ore-deposits,  after  the  general  distinction  between  alluvial 
and  in  situ  deposits,  is  based  entirely  upon  form,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  quotation  below  relating 
to  the  origin  of  canales.  The  German  equivalents  in  the  Glossary  are  as  follows  : — 

Fissure  vein  (vena  profunda)  Gang. 

Bedded  deposit  (vena  dilatata)  Schwebender  gang  oder  fletze. 

Stockwerk  or  impregnation  (vena  cumulata) Geschute  oder  stock. 

Stringer  (fibra)  Klufft. 

Seams  or  joints  (commissurae  saxorum)        Absetzen  des  gesteins. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  De  Natura  Fossilium  he  describes  coal  and  salt,  and 
later  in  De  Re  Metallica  he  describes  the  Mannsfeld  copper  schists,  as  all  being  venae  dilatatae. 
This  nomenclature  and  classification  is  not  original  with  Agricola.  Pliny  (xxxm,  21)  uses 
the  term  vena  with  no  explanations,  and  while  Agricola  coined  the  Latin  terms  for  various 
kinds  of  veins,  they  are  his  transliteration  of  German  terms  already  in  use.  The  Nutzliche 
Bergbuchlin  gives  this  same  classification. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  THE  THEORY  OF  ORE  DEPOSITS.  Prior  to  Agricola  there  were 
three  schools  of  explanation  of  the  phenomena  of  ore  deposits,  the  orthodox  followers  of  the 
Genesis,  the  Greek  Philosophers,  and  the  Alchemists.  The  geology  of  the  Genesis — the 
contemporaneous  formation  of  everything — needs  no  comment  other  than  that  for  anyone  to 
have  proposed  an  alternative  to  the  dogma  of  the  orthodox  during  the  Middle  Ages,  required 


Latin  vena,  "  vein,"  is  also  used  by  the  author  for  ore  ;    hence  this  descriptive 
warning  as  to  its  intended  double  use. 


44  BOOK     III. 

First  I  will  speak  of  the  veins,  which,  in  depth,  width,  and  length,  differ 
very  much  one  from  another.  Those  of  one  variety  descend  from  the  surface 
of  the  earth  to  its  lowest  depths,  which  on  account  of  this  characteristic, 
I  am  accustomed  to  call  "  venae  profundae." 

much  independence  of  mind.  Of  the  Greek  views — which  are  meagre  enough — that  of  the 
Peripatetics  greatly  dominated  thought  on  natural  phenomena  down  to  the  iyth  century. 
Aristotle's  views  may  be  summarized :  The  elements  are  earth,  water,  air,  and 
fire  ;  they  are  transmutable  and  never  found  pure,  and  are  endowed  with  certain  funda- 
mental properties  which  acted  as  an  "efficient"  force  upon  the  material  cause — the  elements. 
These  properties  were  dryness  and  dampness  and  heat  and  cold,  the  latter  being  active, 
the  former  passive.  Further,  the  elements  were  possessed  of  weight  and  lightness,  for 
instance  earth  was  absolutely  heavy,  fire  absolutely  light.  The  active  and  passive  proper- 
ties existed  in  binary  combinations,  one  of  which  is  characteristic,  i.e.,  "  earth  "  is  cold 
and  dry,  water  damp  and  cold,  fire  hot  and  dry,  air  hot  and  wet ;  transmutation  took  place, 
for  instance,  by  removing  the  cold  from  water,  when  air  resulted  (really  steam),  and  by 
removing  the  dampness  from  water,  when  "  earth "  resulted  (really  any  dissolved 
substance).  The  transmutation  of  the  elements  in  the  earth  (meaning  the  globe)  produces  two 
"  exhalations,"  the  one  fiery  (probably  meaning  gases),  the  other  damp  (probably  meaning 
steam).  The  former  produces  stones,  the  latter  the  metals.  Theophrastus  (On  Stones,  I 
to  vn.)  elaborates  the  views  of  Aristotle  on  the  origin  of  stones,  metals,  etc.  :  "  Of  things 
"  formed  in  the  earth  some  have  their  origin  from  water,  others  from  earth.  Water  is  the 
"  basis  of  metals,  silver,  gold,  and  the  rest ;  '  earth  '  of  stones,  as  well  the  more  precious 
"  as  the  common.  .  .  .  All  these  are  formed  by  solidification  of  matter  pure  and 
"  equal  in  its  constituent  parts,  which  has  been  brought  together  in  that  state  by  mere 
"  afflux  or  by  means  of  some  kind  of  percolation,  or  separated.  .  .  .  The  solidification 
"  is  in  some  of  these  substances  due  to  heat  and  in  others  to  cold."  (Based  on  Hill's  Trans., 
pp.  3-11).  That  is,  the  metals  inasmuch  as  they  become  liquid  when  heated  must  be  in  a 
large  part  water,  and,  like  water,  they  solidify  with  cold.  Therefore,  the  "  metals  are  cold 
and  damp."  Stones,  on  the  other  hand,  solidify  with  heat  and  do  not  liquefy,  therefore, 
they  are  "  dry  and  hot "  and  partake  largely  of  "  earth."  This  "  earth"  was  something 
indefinite,  but  purer  and  more  pristine  than  common  clay.  In  discussing  the  ancient 
beliefs  with  regard  to  the  origin  of  deposits,  we  must  not  overlook  the  import  of  the  use 
of  the  word  "vein"  (vena)  by  various  ancient  authors  including  Pliny  (xxxm,  21),  although 
he  offers  no  explanation  of  the  term. 

During  the  Middle  Ages  there  arose  the  horde  of  Alchemists  and  Astrologers,  a  review 
of  the  development  of  whose  muddled  views  is  but  barren  reading.  In  the  main  they  held 
more  or  less  to  the  Peripatetic  view,  with  additions  of  their  own.  Geber  (i3th  (?)  century,  see 
Appendix  B)  propounded  the  conception  that  all  metals  were  composed  of  varying  proportions 
of  "  spiritual  "  sulphur  and  quicksilver,  and  to  these  Albertus  Magnus  added  salt.'  The 
Astrologers  contributed  the  idea  that  the  immediate  cause  of  the  metals  were  the  various 
planets.  The  only  work  devoted  to  description  of  ore-deposits  prior  to  Agricola  was  the 
Bergbiichlin  (about  1,520,  see  Appendix  B),  and  this  little  book  exhibits  the  absolute  apogee  of 
muddled  thought  derived  from  the  Peripatetics,  the  Alchemists,  and  the  Astrologers.  We 
believe  it  is  of  interest  to  reproduce  the  following  statement,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to 
indicate  the  great  advance  in  thought  shown  by  Agricola. 

"  The  first  chapter  or  first  part ;   on  the  common  origin  of  ore,  whether  silver,  gold, 

"  tin,  copper,  iron,  or  lead  ore,  in  which  they  all  appear  together,  and  are  called  by  the  common 

"  name  of  metallic  ore.     It  must  be  noticed  that  for  the  washing  or  smelting  of  metallic  ore, 

"  there  must  be  the  one  who  works  and  the  thing  that  is  worked  upon,  or  the  material  upon 

"  which  the  work  is  expended.     The  general  worker  (efficient  force)  on  the  ore  and  on  all 

"  things   that    are  born,  is  the   heavens,  its  movement,  its  light    and   influences,    as  the 

"  philosophers  say.     The  influence  of  the  heavens  is   multiplied   by   the  movement  of  the 

"'  firmaments  and  the  movements  of   the  seven  planets.      Therefore,    every    metallic    ore 

'  receives  a  special  influence  from  its  own  particular  planet,  due  to  the  properties  of  the 

'  planet  and  of  the  ore,  also  due  to  properties  of  heat,  cold,  dampness,  and  dryness.     Thus 

'  gold  is  of  the  Sun  or  its  influence,  silver  of  the  Moon,  tin  of  Jupiter,  copper  of  Venus,  iron 

'  of  Mars,  lead  of  Saturn,  and  quicksilver  of  Mercury.     Therefore,  metals  are  often  called  by 

'  these  names  by  hermits  and  other  philosophers.     Thus  gold  is  called  the  Sun,  in  Latin  Sol, 

'  silver  is  called  the  Moon,  in  Latin  Luna,  as  is  clearly  stated  in  the  special  chapters  on  each 

'  metal.     Thus  briefly  have  we  spoken  of  the  '  common  worker  '  of  metal  and  ore.     But  the 

'  thing  worked  upon,  or  the  common  material  of  all  metals,  according  to  the  opinion  of 

'  the  learned,  is  sulphur  and  quicksilver,  which  through  the  movement  and  influence  of  the 

'  heavens  must  have  become  united  and  hardened  into   one  metallic   body  or  one   ore. 

'  Certain  others  hold  that  through  the  movement  and  the  influence  of  the  heavens,  vapours 

'  or  braden,  called  mineral  exhalations,  are  drawn  up  from  the  depths  of  the  earth,  from 

"  sulphur  and  quicksilver,  and  the  rising  fumes  pass  into  the  veins  and  stringers  and  are 


BOOK    III. 


A.  C. — THE  MOUNTAIN.     B— Vena  profunda. 

Another  kind,  unlike  the  venae  profundae,  neither  ascend  to  the  surface 
of  the  earth  nor  descend,  but  lying  under  the  ground,  expand  over  a  large 
area  ;  and  on  that  account  I  call  them  "  venae  dilatatae." 


A.  D. — THE  MOUNTAIN;     B.  C — Vena  dilatata, 


46  BOOK    III. 

Another  occupies  a  large  extent  of  space  in  length  and  width  ;  there- 
fore I  usually  call  it  "  vena  cumulata,"  for  it  is  nothing  else  than  an  accumu- 
lation of  some  certain  kind  of  mineral,  as  I  have  described  in  the  book 

"  united  through  the  effect  of  the  planets  and  made  into  ore.  Certain  others  hold  that 
"  metal  is  not  formed  from  quicksilver,  because  in  many  places  metallic  ore  is  found  and 
"  no  quicksilver.  But  instead  of  quicksilver  they  maintain  a  damp  and  cold  and  slimy 
"  material  is  set  up  on  aU  sulphur  which  is  drawn  out  from  the  earth,  like  your  perspiration, 
"  and  from  that  mixed  with  sulphur  all  metals  are  formed.  Now  each  of  these  opinions  is 
"  correct  according  to  a  good  understanding  and  right  interpretation  ;  the  ore  or  metal  is 
"  formed  from  the  fattiness  of  the  earth  as  the  material  of  the  first  degree  (primary  element), 
"  also  the  vapours  or  braden  on  the  one  part  and  the  materials  on  the  other  part,  both  of  which 
"  are  called  quicksilver.  Likewise  in  the  mingling  or  union  of  the  quicksilver  and  the 
"  sulphur  in  the  ore,  the  sulphur  is  counted  the  male  and  quicksilver  the  female,  as  in  the 
"  bearing  or  conception  of  a  child.  Also  the  sulphur  is  a  special  worker  in  ore  or  metal. 

"  The  second  chapter  or  part  deals  with  the  general  capacity  of  the  mountain. 
"  Although  the  influence  of  the  heavens  and  the  fitness  of  the  material  are  necessary  to  the 
"  formation  of  ore  or  metal,  yet  these  are  not  enough  thereto.  But  there  must  be  adapt- 
"  ability  of  the  natural  vessel  in  which  the  ore  is  formed,  such  are  the  veins,  namely 
"  sleinendegange,  flachgange,  schargange,  creutzgange,  or  as  these  may  be  termed  in  provincial 
"  names.  Also  the  mineral  force  must  have  easy  access  to  the  natural  vessel  such  as 
"  through  the  kluffte  (stringers),  namely  hengkluft,  querklufte,  flachekluffte,  creutzklufft,  and 
"  other  occasional  flotzwerk,  according  to  their  various  local  names.  Also  there  must  be  a 
"  suitable  place  in  the  mountain  which  the  veins  and  stringers  can  traverse." 

AGRICOLA'S  VIEWS  ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  ORE  DEPOSITS.  Agricola  rejected  absolutely 
the  Biblical  view  which,  he  says,  was  the  opinion  of  the  vulgar  ;  further,  he  repudiates 
the  alchemistic  and  astrological  view  with  great  vigour.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however, 
that  he  was  greatly  influenced  by  the  Peripatetic  philosophy.  He  accepted  absolutely  the  four 
elements — earth,  fire,  water,  and  air,  and  their  "  binary  "  properties,  and  the  theory  that  every 
substance  had  a  material  cause  operated  upon  by  an  efficient  force.  Beyond  this  he  did 
not  go,  and  a  large  portion  of  De  Ortu  et  Causis  is  devoted  to  disproof  of  the  origin  of 
metals  and  stones  from  the  Peripatetic  "  exhalations." 

No  one  should  conclude  that  Agricola's  theories  are  set  out  with  the  clarity  of  Darwin 
or  Lyell.  However,  the  matter  is  of  such  importance  in  the  history  of  the  theory  of  ore- 
deposits,  and  has  been  either  so  ignored  or  so  coloured  by  the  preconceptions  of  narrators, 
that  we  consider  it  justifiable  to  devote  the  space  necessary  to  a  reproduction  of  his  own 
statements  in  De  Ortu  et  Causis  and  other  works.  Before  doing  so  we  believe  it  will  be  of 
service  to  readers  to  summarize  these  views,  and  in  giving  quotations  from  the  Author's 
other  works,  to  group  them  under  special  headings,  following  the  outline  of  his .  theory 
given  below.  His  theory  was  : — 

(1)  Openings  in  the  earth  (canales)  were  formed  by  the  erosion  of  subterranean 
waters. 

(2)  These  ground  waters  were  due  (a)  to  the  infiltration  of  the  surface  waters,  rain, 
river,  and  sea  water  ;    (6)  to  the  condensation  of  steam  (halitus)  arising  from  the  penetration 
of  the  surface  waters  to  greater  depths, — the  production  of  this  halitus  being  due  to  sub- 
terranean heat,  which  in  his  view  was  in  turn  due  in  the  main  to  burning  bitumen  (a  com- 
prehensive genera  which  embraced  coal). 

(3)  The  filling  of  these  canales  is  composed  of  "  earth,"  "  solidified  juices,"  "  stone," 
metals,  and  "  compounds,"  all  deposited  from  water  and  "  juices  "  circulating  in  the  canales. 
(See  also  note  4,  page  i). 

"  Earth  "  comprises  clay,  mud,  ochre,  marl,  and  "  peculiar  earths  "  generally.  The 
origin  of  these  "  earths  "  was  from  rocks,  due  to  erosion,  transportation,  and  deposition 
by  water.  "  Solidified  juices  "  (sued  concreti)  comprised  salt,  soda,  vitriol,  bitumen,  etc., 
being  generally  those  substances  which  he  conceived  were  soluble  in  and  deposited  from 
water.  "  Stones  "  comprised  precious,  semi-precious,  and  unusual  stones,  such  as  quartz, 
fluor-spar,  etc.,  as  distinguished  from  country  rock  ;  the  origin  of  these  he  attributed  in 
minor  proportion  to  transportation  of  fragments  of  rock,  but  in  the  main  to  deposits  from 
ordinary  mineral  juice  and  from  "stone  juice"  (succuslapidescens).  Metals  comprised  the 
seven  traditional  metals  ;  the  "  compounds  "  comprised  the  metallic  minerals  ;  and  both 
were  due  to  deposition  from  juices,  the  compounds  being  due  to  a  mixture  of  juices.  The 
"  juices  "  play  the  most  important  part  in  Agricola's  theory.  Each  substance  had  its  own 
particular  juice,  and  in  his  theory  every  substance  had  a  material  and  an  efficient  cause,  the 
first  being  the  juice,  the  second  being  heat  or  cold.  Owing  to  the  latter  the  juices  fell  into 
two  categories — those  solidified  by  heat  (i.e.,  by  evaporation,  such  as  salt),  and  those  solidi- 
fied by  cold,  (i.e,  because  metals  melt  and  flow  by  heat,  therefore  their  solidification 
was  due  to  cold,  and  the  juice  underwent  similar  treatment).  As  to  the  origin  of  these 
juices,  some  were  generated  by  the  solution  of  their  own  particular  substance,  but  in  the 


BOOK    III.  47 

entitled  De  Subterraneorum  Ortu  et  Causis.  It  occasionally  happens, 
though  it  is  unusual  and  rare,  that  several  accumulations  of  this  kind  are 
found  in  one  place,  each  one  or  more  fathoms  in  depth  and  four  or  five  in 

main  their  origin  was  due  to  the  combination  of  "  dry  things,"  such  as  "  earth,"  with 
water,  the  mixture  being  heated,  and  the  resultant  metals  depended  upon  the  propor- 
tions of  "earth"  and  water.  In  some  cases  we  have  been  inclined  to  translate  succus 
(juice)  as  "  solution,"  but  in  other  cases  it  embraced  substances  to  which  this  would  not 
apply,  and  we  feared  implying  in  the  text  a  chemical  understanding  not  warranted  prior  to 
the  atomic  theory.  In  order  to  distinguish  between  earths,  (clays,  etc.,)  the  Peripatetic 
"  earth  "  (a  pure  element)  and  the  earth  (the  globe)  we  have  given  the  two  former  in 
quotation  marks.  There  is  no  doubt  some  confusion  between  earth  (clays,  etc.)  and  the 
Peripatetic  "  earth,"  as  the  latter  was  a  pure  substance  not  found  in  its  pristine  form  in 
nature  ;  it  is,  however,  difficult  to  distinguish  between  the  two. 

ORIGIN  OF  CANALES  (De  Ortu,  p.  35).  "  I  now  come  to  the  canales  in  the  earth. 
"  These  are  veins,  veinlets,  and  what  are  called  '  seams  in  the  rocks.'  These  serve  as 
"  vessels  or  receptacles  for  the  material  from  which  minerals  (res  fossiles)  are  formed. 
"  The  term  vena  is  most  frequently  given  to  what  is  contained  in  the  canales,  but  likewise 
"  the  same  name  is  applied  to  the  canales  themselves.  The  term  vein  is  borrowed  from 
"  that  used  for  animals,  for  just  as  their  veins  are  distributed  through  all  parts  of  the 
"  body,  and  just  as  by  means  of  the  veins  blood  is  diffused  from  the  liver  throughout  the 
"  whole  body,  so  also  the  veins  traverse  the  whole  globe,  and  more  particularly  the 
"  mountainous  districts ;  and  water  runs  and  flows  through  them.  With  regard  to  veinlets 
"  or  stringers  and  '  seams  in  the  rocks,'  which  are  the  thinnest  stringers,  the  following  is  the 
"  mode  of  their  arrangement.  Veins  in  the  earth,  just  like  the  veins  of  an  animal,  have  certain 
"  veinlets  of  their  own,  but  in  a  contrary  way.  For  the  larger  veins  of  animals  pour  blood 
''  into  the  veinlets,  while  in  the  earth  the  humours  are  usually  poured  from  the  veinlets  into 
"  the  larger  veins,  and  rarely  flow  from  the  larger  into  the  smaller  ones.  As  for  the  seams  in 
"  the  rocks  (commissurae  saxorum)  we  consider  that  they  are  produced  by  two  methods  :  by 
"  the  first,  which  is  peculiar  to  themselves,  they  are  formed  at  the  same  time  as  the  rocks, 
"  for  the  heat  bakes  the  refractory  material  into  stone  and  the  non-refractory  material 
"  similarly  heated  exhales  its  humours  and  is  made  into  '  earth,'  generally  friable.  The 
"  other  method  is  common  also  to  veins  and  veinlets,  when  water  is  collected  into  one 
"  place  it  softens  the  rock  by  its  liquid  nature,  and  by  its  weight  and  pressure  breaks  and 
"  divides  it.  Now,  if  the  rock  is  hard,  it  makes  seams  in  the  rocks  and  veinlets,  and  if  it  is 
"  not  too  hard  it  makes  veins.  However,  if  the  rocks  are  not  hard,  seams  and  veinlets  are 
"  created  as  well  as  veins.  If  these  do  not  carry  a  very  large  quantity  of  water,  or  if  they 
"  are  pressed  by  a  great  volume  of  it,  they  soon  discharge  themselves  into  the  nearest  veins. 
"  The  following  appears  to  be  the  reason  why  some  veinlets  or  stringers  and  veins  are 
"  profundae  and  others  dilatatae.  The  force  of  the  water  crushes  and  splits  the  brittle  rocks; 
"  and  when  they  are  broken  and  split,  it  forces  its  way  through  them  and  passes  on,  at  one 
"  time  in  a  downward  direction,  making  small  and  large  venae  profundae,  at  another  time 
"  in  a  lateral  direction,  in  which  way  venae  dilatatae  are  formed.  Now  since  in  each 
"  class  there  are  found  some  which  are  straight,  some  inclined,  and  some  crooked,  it  should 
"  be  explained  that  the  water  makes  the  vena  profunda  straight  when  it  runs  straight 
"  downward,  inclined  when  it  runs  in  an  inclined  direction  ;  and  that  it  makes  a  vena 
"  dilatata  straight  when  it  runs  horizontally  to  the  right  or  left,  and  in  a  similar  way  inclined 
"  when  it  runs  in  a  sloping  direction.  Stringers  and  large  veins  of  the  profunda  sort,  extending 
"  for  considerable  lengths,  become  crooked  from  two  causes.  In  one  case  when  narrow 
"  veins  are  intersected  by  wide  ones,  then  the  latter  bend  or  drag  the  former  a  little.  In 
"  the  other  case,  when  the  water  runs  against  very  hard  rock,  being  unable  to  break  through, 
"  it  goes  around  the  nearest  way,  and  the  stringers  and  veins  are  formed  bent  and  crooked. 
"  This  last  is  also  the  reason  we  sometimes  see  crooked  small  and  large  venae  dilatatae,  not 
"  unlike  the  gentle  rise  and  fall  of  flowing  water.  Next,  venae  profundae  are  wide,  either 
"  because  of  abundant  water  or  because  the  rock  is  fragile.  On  the  other  hand,  they  are 
"  narrow,  either  because  but  little  water  flows  and  trickles  through  them,  or  because  the 
"  rock  is  very  hard.  The  venae  dilatatae,  too,  for  the  same  reasons,  are  either  thin  or  thick. 
"  There  are  other  differences,  too,  in  stringers  and  veins,  which  I  will  explain  in  my  work 
"  De  Re  Metallica.  .  .  .  There  is  also  a  third  kind  of  vein  which,  as  it  cannot  be 
"  described  as  a  wide  vena  profunda,  nor  as  a  thick  vena  dilatata,  we  will  call  a  vena  cumulata. 
"  These  are  nothing  else  than  places  where  some  species  of  mineral  is  accumulated ; 
"  sometimes  exceeding  in  depth  and  also  in  length  and  breadth  600  feet ;  sometimes,  or 
"  rather  generally,  not  so  deep  nor  so  long,  nor  so  wide.  These  are  created  when  water 
"  has  broken  away  the  rock  for  such  a  length,  breadth,  and  thickness,  and  has  flung  aside 
"  and  ejected  the  stones  and  sand  from  the  great  cavern  which  is  thus  made  ;  and  afterward 
"  when  the  mouth  is  obstructed  and  closed  up,  the  whole  cavern  is  filled  with  material 
"  from  which  there  is  in  time  produced  some  one  or  more  minerals.  Now  I  have  stated 


48  BOOK    III. 

width,  and  one  is  distant  from  another  two,  three,  or  more  fathoms.  When 
the  excavation  of  these  accumulations  begins,  they  at  first  appear  in  the 
shape  of  a  disc  ;  then  they  open  out  wider ;  finally  from  each  of  such 

"  when  discoursing  on  the  origin  of  subterranean  humours,  that  water  erodes  away 
"  substances  inside  the  earth,  just  as  it  does  those  on  the  surface,  and  least  of  all  does  it 
"  shun  minerals  ;  for  which  reason  we  may  daily  see  veinlets  and  veins  sometimes  filled  with 
"  air  and  water,  but  void  and  empty  of  mining  products,  and  sometimes  full  of  these  same 
"  materials.  Even  those  which  are  empty  of  minerals  become  finally  obstructed,  and  when 
"  the  rock  is  broken  through  at  some  other  point  the  water  gushes  out.  It  is  certain  that 
"  old  springs  are  closed  up  in  some  way  and  new  ones  opened  in  others.  In  the  same 
"  manner,  but  much  more  easily  and  quickly  than  in  the  solid  rock,  water  produces  stringers 
"  and  veins  in  surface  material,  whether  it  be  in  plains,  hills,  or  mountains.  Of  this  kind  are 
"  the  stringers  in  the  banks  of  rivers  which  produce  gold,  and  the  veins  which  produce 
"  peculiar  earth.  So  in  this  manner  in  the  earth  are  made  canales  which  bear  minerals." 

ORIGIN  OF  GROUND  WATERS.     (De  Ortu  p.  5).     "      ....      Besides  rain  there  is 
"  another  kind  of  water  by  which  the  interior  of  the  earth  is  soaked,  so  that  being  heated 
"  it  can  continually  give  off  halitus,  from  which  arises  a  great  and  abundant  force  of  waters." 
In   description   of   the   modus  operandi  of   halitum,  he   says   (p.   6)  :    "  .     .     .     .     Halitus 
"  rises  to  the  upper  parts  of  the  canales,  where  the  congealing  cold  turns  it  into  water,  which 
"  by  its  gravity  and  weight  again  runs  down  to  the  lowest  parts  and  increases  the  flow  of 
"  water  if   there   is    any.      If  any  finds  its  way  through  a  canales  dilatata  the  same  thing 
"  happens,  but  it  is  carried  a  long  way  from  its  place  of  origin.     The  first  phase  of  distillation 
"  teaches  us  how  this  water  is  produced,  for  when  that  which  is  put  into  the  ampulla  is 
'  warmed  it  evaporates  (expirare),  and  this  halitus  rising  into  the  operculum  is  converted 
'  by  cold  into  water,  which  drips  through  the  spout.     In  this  way  water  is  being  continually 
'  created  underground."     (De  Ortu,  p.  7)  :   "  And  so  we  know  from  all  this  that  of  the  waters 
'  which  are  under  the  earth,  some  are  collected  from  rain,  some  arise  from  halitus  (steam),  some 
'  from  river-water,  some  from  sea-water  ;  and  we  know  that  the  halitum  is   produced  within 
'  the  earth  partly  from  rain-water,    partly  from  river-water,    and  partly  from  sea-water." 
It  would  require  too  much  space  to  set  out  Agricola's  views  upon  the  origin  of  the  subter- 
ranean heat  which  produced  this  steam.     It  is  an  involved  theory  embracing  clashing  winds, 
burning  bitumen,  coal,  etc.,  and  is  fully  set  out  in  the  latter  part  of  Book  II,  De  Ortu  et  Causis. 

ORIGIN  OF  GANGUE  MINERALS.  It  is  necessary  to  bear  in  mind  that  Agricola 
divided  minerals  (res  fossiles — "  Things  dug  up,"  see  note  4,  p.  i)  into  "  earths," 
"  solidified  juices,"  "  stones,"  "  metals,"  and  "  compounds  ;  "  and,  further,  to  bear  in  mind 
that  in  his  conception  of  the  origin  of  things  generally,  he  was  a  disciple  of  the  Peripatetic 
logic  of  a  "  material  substance  "  and  an  "  efficient  force,"  as  mentioned  above. 

As  to  the  origin  of  "  earths,"  he  says  (De  Ortu,  p.  38)  :  "  Pure  and  simple-'  earth  ' 
'  originates  in  the  canales  in  the  following  way  :  rain  water,  which  is  absorbed  by  the  surface 
'  of  the  earth,  first  of  all  penetrates  and  passes  into  the  inner  parts  of  the  earth  and 
'  mixes  with  it ;  next,  it  is  collected  from  all  sides  into  stringers  and  veins,  where  it, 
'  and  sometimes  water  of  other  origin,  erodes  the  '  earth  '  away, — a  great  quantity  of  it  if  the 
'  stringers  and  veins  are  in  '  earth,'  a  small  quantity  if  they  are  in  rock.  The  softer  the 
'  rock  is,  the  more  the  water  wears  away  particles  by  its  continual  movement.  To  this 
'  class  of  rock  belongs  limestone,  from  which  we  see  chalk,  clay,  and  marl,  and  other  unctuous 
'  '  earths  '  made  ;  also  sandstone,  from  which  are  made  those  barren  '  earths  '  which  we  may 
'  see  in  ravines  and  on  bare  rocks.  For  the  rain  softens  limestone  or  sandstone  and  carries 
'  particles  away  with  it,  and  the  sediment  collects  together  and  forms  mud,  which  afterward 
'  solidifies  into  some  kind  of  '  earth.'  In  a  similar  way  under  the  ground  the  power  of  water 
'  softens  the  rock  and  dissolves  the  coarser  fragments  of  stone.  This  is  clearly  shown  by 
'  the  following  circumstance,  that  frequently  the  powder  of  rock  or  marble  is  found  in  a 
'  soft  state  and  as  if  partly  dissolved.  Now,  the  water  carries  this  mixture  into  the  course 
'  of  some  underground  canalis,  or  dragging  it  into  narrow  places,  filters  away.  And  in  each 
'  case  the  water  flows  away  and  a  pure  and  uniform  material  is  left  from  which  '  earth ' 
'  is  made.  .  .  .  Particles  of  rock,  however,  are  only  by  force  of  long  time  so  softened 
'  by  water  as  to  become  similar  to  particles  of  '  earth.'  It  is  possible  to  see  '  earth  '  being 
'  made  in  this  way  in  underground  canales  in  the  earth,  when  drifts  or  tunnels  are  driven  into 
'  the  mountains,  or  when  shafts  are  sunk,  for  then  the  canales  are  laid  bare  ;  also  it  can  be 
'  seen  above  ground  in  ravines,  as  I  have  said,  or  otherwise  disclosed.  For  in  both  cases 
'  it  is  clear  to  the  eye  that  they  are  made  out  of  the  '  earth  '  or  rocks,  which  are  often  of  the 
'  same  colour.  And  in  just  the  same  way  they  are  made  in  the  springs  which  the  veins 
'  discharge.  Since  all  those  things  which  we  see  with  our  eyes  and  which  are  perceived 
'  with  our  senses,  are  more  clearly  understood  than  if  they  were  learnt  by  means  of  reasoning, 
'  we  deem  it  sufficient  to  explain  by  this  argument  our  view  of  the  origin  of  '  earth.'  In 
'  the  manner  which  I  have  described,  '  earths '  originate  in  veins  and  veinlets,  seams  in  the 
'  rocks,  springs,  ravines,  and  other  openings,  therefore  all  '  earths '  are  made  in  this  way. 


BOOK    III. 


49 


A,  B,  C,  D — THE  MOUNTAIN.     E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  K — Vena  cumulata. 
accumulations  is  usually  formed  a  "  vena  cumulata." 

"  As  to  those  that  are  found  in  underground  canales  which  do  not  appear  to  have  been  derived 
"  from  the  earth  or  rock  adjoining,  these  have  undoubtedly  been  carried  by  the  water  for  a 
"  greater  distance  from  their  place  of  origin  ;  which  may  be  made  clear  to  anyone  who  seeks 
"  their  source." 

On  the  origin  of  solidified  juices  he  states  (De  Ortu,  p.  43)  :    "  I  will  now  speak  of 

"  solidified   juices    (sued  concreti).      I  give  this  name  to  those  minerals  which  are  without 

"  difficulty  resolved  into  liquids  (humore).     Some  stones  and  metals,  even  though  they  are 

"  themselves  composed  of  juices,  have  been  compressed  so  solidly  by  the  cold  that  they  can  only 

"  be  dissolved  with  difficulty  or  not  at  all.     .     .     .     For  juices,  as  I  said  above,  are  either 

"  made  when  dry  substances  immersed  in  moisture  are  cooked  by  heat,  or  else  they  are 

"  made  when  water  flows  over  '  earth,'  or  when  the  surrounding  moisture  corrodes  metallic 

"  material  ;    or  else  they  are  forced  out  of  the  ground  by  the  power  of  heat  alone.     There- 

"  fore,  solidified  juices  originate  from  liquid  juices,  which  either  heat  or  cold  have  condensed. 

"  But  that  which  heat  has  dried,  fire  reduces  to  dust,  and  moisture  dissolves.      Not  only 

"  does  warm  or  cold  water  dissolve  certain  solidified  juices,  but  also  humid  air ;  and  a  juice 

"  which  the  cold  has  condensed  is  liquefied  by  fire  and  warm  water.     A  salty  juice  is  con- 

"  densed  into  salt ;    a  bitter  one  into  soda  ;    an  astringent  and  sharp  one  into  alum  or  into 

"  vitriol.     Skilled  workmen  in   a  similar  way  to  nature,  evaporate  water  which  contains 

"  juices  of    this    kind    until    it    is    condensed ;    from    salty    ones  they    make    salt,   from 

'  aluminous  ones  alum,  from  one  which  contains  vitriol  they  make  vitriol.     These  workmen 

'  imitate  nature  in  condensing  liquid  juices  with  heat,  but  they  cannot  imitate  nature  in 

'  condensing  them  by  cold.     From  an  astringent  juice  not  only  is  alum  made  and  vitriol,  but 

'  also  sory,  chalcilis,  and  misy,  which  appears  to  be  the   '  flower  '  of  vitriol,  just  as  melanteria 

'  is  of  sory.     (See  note  on  p.  573  for  these  minerals.)     When  humour  corrodes  pyrites  so  that 

'  it  is  friable,  an  astringent  juice  of  this  kind  is  obtained." 

ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  STONES  (De  Ortu,  p.  50),  he  states  :  "  It  is  now  necessary  to 
"  review  in  a  few  words  what  I  have  said  as  to  all  of  the  material  from  which  stones  are 
"  made  ;  there  is  first  of  all  mud  ;  next  juice  which  is  solidified  by  severe  cold  ;  then  frag- 
"  ments  of  rock  ;  afterward  stone  juice  (succuslapidescens),  which  also  turns  to  stone  when 
"  it  comes  out  into  the  air  ;  and  lastly,  everything  which  has  pores  capable  of  receiving  a 
"  stony  juice."  As  to  an  "  efficient  force,"  he  states  (p.  54)  :  "  But  it  is  now  necessary 
"  that  I  should  explain  my  own  view,  omitting  the  first  and  antecedent  causes.  Thus  the 


BOOK    III. 


A — Vena  profunda.     B — Inlervenium,    C — ANOTHER  vena  profunda. 


A  &  B— Venae  dilatatae.    C— Intervention.     D  &  E— OTHER  venae  dilaiatae. 


BOOK     III.  51 

The  space  between  two  veins  is  called  an  intervenium  ;  this  interval 
between  the  veins,  if  it  is  between  venae  dilatatae  is  entirely  hidden  under- 
ground. If,  however,  it  lies  between  venae  pro/undue  then  the  top  is  plainly 
in  sight,  and  the  remainder  is  hidden. 

Venae  profundae  differ  greatly  one  from  another  in  width,  for  some  of 
them  are  one  fathom  wide,  some  are  two  cubits,  others  one  cubit ;  others  again 
are  a  foot  wide,  and  some  only  half  a  foot ;  all  of  which  our  miners  call  wide 
veins.  Others  on  the  contrary,  are  only  a  palm  wide,  others  three  digits, 

"  immediate  causes  are  heat  and  cold  ;  next  in  some  way  a  stony  juice.  For  we  know  that 
"  stones  which  water  has  dissolved,  are  solidified  when  dried  by  heat ;  and  on  the  contrary, 
"  we  know  that  stones  which  melt  by  fire,  such  as  quartz,  solidify  by  cold.  For  solidification 
"  and  the  conditions  which  are  opposite  thereto,  namely,  dissolving  and  liquefying,  spring 
"  from  causes  which  are  the  opposite  to  each  other.  Heat,  driving  the  water  (humorem)  out  of 
"  a  substance,  makes  it  hard  ;  and  cold,  by  withdrawing  the  air,  solidifies  the  same  stone 
"  firmly.  But  if  a  stony  juice,  either  alone  or  mixed  with  water,  finds  its  way  into  the  pores 
"  either  of  plants  or  animals  ....  it  creates  stones.  ...  If  stony  juice  is 
"  obtained  in  certain  stony  places  and  flows  through  the  veins,  for  this  reason  certain  springs, 
"  brooks,  streams,  and  lakes,  have  the  power  of  turning  things  to  stone." 

ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  METALS,  he  says  (De  Ortu,  p.  71)  :  "  Having  now  refuted  the 
"  opinions  of  others,  I  must  explain  what  it  really  is  from  which  metals  are  produced. 
"  The  best  proof  that  there  is  water  in  their  materials  is  the  fact  that  they  flow  when 
"  melted,  whereas  they  are  again  solidified  by  the  cold  of  air  or  water.  This,  however, 
"  must  be  understood  in  the  sense  that  there  is  more  water  in  them  and  less  'earth  '  ;  for  it 
"  is  not  simply  water  that  is  their  substance  but  water  mixed  with  '  earth.'  And  such  a 
"  proportion  of  '  earth  '  is  in  the  mixture  as  may  obscure  the  transparency  of  the  water,  but 
"  not  remove  the  brilliance  which  is  frequently  in  unpolished  things.  Again,  the  purer  the 
"  mixture,  the  more  precious  the  metal  which  is  made  from  it,  and  the  greater  its  resistance 
"  to  fire.  But  what  proportion  of  '  earth  '  is  in  each  liquid  from  which  a  metal  is  made 
"  no  mortal  can  ever  ascertain,  or  still  less  explain,  but  the  one  God  has  known  it,  Who  has 
"  given  certain  sure  and  fixed  laws  to  nature  for  mixing  and  blending  things  together.  It 
"  is  a  juice  (succus)  then,  from  which  metals  are  formed ;  and  this  juice  is  created  by  various 
"  operations.  Of  these  operations  the  first  is  a  flow  of  water  which  softens  the  'earth'  or 
"  carries  the  'earth'  along  with  it,  thus  there  is  a  mixture  of  '  earth  '  and  water,  then  the 
"  power  of  heat  works  upon  the  mixtures  so  as  to  produce  that  kind  of  a  juice.  We  have 
"  spoken  of  the  substance  of  metals  ;  we  must  now  speak  of  their  efficient  cause.  .  . 
"  (P-  75)  :  We  d°  not  deny  the  statement  of  Albertus  Magnus  that  the  mixture  of  'earth' 
"  and  water  is  baked  by  subterranean  heat  to  a  certain  denseness,  but  it  is  our  opinion  that 
"  the  juice  so  obtained  is  afterward  solidified  by  cold  so  as  to  become  a  metal.  .  .  . 
"  We  grant,  indeed,  that  heat  is  the  efficient  cause  of  a  good  mixture  of  elements,  and  also 
"  cooks  this  same  mixture  into  a  juice,  but  until  this  juice  is  solidified  by  cold  it  is  not  a 
"  metal."  ...  (p.  76)  :  This  view  of  Aristotle  is  the  true  one.  For  metals  melt 
"  through  the  heat  and  somehow  become  softened  ;  but  those  which  have  become  softened 
"  through  heat  are  again  solidified  by  the  influence  of  cold,  and,  on  the  contrary,  those 
"which  become  softened  by  moisture  are  solidified  by  heat." 

ON  THE  ORIGIN  OF  COMPOUNDS,  he  states  (De  Ortu,  p.  80)  :  "  There  now  remain 
"  for  our  consideration  the  compound  minerals  (mistae),  that  is  to  say,  minerals  which 
"  contain  either  solidified  juice  (succus  concretus)  and  '  stone,'  or  else  metal  or  metals  and 
"  '  stone,'  or  else  metal-coloured  '  earth,'  of  which  two  or  more  have  so  grown  together 
"  by  the  action  of  cold  that  one  body  has  been  created.  By  this  sign  they  are  distin- 
"  guished  from  mixed  minerals  (composita),  for  the  latter  have  not  one  body.  For 
"  example,  pyrites,  galena,  and  ruby  silver  are  reckoned  in  the  category  of  compound 
"  minerals,  whereas  we  say  that  metallic  '  earths  '  or  stony  '  earths  '  or  '  earths  '  mingled  with 
"  juices,  are  mixed  minerals  ;  or  similarly,  stones  in  which  metal  or  solidified  juices  adhere, 
"  or  which  contain  '  earth.'  But  of  both  these  classes  I  will  treat  more  fully  in  my  book  De 
"  Natura  Fossilium.  I  will  now  discuss  their  origin  in  a  few  words.  A  compound  mineral 
"  is  produced  when  either  a  juice  from  which  some  metal  is  obtained,  or  a  humour  and  some 
"  other  juice  from  which  stone  is  obtained,  are  solidified  by  cold,  or  when  two  or  more  juices 
"  of  different  metals  mixed  with  the  juice  from  which  stone  is  made,  are  condensed  by  the  same 
"  cold,  or  when  a  metallic  juice  is  mixed  with  'earth '  whose  whole  mass  is  stained  with  its 
"  colour,  and  in  this  way  they  form  one  body.  To  the  first  class  belongs  galena,  composed 
"  of  lead  juice  and  of  that  material  which  forms  the  substance  of  opaque  stone.  Similarly, 
"  transparent  ruby  silver  is  made  out  of  silver  juice  and  the  juice  which  forms  the 


52  BOOK    III. 

or  even  two  ;  these  they  call  narrow.  But  in  other  places  where  there  are 
very  wide  veins,  the  widths  of  a  cubit,  or  a  foot,  or  half  a  foot,  are  said  to  be 
narrow  ;  at  Cremnitz,  for  instance,  there  is  a  certain  vein  which  measures 
in  one  place  fifteen  fathoms  in  width,  in  another  eighteen,  and  in  another 
twenty  ;  the  truth  of  this  statement  is  vouched  for  by  the  inhabitants. 

"  substance  of  transparent  stone  ;  when  it  is  smelted  into  pure  silver,  since  from  it  is 
"  separated  the  transparent  juice,  it  is  no  longer  transparent.  Then  too,  there  is  pyrites, 
"  or  lapis  fissilis,  from  which  sulphur  is  melted.  To  the  second  kind  belongs  that  kind  of 
"  pyrites  which  contains  not  only  copper  and  stone,  but  sometimes  copper,  silver,  and  stone; 
"  sometimes  copper,  silver,  gold,  and  stone ;  sometimes  silver,  lead,  tin,  copper  and  silver 
"  glance.  That  compound  minerals  consist  of  stone  and  metal  is  sufficiently  proved  by 
"  their  hardness  ;  that  some  are  made  of  '  earth  '  and  metal  is  proved  from  brass,  which  is 
"  composed  of  copper  and  calamine  ;  and  also  proved  from  white  brass,  which  is  coloured 
"  by  artificial  white  arsenic.  Sometimes  the  heat  bakes  some  of  them  to  such  an  extent  that 
"  they  appear  to  have  flowed  out  of  blazing  furnaces,  which  we  may  see  in  the  case  of 
"  cadmia  and  pyrites.  A  metallic  substance  is  produced  out  of  '  earth  '  when  a  metallic 
"  juice  impregnating  the  '  earth  '  solidifies  with  cold,  the  '  earth  '  not  being  changed.  A 
"  stony  substance  is  produced  when  viscous  and  non-viscous  '  earth '  are  accumulated  in 
"  one  place  and  baked  by  heat ;  for  then  the  viscous  part  turns  into  stone  and  the  non- 
"  viscous  is  only  dried  up." 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  JUICES.  The  portion  of  Agricola's  theory  surrounding  this  subject 
is  by  no  means  easy  to  follow  in  detail,  especially  as  it  is  difficult  to  adjust  one's  point  of 
view  to  the  Peripatetic  elements,  fire,  water,  earth,  and  air,  instead  of  to  those  of  the 
atomic  theory  which  so  dominates  our  every  modern  conception.  That  Agricola's  '  juice  ' 
was  in  most  cases  a  solution  is  indicated  by  the  statement  (De  Ortu,  p.  48)  :  "  Nor  is  juice 
"  anything  but  water,  which  on  the  other  hand  has  absorbed  '  earth  '  or  has  corroded  or 
"  touched  metal  and  somehow  become  heated."  That  he  realized  the  difference  between 
mechanical  suspension  and  solution  is  evident  from  (De  Ortu,  p.  50)  :  "  A  stony  juice  differs 
"  from  water  which  has  abraded  something  from  rock,  either  because  it  has  more  of  that  which 
"  deposits,  or  because  heat,  by  cooking  water  of  that  kind,  has  thickened  it,  or  because  there 
"  is  something  in  it  which  has  powerful  astringent  properties."  Much  of  the  author's  notion 
of  juices  has  already  been  given  in  the  quotations  regarding  various  minerals,  but  his  most 
general  statement  on  the  subject  is  as  follows : — (De  Ortu,  p.  9)  :  "  Juices,  however,  are 
"  distinguished  from  water  by  their  density  (crassitudo),  and  are  generated  in  various  ways — 
"  either  when  dry  things  are  soaked  with  moisture  and  the  mixture  is  heated,  in  which  way 
"  by  far  the  greatest  part  of  juices  arise,  not  only  inside  the  earth,  but  outside  it :  or'  when 
"  water  running  over  the  earth  is  made  rather  dense,  in  which  way,  for  the  most 
"  part  the  juice  becomes  salty  and  bitter  ;  or  when  the  moisture  stands  upon  metal, 
"  especially  copper,  and  corrodes  it,  and  in  this  way  is  produced  the  juice  from  which 
"  chrysocolla  originates.  Similarly,  when  the  moisture  corrodes  friable  cupriferous  pyrites 
"  an  acrid  juice  is  made  from  which  is  produced  vitriol  and  sometimes  alum  ;  or,  finally, 
"  juices  are  pressed  out  by  the  very  force  of  the  heat  from  the  earth.  If  the  force  is  great 
"  the  juice  flows  like  pitch  from  burning  pine  ....  in  this  way  we  know  a  kind  of 
"  bitumen  is  made  in  the  earth.  In  the  same  way  different  kinds  of  moisture  are  generated 
"  in  living  bodies,  so  also  the  earth  produces  waters  differing  in  quality,  and  in  the  same 
"  way  juices." 

CONCLUSION.  If  we  strip  his  theory  of  the  necessary  influence  of  the  state  of 
knowledge  of  his  time,  and  of  his  own  deep  classical  learning,  we  find  two  propositions 
original  with  Agricola,  which  still  to-day  are  fundamentals  : 

(i)  That  ore  channels  were  of  origin  subsequent  to  their  containing  rocks  :  (2)  That 
ores  were  deposited  from  solutions  circulating  in  these  openings.  A  scientist's  work  must 
be  judged  by  the  advancement  he  gave  to  his  science,  and  with  this  gauge  one  can  say 
unhesitatingly  that  the  theory  which  we  have  set  out  above  represents  a  much  greater  step 
from  what  had  gone  before  than  that  of  almost  any  single  observer  since.  Moreover,  apart 
from  any  tangible  proposition  laid  down,  the  deduction  of  these  views  from  actual  observation  in- 
stead of  from  fruitless  speculation  was  a  contribution  to  the  very  foundation  of  natural  science. 
Agricola  was  wrong  in  attributing  the  creation  of  ore  channels  to  erosion  alone,  and  it  was  not 
until  Von  Oppel  (Anleiiung  zur  Markscheidekunst,  Dresden,  1749  and  other  essays),  two  centuries 
after  Agricola,  that  the  positive  proposition  that  ore  channels  were  due  to  fissuring  was 
brought  forward.  Von  Oppel,  however,  in  neglecting  channels  due  to  erosion  (and  in  this  term 
we  include  solution)  was  not  altogether  sound.  Nor  was  it  until  late  in  the  i8th  century  that 
the  filling  of  ore  channels  by  deposition  from  solutions  was  generally  accepted.  In  the 
meantime,  Agricola's  successors  in  the  study  of  ore  deposits  exhibited  positive  retrogression 
from  the  true  fundamentals  advocated  by  him.  Gesner,  Utman,  Meier,  Lohneys,  Barba, 


BOOK    III. 


53 


A — WIDE  vena  profunda.     B — NARROW  vena  profunda. 

Venae  dilatatae,  in  truth,  differ  also  in  thickness,  for  some  are  one  fathom 
thick,  others  two,  or  even  more  ;  some  are  a  cubit  thick,  some  a  foot,  some 
only  half  a  foot ;  and  all  these  are  usually  called  thick  veins.  Some  on  the 
other  hand,  are  but  a  palm  thick,  some  three  digits,  some  two,  some  one  ; 
these  are  called  thin  veins. 


Rossler,  Becher,  Stahl,  Henckel,  and  Zimmerman,  all  fail  to  grasp  the  double  essentials. 
Other  writers  of  this  period  often  enough  merely  quote  Agricola,  some  not  even  acknowledging 
the  source,  as,  for  instance,  Pryce  (Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  London,  1778)  and  Williams 
(Natural  History  of  the  Mineral  Kingdom,  London,  1789).  After  Von  Oppel,  the  two 
fundamental  principles  mentioned  were  generally  accepted,  but  then  arose  the  complicated 
and  acrimonious  discussion  of  the  origin  of  solutions,  and  nothing  in  Agricola's  view  was  so 
absurd  as  Werner's  contention  (Neue  Theorie  von  der  Entstehung  der  Giinge,  Freiberg,  1791) 
of  the  universal  chemical  deluge  which  penetrated  fissures  open  at  the  surface.  While  it  is 
not  the  purpose  of  these  notes  to  pursue  the  history  of  these  subjects  subsequent  to  the 
author's  time,  it  is  due  to  him  and  to  the  current  beliefs  as  to  the  history  of  the  theory  of  ore 
deposits,  to  call  the  attention  of  students  to  the  perverse  representation  of  Agricola's  views 
by  Werner  (op.  cit.)  upon  which  most  writers  have  apparently  relied.  Why  this  author 
should  be  (as,  for  instance,  by  Posepny,  Amer.  Inst.  Mining  Engineers,  1901)  so  generally  con- 
sidered the  father  of  our  modern  theory,  can  only  be  explained  by  a  general  lack  of  knowledge  of 
the  work  of  previous  writers  on  ore  deposition.  Not  one  of  the  propositions  original  with 
Werner  still  holds  good,  while  his  rejection  of  the  origin  of  solutions  within  the  earth  itself 
halted  the  march  of  advance  in  thought  on  these  subjects  for  half  a  century.  It  is  our 
hope  to  discuss  exhaustively  at  some  future  time  the  development  of  the  history  of  this, 
one  of  the  most  far-reaching  of  geologic  hypotheses. 


54 


BOOK    III. 


A — THIN  vena  dilatata.     B — THICK  vena  dilatata. 

Venae  profundae  vary  in  direction  ;   for  some  run  from  east  to  west. 

SOUTH 


NORTH 
A,  B,  C — VEIN.     D,  E,  F — SIAMS  IN  THE  ROCK  (Commissitrte  Saxorum). 


BOOK    III. 

Others,  on  the  other  hand,  run  from  west  to  east. 

SOUTH. 


55 


NORTH. 
A,  B,  C— VEIN.     D,  E,  F— Seams  in  the  Rocks. 


Others  run  from  south  to  north. 


SOUTH. 


NORTH. 
A,  B,  C — VEIN.     D,  E,  F — Seams  in  the  Rocks. 


56  BOOK     III. 

Others,  on  the  contrary,  run  from  north  to  south. 


A,  B,  C— VEIN.     D,  E,  F— Seams  in  the  Rocks. 

The  seams  in  the  rocks  indicate  to  us  whether  a  vein  runs  from  the 
east  or  from  the  west.  For  instance,  if  the  rock  seams  incline  toward  the 
westward  as  they  descend  into  the  earth,  the  vein  is  said  to  run  from  east 
to  west ;  if  they  incline  toward  the  east,  the  vein  is  said  to  run  from  west 
to  east ;  in  a  similar  manner,  we  determine  from  the  rock  seams  whether 
the  veins  run  north  or  south. 

Now  miners  divide  each  quarter  of  the  earth  into  six  divisions  ;  and  by 
this  method  they  apportion  the  earth  into  twenty-four  directions,  which  they 
divide  into  two  parts  of  twelve  each.  The  instrument  which  indicates  these 
directions  is  thus  constructed.  First  a  circle  is  made ;  then  at  equal 
intervals  on  one  half  portion  of  it  right  through  to  the  other,  twelve 
straight  lines  called  by  the  Greeks  SIO/WT/OOI,  and  in  the  Latin  dimetientes, 
are  drawn  through  a  central  point  which  the  Greeks  call  KIVTPOV,  so  that 
the  circle  is  thus  divided  into  twenty-four  divisions,  ah1  being  of  an  equal 
size.  Then,  within  the  circle  are  inscribed  three  other  circles,  the  outer- 
most of  which  has  cross-lines  dividing  it  into  twenty-four  equal  parts  ;  the 
space  between  it  and  the  next  circle  contains  two  sets  of  twelve  numbers, 
inscribed  on  the  lines  called  "  diameters  ";  while  within  the  innermost  circle 
it  is  hollowed  out  to  contain  a  magnetic  needle3.  The  needle  lies  directly 

3The  endeavour  to  discover  the  origin  of  the  compass  with  the  Chinese,  Arabs,  or  other 
Orientals  having  now  generally  ceased,  together  with  the  idea  that  the  knowledge  of  the 
lodestone  involved  any  acquaintance  with  the  compass,  it  is  permissible  to  take  a  rational 


BOOK     III. 

over  that  one  of  the  twelve  lines  called  "  diameters 
XII  is  inscribed  at  both  ends. 

SOUTH. 


57 
on  which  the  number 


s 

w 


NORTH. 

When  the  needle  which  is  governed  by  the  magnet  points  directly 
from  the  north  to  the  south,  the  number  XII  at  its  tail,  which  is 
forked,  signifies  the  north,  that  number  XII  which  is  at  its  point  indicates 
the  south.  The  sign  VI  superior  indicates  the  east,  and  VI  inferior  the 
west.  Further,  between  each  two  cardinal  points  there  are  always 
five  others  which  are  not  so  important.  The  first  two  of  these  directions 
are  called  the  prior  directions  ;  the  last  two  are  called  the  posterior,  and 
the  fifth  direction  lies  immediately  between  the  former  and  the  latter  ;  it 
is  halved,  and  one  half  is  attributed  to  one  cardinal  point  and  one  half  to  the 
other.  For  example,  between  the  northern  number  XII  and  the  eastern 
number  VI,  are  points  numbered  I,  II,  III,  IV,  V,  of  which  I  and 

view  of  the  subject.  The  lodestone  was  well  known  even  before  Plato  and  Aristotle,  and  is 
described  by  Theophrastus  (see  Note  10,  p.  115.)  The  first  authentic  and  specific  mention 
of  the  compass  appears  to  be  by  Alexander  Neckam  (an  Englishman  who  died  in  1217), 
in  his  works  De  Utensilibus  and  De  Naturis  Rerum.  The  first  tangible  description  of  the 
instrument  was  in  a  letter  to  Petrus  Peregrinus  de  Maricourt,  written  in  1269,  a  translation 
of  which  was  published  by  Sir  Sylvanus  Thompson  (London,  1902).  His  circle  was  divided  into 
four  quadrants  and  these  quarters  divided  into  90  degrees  each.  The  first  mention  of  a 
compass  in  connection  with  mines  so  far  as  we  know  is  in  the  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin,  a  review 
of  which  will  be  found  in  Appendix  B.  This  book,  which  dates  from  1500,  gives  a  compass  much 
like  the  one  described  above  by  Agricola.  It  is  divided  in  like  manner  into  two  halves  of  12 
divisions  each.  The  four  cardinal  points  being  marked  Mitternacht,  Morgen,  Mittag,  and 
Abend.  Thus  the  directions  read  were  referred  to  as  H.  after  midnight,  etc.  According  to 
Joseph  Came  (Trans.  Roy.  Geol.  Socy.  of  Cornwall,  Vol.  II,  1814),  the  Cornish  miners 
formerly  referred  to  North-South  veins  as  12  o'clock  veins  ;  South-East  North-West  veins  as 
9  o'clock  veins,  etc. 


58  BOOK    III. 

II  are  northern  directions  lying  toward  the  east,  IV  and  V  are  eastern 
directions  lying  toward  the  north,  and  III  is  assigned,  half  to  the  north  and 
half  to  the  east. 

One  who  wishes  to  know  the  direction  of  the  veins  underground,  places 
over  the  vein  the  instrument  just  described  ;  and  the  needle,  as  soon  as  it 
becomes  quiet,  will  indicate  the  course  of  the  vein.  That  is,  if  the  vein 
proceeds  from  VI  to  VI,  it  either  runs  from  east  to  west,  or  from  west  to 
east ;  but  whether  it  be  the  former  or  the  latter,  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
seams  in  the  rocks.  If  the  vein  proceeds  along  the  line  which  is  between  V 
and  VI  toward  the  opposite  direction,  it  runs  from  between  the  fifth  and 
sixth  divisions  of  east  to  the  west,  or  from  between  the  fifth  and  sixth 
divisions  of  west  to  the  east  ;  and  again,  whether  it  is  the  one  or  the  other 
is  clearly  shown  by  the  seams  in  the  rocks.  In  a  similar  manner  we 
determine  the  other  directions. 

Now  miners  reckon  as  many  points  as  the  sailors  do  in  reckoning  up 
the  number  of  the  winds.  Not  only  is  this  done  to-day  in  this  country,  but 
it  was  also  done  by  the  Romans  who  in  olden  times  gave  the  winds  partly 
Latin  names  and  partly  names  borrowed  from  the  Greeks.  Any  miner  who 
pleases  may  therefore  call  the  directions  of  the  veins  by  the  names  of  the 
winds.  There  are  four  principal  winds,  as  there  are  four  cardinal  points  : 
the  Subsolanus,  which  blows  from  the  east ;  and  its  opposite  the  Favonius, 
which  blows  from  the  west  ;  the  latter  is  called  by  the  Greeks  Ztyvpos,  and 
the  former  'AW^XMT^.  There  is  the  Auster,  which  blows  from  the  south  ; 
and  opposed  to  it  is  the  Septentrio,  from  the  north  ;  the  former  the  Greeks 
called  NOTOC,  and  the  latter  'A-n-apKriaQ.  There  are  also  subordinate  winds, 
to  the  number  of  twenty,  as  there  are  directions,  for  between  each  two 
principal  winds  there  are  always  five  subordinate  ones.  Between  the 
Subsolanus  (east  wind)  and  the  Auster  (south  wind)  there  is  the  Ornithiae 
or  the  Bird  wind,  which  has  the  first  place  next  to  the  Subsolanus  ;  then 
conies  Caecias  ;  then  Eurus,  which  lies  in  the  midway  of  these  five  ;  next 
comes  Vulturnus  ;  and  lastly,  Euronotus,  nearest  the  Auster  (south  wind). 
The  Greeks  have  given  these  names  to  all  of  these,  with  the  exception  of 
Vulturnus,  but  those  who  do  not  distinguish  the  winds  in  so  precise  a  manner 
say  this  is  the  same  as  the  Greeks  called  Evpoi;.  Between  the  Auster  (south 
wind)  and  the  Favonius  (west  wind)  is  first  Altanus,  to  the  right  of  the 
Auster  (south  wind)  ;  then  Libonotus  ;  then  Africus,  which  is  the  middle 
one  of  these  five  ;  after  that  comes  Subvesperus  ;  next  Argestes,  to  the  left 
of  Favonius  (west  wind).  All  these,  with  the  exception  of  Libonotus  and 
Argestes,  have  Latin  names  ;  but  Africus  also  is  called  by  the  Greeks  Ai'ii. 
In  a  similar  manner,  between  Favonius  (west  wind)  and  Septentrio  (north 
wind),  first  to  the  right  of  Favonius  (west  wind),  is  the  Etesiae  ;  then 
Circius  ;  then  Caurus,  which  is  in  the  middle  of  these  five  ;  then  Corns  ; 
and  lastly  Thrascias  to  the  left  of  Septentrio  (north  wind).  To  all  of 
these,  except  that  of  Caurus,  the  Greeks  gave  the  names,  and  those 
who  do  not  distinguish  the  winds  by  so  exact  a  plan,  assert  that  the  wind 
which  the  Greeks  called  Kopec  and  the  Latins  Caurus  is  one  and  the  same. 


BOOK     III. 


59 


Again,  between  Septentrio  (north  wind)  and  the  Subsolanus  (east  wind),  the 
first  to  the  right  of  Septentrio  (north  wind)  is  Gallicus  ;  then  Supernas  ;  then 
Aquilo,  which  is  the  middle  one  of  these  five  ;  next  comes  Boreas  ;  and 
lastly  Carbas,  to  the  left  of  Subsolanus  (east  wind).  Here  again,  those  who 
do  not  consider  the  winds  to  be  in  so  great  a  multitude,  but  say  there  are 
but  twelve  winds  in  all,  or  at  the  most  fourteen,  assert  that  the  wind  called 

SOUTH. 


NORTH. 


by  the  Greeks  Bope'ae  and  the  Latins  Aquilo  is  one  and  the  same.  For  our 
purpose  it  is  not  only  useful  to  adopt  this  large  number  of  winds,  but  even 
to  double  it,  as  the  German  sailors  do.  They  always  reckon  that  between 
each  two  there  is  one  in  the  centre  taken  from  both.  By  this  method  we 


6o 


BOOK     III. 


also  are  able  to  signify  the  intermediate  directions  by  means  of  the  names  of 
the  winds.  For  instance,  if  a  vein  runs  from  VI  east  to  VI  west,  it  is  said 
to  proceed  from  Subsolanus  (east  wind)  to  Favonius  (west  wind)  ;  but  one 
which  proceeds  from  between  V  and  VI  of  the  east  to  between  V  and  VI 
west  is  said  to  proceed  out  of  the  middle  of  Carbas  and  Subsolanus  to  between 
Argestes  and  Favonius  ;  the  remaining  directions,  and  their  intermediates 
are  similarly  designated.  The  miner,  on  account  of  the  natural  properties 
of  a  magnet,  by  which  the  needle  points  to  the  south,  must  fix  the  instru- 
ment already  described  so  that  east  is  to  the  left  and  west  to  the  right. 

In  a  similar  way  to  venae  pro/undue,  the  venae  dUatatae  vary  in  their 
lateral  directions,  and  we  are  able  to  understand  from  the  seams  in  the 
rocks  in  which  direction  they  extend  into  the  ground.  For  if  these  incline 
toward  the  west  in  depth,  the  vein  is  said  to  extend  from  east  to  west ; 
if  on  the  contrary,  they  incline  toward  the  east,  the  vein  is  said  to  go  from 
west  to  east.  In  the  same  way,  from  the  rock  seams  we  can  determine 
veins  running  south  and  north,  or  the  reverse,  and  likewise  to  the 
subordinate  directions  and  their  intermediates. 


A,  B — Venae  dilatatae.     C — Seams  in  (he  Rocks. 

Further,  as  regards  the  question  of  direction  of  a  vena  profunda,  one 
runs  straight  from  one  quarter  of  the  earth  to  that  quarter  which  is  opposite, 
while  another  one  runs  in  a  curve,  in  which  case  it  may  happen  that  a  vein 
proceeding  from  the  east  does  not  turn  to  the  quarter  opposite,  which  is  the 
west,  but  twists  itself  and  turns  to  the  south  or  the  north. 


BOOK     III. 


61 


A — STRAIGHT  vena  profunda.     B— CURVED  vena  profunda  [should  be  vena  dilalaia(?)]. 


Similarly  some  venae  dilatatae  are  horizontal,  some  are  inclined,  and 
some  are  curved. 


A— HORIZONTAL  vena  dilatata.    B— INCLINED  vena  dilatata.     C— CURVED  vena  dilatata. 
1 


62 


BOOK     III. 


Also  the  veins  which  we  call  pro/undue  differ  in  the  manner  in  which 
they  descend  into  the  depths  of  the  earth  ;  for  some  are  vertical  (A),  some  are 
inclined  and  sloping  (B),  others  crooked  (C). 


Moreover,  venae  profundae  (B)  differ  much  among  themselves  regarding 
the  kind  of  locality  through  which  they  pass,  for  some  extend  along  the 
slopes  of  mountains  or  hills  (A-C)  and  do  not  descend  down  the  sides. 


BOOK     III.  63 

Other  Venae  Profundae  (D,  E,  F)  from  the  very  summit  of  the  mountain 
or  hill  descend  the  slope  (A)  to  the  hollow  or  valley  (B),  and  they  again  ascend 
the  slope  or  the  side  of  the  mountain  or  hill  opposite  (C). 


Other  Venae  Profundae  (C,  D)  descend  the  mountain  or   hill  (A)  and 
extend  out  into  the  plain  (B). 


64  BOOK     III. 

Some  veins  run  straight  along  on  the  plateaux,  the  hills,  or  plains. 


A — MOUNTAINOUS  PLAIN.     B — Vena  profunda. 


A — PRINCIPAL    VEIN.     B — TRANSVERSE  VEIN.     C — VEIN    CUTTING    PRINCIPAL    ONE 

OBLIQUELY. 


BOOK     III.  65 

In  the  next  place,  venae  pro/undue  differ  not  a  little  in  the  manner  in 
which  they  intersect,  since  one  may  cross  through  a  second  transversely,  or 
one  may  cross  another  one  obliquely  as  if  cutting  it  in  two. 

If  a  vein  which  cuts  through  another  principal  one  obliquely  be  the 
harder  of  the  two,  it  penetrates  right  through  it,  just  as  a  wedge  of  beech  or 
iron  can  be  driven  through  soft  wood  by  means  of  a  tool.  If  it  be  softer,  the 
principal  vein  either  drags  the  soft  one  with  it  for  a  distance  of  three  feet,  or 
perhaps  one,  two,  three,  or  several  fathoms,  or  else  throws  it  forward  along 
the  principal  vein  ;  but  this  latter  happens  very  rarely.  But  that  the  vein 
which  cuts  the  principal  one  is  the  same  vein  on  both  sides,  is  shown  by  its 
having  the  same  character  in  its  foot  walls  and  hanging  walls. 


A — PRINCIPAL  VEIN.     B — VEIN  WHICH  CUTS  A  OBLIQUELY.     C — PART  CARRIED  AWAY. 
D — THAT  PART  WHICH  HAS  BEEN  CARRIED  FORWARD. 


Sometimes  venae  profundae  join  one  with  another,  and  from  two  or 
more  outcropping  veins4,  one  is  formed  ;  or  from  two  which  do  not  outcrop 
one  is  made,  if  they  are  not  far  distant  from  each  other,  and  the  one  dips 
into  the  other,  or  if  each  dips  toward  the  other,  and  they  thus  join  when  they 
have  descended  in  depth.  In  exactly  the  same  way,  out  of  three  or  more 
veins,  one  may  be  formed  in  depth. 

*Crudariis.  Pliny  (xxxm.,  31).  says  : — "  Argenti  vena  in  summo  reperta  crudaria 
appellatur,"  "  Silver  veins  discovered  at  the  surface  are  called  crudaria."  The  German 
translator  of  Agricola  uses  the  term  sylber  gang — silver  vein,  obviously  misunderstanding  the 
author's  meaning. 


66 


BOOK    III. 


A,    B— TWO  VEINS  DESCEND  INCLINED  AND  DIP  TOWARD  EACH  OTHER. 

C — JUNCTION.     LIKEWISE  TWO  VEINS.    D — INDICATES  ONE  DESCENDING  VERTICALLY. 
E — MARKS  THE  OTHER  DESCENDING  INCLINED,  WHICH  DIPS  TOWARD  D.      F — THEIR  JUNCTION. 


BOOK     III. 


67 


However,  such  a  junction  of  veins  sometimes  disunites  and  in  this 
way  it  happens  that  the  vein  which  was  the  right-hand  vein  becomes 
the  left ;  and  again,  the  one  which  was  on  the  left  becomes  the  right. 

Furthermore,  one  vein  may  be  split  and  divided  into  parts  by  some  hard 
rock  resembling  a  beak,  or  stringers  in  soft  rock  may  sunder  the  vein  and 
make  two  or  more.  These  sometimes  join  together  again  and  sometimes 
remain  divided. 


A,  B — VEINS  DIVIDING.     C — THE  SAME  JOINING. 

Whether  a  vein  is  separating  from  or  uniting  with  another  can  be  deter- 
mined only  from  the  seams  in  the  rocks.  For  example,  if  a  principal 
vein  runs  from  the  east  to  the  west,  the  rock  seams  descend  in  depth 
likewise  from  the  east  toward  the  west,  and  the  associated  vein  which 
joins  with  the  principal  vein,  whether  it  runs  from  the  south  or  the  north, 
has  its  rock  seams  extending  in  the  same  way  as  its  own,  and  they  do  not 
conform  with  the  seams  in  the  rock  of  the  principal  vein — which  remain 
the  same  after  the  junction — unless  the  associated  vein  proceeds  in  the  same 
direction  as  the  principal  vein.  In  that  case  we  name  the  broader  vein  the 
principal  one,  and  the  narrower  the  associated  vein.  But  if  the  principal 
vein  splits,  the  rock  seams  which  belong  respectively  to  the  parts,  keep 
the  same  course  when  descending  in  depth  as  those  of  the  principal  vein. 

But  enough  of  venae  profundae,  their  junctions  and  divisions.  Now 
we  come  to  venae  dilatatae.  A  vena  dUatata  may  either  cross  a  vena  profunda, 
or  join  with  it,  or  it  may  be  cut  by  a  vena  profunda,  and  be  divided  into  parts. 


68 


BOOK     III. 


A,    C — Vena   dilatata   CROSSING    A   vena   profunda.     B — Vena   profunda.      D,    E — Vena 

dilatata  WHICH  JUNCTIONS  WITH  A  vena  profunda.     F — Vena  profunda.      G — Vena  dilatata. 

H,  I — ITS  DIVIDED  PARTS.      K — Vena  profunda  WHICH  DIVIDES  THE  vena  dilatata. 

Finally,  a  vena  profunda  has  a  "  beginning  "  (origo),  an  "  end"  (finis),  a 
"head"  (caput),  and  a  "tail"  (caudd).  That  part  whence  it  takes  its  rise 
is  said  to  be  its  "  beginning,"  that  in  which  it  terminates  the  "  end."  Its 
"  head  "5  is  that  part  which  emerges  into  daylight ;  its  "  tail  "  that  part 
which  is  hidden  in  the  earth.  But  miners  have  no  need  to  seek  the 
"  beginning  "  of  veins,  as  formerly  the  kings  of  Egypt  sought  for  the  source 
of  the  Nile,  but  it  is  enough  for  them  to  discover  some  other  part  of  the  vein 
and  to  recognise  ito  direction,  for  seldom  can  either  the  "  beginning  "  or  the 
"  end  "  be  found.  The  direction  in  which  the  head  of  the  vein  comes  into 
the  light,  or  the  direction  toward  which  the  tail  extends,  is  indicated  by  its 
footwall  and  hangingwall.  The  latter  is  said  to  hang,  and  the  former  to  lie. 
The  vein  rests  on  the  footwall,  and  the  hangingwall  overhangs  it ;  thus, 
when  we  descend  a  shaft,  the  part  to  which  we  turn  the  face  is  the  foot- 
wall  and  seat  of  the  vein,  that  to  which  we  turn  the  back  is  the  hanging- 
wall.  Also  in  another  way,  the  head  accords  with  the  footwall  and  the  tail 
with  the  hangingwall,  for  if  the  footwall  is  toward  the  south,  the  vein 
extends  its  head  into  the  light  toward  the  south  ;  and  the  hangingwall, 
because  it  is  always  opposite  to  the  footwall,  is  then  toward  the  north. 
Consequently  the  vein  extends  its  tail  toward  the  north  if  it  is  an  inclined 
vena  profunda.  Similarly,  we  can  determine  with  regard  to  east  and  west 
and  the  subordinate  and  their  intermediate  directions.  A  vena  profunda 
which  descends  into  the  earth  may  be  either  vertical,  inclined,  or  crooked  • 
the  footwall  of  an  inclined  vein  is  easily  distinguished  from  the  hangingwall, 
but  it  is  not  so  with  a  vertical  vein  ;  and  again,  the  footwall  of  a  crooked 
vein  is  inverted  and  changed  into  the  hangingwall,  and  contrariwise  the 
hangingwall  is  twisted  into  the  footwall,  but  very  many  of  these  crooked 
veins  may  be  turned  back  to  vertical  or  inclined  ones. 

5It  might  be  considered  that  the  term  "  outcrop  "  could  be  used  for  "  head,"  but  it 
will  be  noticed  that  a  vena  dilatata  would  thus  be  stated  to  have  no  outcrop. 


BOOK     III. 


69 


A— THE   "  BEGINNING  "   (origo).     B— THE   "  END  "   (finis).    C— THE   "  HEAD  "   (caput). 

D— THE  "TAIL"  (canda). 

A  vena  dilatata  has  only  a  "  beginning  "  and  an  "end,"  and  in  the  place 
of  the  "head"  and  "tail"  it  has  two  sides. 


A— THE  "BEGINNING."        B— THE  "END."        C,  D— THE  "SIDES. 


BOOK    III. 


A— THE    "  BEGINNING."     B— THE    "  END."     C— THE 

E — TRANSVERSE  VEIN. 


HEAD."      D— THE     "  TAIL.' 


A  vena  cumulata  has  a  "  beginning,"  an  "end,"  a  "  head,"  and  a 
"  tail,"  just  as  a  vena  profunda.  Moreover,  a  vena  cumulata,  and  likewise 
a  vena  Mlatata,  are  often  cut  through  by  a  transverse  vena  profunda. 

Stringers  (fibrae)6,  which  are  little  veins,  are  classified  into  fibrae  trans- 
versae,  fibrae  obliquae  which  cut  the  vein  obliquely,  fibrae  sociae, 
fibrae  dilatatae,  and  fibrae  incumbentes.  The  fibra  transversa  crosses 
the  vein  ;  the  fibra  obligua  crosses  the  vein  obliquely  ;  the  fibra  soda  joins 
with  the  vein  itself  ;  the  fibra  dilatata,  like  the  vena  dilatata,  penetrates 
through  it ;  but  the  fibra  dilatata,  as  well  as  the  fibra  profunda,  is  usually 
found  associated  with  a  vein. 

The  fibra  incumbens  does  not  descend  as  deeply  into  the  earth  as  the 
other  stringers,  but  lies  on  the  vein,  as  it  were,  from  the  surface  to  the 
hangingwall  or  footwall,  from  which  it  is  named  Subdialis.1 

In  truth,  as  to  direction,  junctions,  and  divisions,  the  stringers  are  not 
different  from  the  veins. 

•It  is  possible  that  "  veinlets  "  would  be  preferred  by  purists,  but  the  word  "  stringer  " 
has  become  fixed  in  the  nomenclature  of  miners  and  we  have  adopted  it.  The  old  English 
term  was  "  stringe,"  and  appears  in  Edward  Manlove's  "  Rhymed  Chronicle,"  London, 
1653;  Pryce's,  Miner alogia  Cornubiensis,  London,  1778,  pp.  103  and  329;  Mawe's  "  Mineralogy 
of  Devonshire,"  London,  1802,  p.  210,  etc.,  etc. 

''Subdialis.  "  In  the  open  air."  The  Glossary  gives  the  meaning  as  Ein  tag  klufft 
oder  tag  gehenge — a  surface  stringer. 


BOOK    III. 


A,  B — VEINS.       C— TRANSVERSE  STRINGER.       D— OBLIQUE  STRINGER. 
E — ASSOCIATED  STRINGER.     F—Fibra   dilatata. 


A — VEIN.    B — Fibra  incumbent  FROM  THE  SURFACE  OF  THE  HANGINGWALL.     C — SAME 

FROM    THE    FOOTWALL. 


^2  BOOK     III. 

Lastly,  the  seams,  which  are  the  very  finest  stringers  (fibrae),  divide 
the  rock,  and  occur  sometimes  frequently,  sometimes  rarely.  From 
whatever  direction  the  vein  comes,  its  seams  always  turn  their  heads 
toward  the  light  in  the  same  direction.  But,  while  the  seams  usually  run 
from  one  point  of  the  compass  to  another  immediately  opposite  it,  as 
for  instance,  from  east  to  west,  if  hard  stringers  divert  them,  it  may 
happen  that  these  very  seams,  which  before  were  running  from  east  to 
west,  then  contrariwise  proceed  from  west  to  east,  and  the  direction  of 
the  rocks  is  thus  inverted.  In  such  a  case,  the  direction  of  the  veins  is 
judged,  not  by  the  direction  of  the  seams  which  occur  rarely,  but  by  those 
which  constantly  recur. 


A — SEAMS  WHICH  PROCEED  FROM  THE  EAST.     B— THE  INVERSE. 


Both  veins  or  stringers  may  be  solid  or  drusy,  or  barren  of  minerals, 
or  pervious  to  water.  Solid  veins  contain  no  water  and  very  little  air.  The 
drusy  veins  rarely  contain  water  ;  they  often  contain  air.  Those  which 
are  barren  of  minerals  often  carry  water.  Solid  veins  and  stringers  con- 
sist sometimes  of  hard  materials,  sometimes  of  soft,  and  sometimes  of  a 
kind  of  medium  between  the  two. 


BOOK     III. 


73 


A — SOLID  VEIN.     B — SOLID  STRINGER.    C— CAVERNOUS  VEIN.     D— CAVERNOUS 
STRINGER.     E — BARREN  VEIN.     F — BARREN  STRINGER. 

But  to  return  to  veins.  A  great  number  of  miners  consider8  that  the 
best  veins  in  depth  are  those  which  run  from  the  VI  or  VII  direction  of  the 
east  to  the  VI  or  VII  direction  of  the  west,  through  a  mountain  slope  which 
inclines  to  the  north  ;  and  whose  hangingwalls  are  in  the  south,  and  whose 
footwalls  are  in  the  north,  and  which  have  their  heads  rising  to  the  north, 
as  explained  before,  always  like  the  footwall,  and  finally,  whose  rock 
seams  turn  their  heads  to  the  east.  And  the  veins  which  are  the  next 

8The  following  from  Chapter  iv  of  the  NiUzlich  Bergbuchlin  (see  Appendix  B)  may 
indicate  the  source  of  the  theory  which  Agricola  here  discards  : — "  As  to  those  veins  which 
"  are  most  profitable  to  work,  it  must  be  remarked  that  the  most  suitable  location  for  the  vein 
"  is  on  the  slope  of  the  mountain  facing  south,  so  its  strike  is  from  vn  or  vi  east  to  vi  or 
"  vn  west.  According  to  the  above-mentioned  directions,  the  outcrop  of  the  whole  vein 
"  should  face  north,  its  gesteins  ausgang  toward  the  east,  its  hangingwall  toward  the  south, 
"  and  its  footwall  toward  the  north,  for  in  such  mountains  and  veins  the  influence  of  the 
"  planets  is  conveniently  received  to  prepare  the  matter  out  of  which  the  silver  is  to  be  made 
"  or  formed.  .  .  .  The  other  strikes  of  veins  from  between  east  and  south  to  the  region 
"  between  west  and  north  are  esteemed  more  or  less  valuable,  according  to  whether  they  are 
"  nearer  or  further  away  from  the  above-mentioned  strikes,  but  with  the  same  hanging- 
"  wall,  footwall,  and  outcrops.  But  the  veins  having  their  strike  from  north  to  south, 
"  their  hangingwall  toward  the  west,  their  footwall  and  their  outcrops  toward  the  east, 
"  are  better  to  work  than  veins  which  extend  from  south  to  north,  whose  hangingwalls 
"  are  toward  the  east,  and  footwalls  and  outcrops  toward  the  west.  Although  the  latter 
"  veins  sometimes  yield  solid  and  good  silver  ore,  still  it  is  not  sure  and  certain,  because 
"  the  whole  mineral  force  is  completely  scattered  and  dispersed  through  the  outcrop,  etc." 


74  BOOK     III. 

best  are  those  which,  on  the  contrary,  extend  from  the  VI  or  VII  direction 
of  the  west  to  the  VI  or  VII  direction  of  the  east,  through  the  slope  of  a 
mountain  which  similarly  inclines  to  the  north,  whose  hangingwalls 
are  also  in  the  south,  whose  footwalls  are  in  the  north,  and  whose 
heads  rise  toward  the  north ;  and  lastly,  whose  rock  seams  raise 
their  heads  toward  the  west.  In  the  third  place,  they  recommend  those 
veins  which  extend  from  XII  north  to  XII  south,  through  the  slope 
of  a  mountain  which  faces  east ;  whose  hangingwalls  are  in  the 
west,  whose  footwalls  are  in  the  east  ;  whose  heads  rise  toward 
the  east  ;  and  whose  rock  seams  raise  their  heads  toward  the  north. 
Therefore  they  devote  all  their  energies  to  those  veins,  and  give  very  little 
or  nothing  to  those  whose  heads,  or  the  heads  of  whose  rock  seams  rise 
toward  the  south  or  west.  For  although  they  say  these  veins  some- 
times show  bright  specks  of  pure  metal  adhering  to  the  stones,  or  they  come 
upon  lumps  of  metal,  yet  these  are  so  few  and  far  between  that  despite  them 
it  is  not  worth  the  trouble  to  excavate  such  veins  ;  and  miners  who  persevere 
in  digging  in  the  hope  of  coming  upon  a  quantity  of  metal,  always  lose  their 
time  and  trouble.  And  they  say  that  from  veins  of  this  kind,  since  the  sun's 
rays  draw  out  the  metallic  material,  very  little  metal  is  gained.  But  in 
this  matter  the  actual  experience  of  the  miners  who  thus  judge  of  the  veins 
does  not  always  agree  with  their  opinions,  nor  is  their  reasoning  sound  ; 
since  indeed  the  veins  which  run  from  east  to  west  through  the  slope  of  a 
mountain  which  inclines  to  the  south,  whose  heads  rise  likewise  to  the 
south,  are  not  less  charged  with  metals,  than  those  to  which  miners  are 
wont  to  accord  the  first  place  in  productiveness  ;  as  in  recent  years  has  been 
proved  by  the  St.  Lorentz  vein  at  Abertham,  which  our  countrymen  call 
Gottsgaab,  for  they  have  dug  out  of  it  a  large  quantity  of  pure  silver  ;.  and 
lately  a  vein  in  Annaberg,  called  by  the  name  of  Himmelsch  hoz9,  has  made  it 

*The  names  in  the  Latin  are  given  as  Donum  Divinum — "  God's  Gift,"  and 
Coelestis  Exercilus — "  Heavenly  Host."  The  names  given  in  the  text  are  from  the  German 
Translation.  The  former  of  these  mines  was  located  in  the  valley  of  Joachim,  where  Agricola 
spent  many  years  as  the  town  physician  at  Joachimsthal.  It  is  of  further  interest,  as  Agricola 
obtained  an  income  from  it  as  a  shareholder.  He  gives  the  history  of  the  mine  (De  Veteribus 
et  Novis  Metallis,  Book  I.),  as  follows  : — "  The  mines  at  Abertham  were  discovered,  partly 
"  by  chance,  partly  by  science.  In  the  eleventh  year  of  Charles  V.  (1530),  on  the  i8th  of 
'  February,  a  poor  miner,  but  one  skilled  in  the  art  of  mining,  dwelt  in  the  middle  of  the 
'  forest  in  a  solitary  hut,  and  there  tended  the  cattle  of  his  employer.  While  digging  a  little 
'  trench  in  which  to  store  milk,  he  opened  a  vein.  At  once  he  washed  some  in  a  bowl  and  saw 
'  particles  of  the  purest  silver  settled  at  the  bottom.  Overcome  with  joy  he  informed  his 
'  employer,  and  went  to  the  Bergmeister  and  petitioned  that  official  to  give  him  a  head 
'  mining  lease,  which  in  the  language  of  our  people  he  called  Gottsgaab.  Then  he  proceeded 
'  to  dig  the  vein,  and  found  more  fragments  of  silver,  and  the  miners  were  inspired  with 
'  great  hopes  as  to  the  richness  of  the  vein.  Although  such  hopes  were  not  frustrated, 
'  still  a  whole  year  was  spent  before  they  received  any  profits  from  the  mine  ;  whereby 
"  many  became  discouraged  and  did  not  persevere  in  paying  expenses,  but  sold  their  shares 
"  in  the  mine  ;  and  for  this  reason,  when  at  last  an  abundance  of  silver  was  being  drawn 
"  out,  a  great  change  had  taken  place  in  the  ownership  of  the  mine  ;  nay,  even  the  first 
"  finder  of  the  vein  was  not  in  possession  of  any  share  in  it,  and  had  spent  nearly  all  the 
"  money  which  he  had  obtained  from  the  selling  of  his  shares.  Then  this  mine  yielded  such 
"  a  quantity  of  pure  silver  as  no  other  mine  that  has  existed  within  our  own  or  our 
"  fathers'  memories,  with  the  exception  of  the  St.  George  at  Schneeberg.  We,  as  a  share- 
"  holder,  through  the  goodness  of  God,  have  enjoyed  the  proceeds  of  this  '  God's  Gift ' 
"  since  the  very  time  when  the  mine  began  first  to  bestow  such  riches."  Later  on  in  the 


BOOK     III.  75 

plain  by  the  production  of  much  silver  that  veins  which  extend  from  the 
north  to  the  south,  with  their  heads  rising  toward  the  west,  are  no  less  rich 
in  metals  than  those  whose  heads  rise  toward  the  east. 

It  may  be  denied  that  the  heat  of  the  sun  draws  the  metallic  material 
out  of  these  veins  ;  for  though  it  draws  up  vapours  from  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  the  rays  of  the  sun  do  not  penetrate  right  down  to  the  depths  ;  because 
the  air  of  a  tunnel  which  is  covered  and  enveloped  by  solid  earth  to  the  depth  of 
only  two  fathoms  is  cold  in  summer,  for  the  intermediate  earth  holds  in  check 
the  force  of  the  sun.  Having  observed  this  fact,  the  inhabitants  and  dwellers 
of  very  hot  regions  lie  down  by  day  in  caves  which  protect  them  from  the 
excessive  ardour  of  the  sun.  Therefore  it  is  unlikely  that  the  sun  draws 
out  from  within  the  earth  the  metallic  bodies.  Indeed,  it  cannot  even  dry 
the  moisture  of  many  places  abounding  in  veins,  because  they  are  pro- 
tected and  shaded  by  the  trees.  Furthermore,  certain  miners,  out  of  all 
the  different  kinds  of  metallic  veins,  choose  those  which  I  have  described, 
and  others,  on  the  contrary,  reject  copper  mines  which  are  of  this  sort,  so 
that  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  in  this.  For  what  can  be  the  reason  if  the 
sun  draws  no  copper  from  copper  veins,  that  it  draws  silver  from  silver  veins, 
and  gold  from  gold  veins  ? 

Moreover,  some  miners,  of  whose  number  was  Calbus10,  distinguish 
between  the  gold-bearing  rivers  and  streams.  A  river,  they  say,  or  a  stream, 
is  most  productive  of  fine  and  coarse  grains  of  gold  when  it  comes  from  the 
east  and  flows  to  the  west,  and  when  it  washes  against  the  foot  of  mountains 
which  are  situated  in  the  north,  and  when  it  has  a  level  plain  toward  the 
south  or  west.  In  the  second  place,  they  esteem  a  river  or  a  stream  which 
flows  in  the  opposite  course  from  the  west  toward  the  east,  and  which  has 
the  mountains  to  the  north  and  the  level  plain  to  the  south.  In  the  third 
place,  they  esteem  the  river  or  the  stream  which  flows  from  the  north  to  the 
south  and  washes  the  base  of  the  mountains  which  are  situated  in  the  east. 
But  they  say  that  the  river  or  stream  is  least  productive  of  gold  which  flows 
in  a  contrary  direction  from  the  south  to  the  north,  and  washes  the  base  of 

same  book  he  gives  the  following  further  information  with  regard  to  these  mines  : — "  Now 

'  if  all  the  individual  mines  which  have  proved  fruitful  in  our  own  times  are  weighed  in 

'  the  balance,  the  one  at  Annaberg,  which  is  known  as  the  Himmelsch  hoz,   surpasses   all 

'  others.     For  the  value  of  the  silver  which  has  been  dug  out  has  been  estimated  at  420,000 

'  Rhenish  gulden.     Next  to  this  comes  the  lead  mine  in  Joachimsthal,  whose  name  is  the 

'  Sternen,  from  which  as  much  silver  has  been  dug  as  would  be  equivalent  to  350,000  Rhenish 

'  gulden  ;  from  the  Gottsgaab  at  Abertham,  explained  before,  the  equivalent  of  300,000. 

'  But  far  before  all  others  within  our  fathers'  memory  stands  the  St.  George  of  Schneeberg, 

'  whose  silver  has  been  estimated  as  being  equal  to  two  million  Rhenish  gulden."     A  Rhenish 

gulden  was  about  6.9  shillings,  or,  say,  $1.66.     However,  the  ratio  value  of  silver  to  gold  at 

this  period  was  about  11.5  to  one,  or  in  other  words  an  ounce  of  silver  was  worth  about  a 

gulden,  so  that,  for  purposes  of  rough  calculation,  one  might  say  that  the  silver  product 

mentioned  in  gulden  is  practically  of  the  same  number  of  ounces  of  silver.     Moreover,  it  must 

be  remembered  that  the  purchasing  power  of  money  was  vastly  greater  then. 

10The  following  passage  occurs  in  the  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin  (Chap.  V.),  which  is  interesting 

on  account  of  the  great  similarity  to  Agricola's  quotation  : —  "  The  best  position  of  the  stream  is 

'  when  it  has  a  cliff  beside  it  on  the  north  and  level  ground  on  the  south,  but  its  current  should 

'  be  from  east  to  west — that  is  the  most  suitable.     The  next  best  after  this  is  from  west  to 

'  east,  with  the  same  position  of  the  rocks  as  already  stated.     The  third  in  order  is  when  the 

'  stream  flows  from  north  to  south  with  rocks  toward  the  east,  but  the  worst  flow  of  water 

'  for  the  preparation  of  gold  is  from  south  to  north  if  a  rock  or  hill  rises  toward  the  west." 

Calbus  was  probably  the  author  of  this  booklet. 


76  BOOK     III 

mountains  which  are  situated  in  the  west.  Lastly,  of  the  streams  or  rivers 
which  flow  from  the  rising  sun  toward  the  setting  sun,  or  which  flow  from 
the  northern  parts  to  the  southern  parts,  they  favour  those  which  approach 
the  nearest  to  the  lauded  ones,  and  say  they  are  more  productive  of  gold, 
and  the  further  they  depart  from  them  the  less  productive  they  are.  Such 
are  the  opinions  held  about  rivers  and  streams.  Now,  since  gold  is  not 
generated  in  the  rivers  and  streams,  as  we  have  maintained  against 
Albertus11  in  the  book  entitled  "  De  Subterraneorum  Ortu  et  Causis,"  Book 
V,  but  is  torn  away  from  the  veins  and  stringers  and  settled  in  the  sands  of 
torrents  and  water-courses,  in  whatever  direction  the  rivers  or  streams  flow, 
therefore  it  is  reasonable  to  expect  to  find  gold  therein  ;  which  is  not 
opposed  by  experience.  Nevertheless,  we  do  not  deny  that  gold  is  generated 
in  veins  and  stringers  which  lie  under  the  beds  of  rivers  or  streams,  as  in 
other  places. 


"Albertus  Magnus. 


END     OF     BOOK     III. 


BOOK    IV. 


HE  third  book  has  explained  the  various  and 
manifold  varieties  of  veins  and  stringers.  This 
fourth  book  will  deal  with  mining  areas  and  the 
method  of  delimiting  them,  and  will  then  pass  on  to 
the  officials  who  are  connected  with  mining  affairs1. 
Now  the  miner,  if  the  vein  he  has  uncovered 
is  to  his  liking,  first  of  all  goes  to  the  Bergmeister 
to  request  to  be  granted  a  right  to  mine,  this 
official's  special  function  and  office  being  to  adjudi- 
cate in  respect  of  the  mines.  And  so  to  the  first  man  who  has  discovered 
the  vein  the  Bergmeister  awards  the  head  meer,  and  to  others  the  remaining 
meers,  in  the  order  in  which  each  makes  his  application.  The  size  of 
a  meer  is  measured  by  fathoms,  which  for  miners  are  reckoned  at  six  feet 
each.  The  length,  in  fact,  is  that  of  a  man's  extended  arms  and  hands 
measured  across  his  chest ;  but  different  peoples  assign  to  it  different  lengths, 

xThe  nomenclature  in  this  chapter  has  given  unusual  difficulty,  because  the  organisa- 
tion of  mines,  either  past  or  present,  in  English-speaking  countries  provides  no  exact 
equivalents  for  many  of  these  offices  and  for  many  of  the  legal  terms.  The  Latin  terms  in 
the  text  were,  of  course,  coined  by  the  author,  and  have  no  historical  basis  to  warrant  their 
adoption,  while  the  introduction  of  the  original  German  terms  is  open  to  much  objection,  as 
they  are  not  only  largely  obsolete,  but  also  in  the  main  would  convey  no  meaning  to  the 
majority  of  readers.  We  have,  therefore,  reached  a  series  of  compromises,  and  in  the  main 
give  the  nearest  English  equivalent.  Of  much  interest  in  this  connection  is  a  curious  exotic 
survival  in  mining  law  to  be  found  in  the  High  Peak  of  Derbyshire.  We  believe  (see  note 
on  p.  85)  that  the  law  of  this  district  was  of  Saxon  importation,  for  in  it  are  not  only 
many  terms  of  German  origin,  but  the  character  of  the  law  is  foreign  to  the  older 
English  districts  and  shows  its  near  kinship  to  that  of  Saxony.  It  is  therefore  of  interest 
in  connection  with  the  nomenclature  to  be  adopted  in  this  book,  as  it  furnishes  about  the 
only  English  precedents  in  many  cases.  The  head  of  the  administration  in  the  Peak  was  the 
Steward,  who  was  the  chief  judicial  officer,  with  functions  somewhat  similar  to  the 
Berghauptmann.  However,  the  term  Steward  has  come  to  have  so  much  less  significance 
that  we  have  adopted  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Latin.  Under  the  Steward  was  the  Barmaster, 
Barghmaster,  or  Barmar,  as  he  was  variously  called,  and  his  duties  were  similar  to  those  of 
the  Bergmeister.  The  English  term  would  seem  to  be  a  corruption  of  the  German,  and  as 
the  latter  has  come  to  be  so  well  understood  by  the  English-speaking  mining  class,  we  have 
in  this  case  adopted  the  German.  The  Barmaster  acted  always  by  the  consent  and  with  the 
approval  of  a  jury  of  from  12  to  24  members.  In  this  instance  the  English  had  functions 
much  like  a  modern  jury,  while  the  Geschwornen  of  Saxony  had  much  more  widely  extended 
powers.  The  German  Geschwornen  were  in  the  main  Inspectors  ;  despite  this,  however,  we 
have  not  felt  justified  in  adopting  any  other  than  the  literal  English  for  the  Latin 
and  German  terms.  We  have  vacillated  a  great  deal  over  the  term  Praefecius  Fodinae,  the 
German  Steiger  having,  like  the  Cornish  "  Captain,"  in  these  days  degenerated  into  a  foreman, 
whereas  the  duties  as  described  were  not  only  those  of  the  modern  Superintendent  or 
Manager,  but  also  those  of  Treasurer  of  the  Company,  for  he  made  the  calls  on  shares 
and  paid  the  dividends.  The  term  Purser  has  been  used  for  centuries  in  English  mining  for 
the  Accountant  or  Cashier,  but  his  functions  were  limited  to  paying  dividends,  wages,  etc., 
therefore  we  have  considered  it  better  not  to  adopt  the  latter  term,  and  have  compromised 
upon  the  term  Superintendent  or  Manager,  although  it  has  a  distinctly  modern  flavor.  The 
word  for  area  has  also  caused  much  hesitation,  and  the  "  meer  "  has  finally  been  adopted 
with  some  doubt.  The  title  described  by  Agricola  has  a  very  close  equivalent  in  the  meer 
of  old  Derbyshire.  As  will  be  seen  later,  the  mines  of  Saxony  were  Regal  property,  and 
were  held  subject  to  two  essential  conditions,  i.e.,  payment  of  a  tithe,  and  continuous 
operation.  This  form  of  title  thus  approximates  more  closely  to  the  "  lease  "  of  Australia 
than  to  the  old  Cornish  sell,  or  the  American  claim.  The  fundgrube  of  Saxony  and  Agricola's 
equivalent,  the  area  capitis — head  lease — we  have  rendered  literally  as  "  head  meer," 
although  in  some  ways  "  founders'  meer  "  might  be  better,  for,  in  Derbyshire,  this  was  called 
the  "  finder's  "  or  founder's  meer,  and  was  awarded  under  similar  circumstances.  It  has 
also  an  analogy  in  Australian  law  in  the  "  reward  "  leases.  The  term  "  measure  "  has  the 
merit  of  being  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Latin,  and  also  of  being  the  identical  term  in  the  same 

8 


BOOK    IV. 


for  among  the  Greeks,  who  called  it  an  6pVvta,  it  was  six  feet,  among  the 
Romans  five  feet.  So  this  measure  which  is  used  by  miners  seems  to 
have  come  down  to  the  Germans  in  accordance  with  the  Greek  mode  of 
reckoning.  A  miner's  foot  approaches  very  nearly  to  the  length  of  a  Greek 
foot,  for  it  exceeds  it  by  only  three-quarters  of  a  Greek  digit,  but  like  that 
of  the  Romans  it  is  divided  into  twelve  unciae2. 

Now  square  fathoms  are  reckoned  in  units  of  one,  two,  three,  or  more 
''  measures",  and  a  "measure"  is  seven  fathoms  each  way.  Mining 
meers  are  for  the  most  part  either  square  or  elongated  ;  in  square  meers  all  the 
sides  are  of  equal  length,  therefore  the  numbers  of  fathoms  on  the  two  sides 
multiplied  together  produce  the  total  in  square  fathoms.  Thus,  if  the 
shape  of  a  "measure1"  is  seven  fathoms  on  every  side,  this  number  multi- 
plied by  itself  makes  forty-nine  square  fathoms. 

The  sides  of  a  long  meer  are  of  equal  length,  and  similarly  its  ends  are 
equal ;  therefore,  if  the  number  of  fathoms  in  one  of  the  long  sides  be  multi- 
plied by  the  number  of  fathoms  in  one  of  the  ends,  the  total  produced  by  the 

use  in  the  High  Peak.  The  following  table  of  the  principal  terms  gives  the  originals  of  the 
Latin  text,  their  German  equivalents  according  in  the  Glossary  and  other  sources,  and  those 
adopted  in  the  translation  : — 

GERMAN  GLOSSARY. 


AGRICOLA. 
Praefectus  Metallorum 
Magister  Metallicorum 
Scriba  Magister  Metallicorum 
Jurati 

Publicus  Signator 
Decumanus 
Distributor 
Scriba  partium 
Scriba  fodinarum    . . 

Praefectus  fodinae 
Praefectus  cuniculi 

Praeses  fodinae 

Praeses  cuniculi 

Fossores    . . 

Ingestores 

Vectarii    . . 

Discretores 

Lotores 

Excoctores 

Pur  gator  Ar genii     . . 

Magister  Monetariorum 

Monetarius 

Area  fodinarum 

Area  Capitis  Fodinarum 

Demensum 


' 


Bergamptmann 

Bergmeister 

Bergmeister' s  schreiber . 

Geschwornen 

Gemeiner  sigler 

Zehender 

Aussteiler 

Gegenschreiber 

Bergschreiber 

Steiger 


I  Schichtmeister 


Berghauer 

Berganschlagen 

Hespeler 

Ertzpucher     . . 

Wescher  und  seiffner 

Schmeltzer 

Silber  brenner 

Miintzmeister 

Miintzer 

Masse 


TERM  ADOPTED. 
Mining  Prefect. 
Bergmeister 
Bergmeister's  clerk. 
Jurates  or  Jurors. 
Notary. 
Tithe  gatherer. 
Cashier. 
Share  clerk. 
Mining  clerk. 

Manager  of  the  Mine. 
Manager  of  the  Tunnel. 

Foreman  of  the  Mine. 

Foreman  of  the  Tunnel. 

Miners  or  diggers. 

Shovellers. 

Lever  workers  (windlass  men). 

Sorters. 

Washers,  buddlers,  sifters,  etc. 

Smelters. 

Silver  refiner. 

Master  of  the  Mint. 

Coiner. 

Meer. 

Head  meer. 

Measure. 


Fundgrube 
.     Lehen 

2The  following  are  the  equivalents  of  the  measures  mentioned  in   this   book.     It   is 
not  always  certain  which  "  foot "  or  "  fathom  "  Agricola  actually  had  in  mind   although 
they  were  probably  the  German. 
GREEK — 

Dactylos  •• 
ROMAN 

Uncia       •• 
GERMAN — 

Zoll 
ENGLISH — 


.76  inches  16    =  Pous 


12.13  inches  6   =  Orguia 


•97 
=     -93 


12 


Pes 


u.6 


12    =  Werckschuh   =  11.24 


Passus 
Lachter  = 


72.81  inches. 
58.1 


Inch 


i.o 


12    =  Foot 


12.00 


Fathom  =72.0 


The  discrepancies  are  due  to  variations  in  authorities  and  to  decimals  dropped.  The 
werckschuh  taken  is  the  Chemnitz  foot  deduced  from  Agricola's  statement  in  his  De  Mensuris 
et  Ponderibus,  Basel,  1533,  p.  29.  For  further  notes  see  Appendix  C. 


BOOK     IV. 
VII 


79 


XLIX 


VII 

SHAPE  OF  A  SQUARE  MEER. 

multiplication  is  the  total  number  of  square  fathoms  in  the  long  meer.  For 
example,  the  double  measure  is  fourteen  fathoms  long  and  seven  broad, 
which  two  numbers  multiplied  together  make  ninety-eight  square  fathoms. 

XI111 


XCVIIl 


XIJJ1 

SHAPE  OF  A  LONG  MEER  OR  DOUBLE  MEASURE. 

Since  meers  vary  in  shape  according  to  the  different  varieties  of  veins 
it  is  necessary  for  me  to  go  more  into  detail  concerning  them  and 
their  measurements.  If  the  vein  is  a  vena  profunda,  the  head  meer  is 
composed  of  three  double  measures,  therefore  it  is  forty-two  fathoms  in 
length  and  seven  in  width,  which  numbers  multiplied  together  give  two 
hundred  and  ninety-four  square  fathoms,  and  by  these  limits  the  Bergmeister 
bounds  the  owner's  rights  in  a  head-meer. 


XL11 


CCXC11I1 


XLII 

SHAPE  OF  A  HEAD  MEER. 

The  area  of  every  other  meer  consists  of  two  double  measures,  on  which- 
ever side  of  the  head  meer  it  lies,  or  whatever  its  number  in  order  may  be, 
that  is  to  say,  whether  next  to  the  head  meer,  or  second,  third,  or  any  later 
number.  Therefore,  it  is  twenty-eight  fathoms  long  and  seven  wide,  so 
multiplying  the  length  by  the  width  we  get  one  hundred  and  ninety-six 
square  fathoms,  which  is  the  extent  of  the  meer,  and  by  these  boundaries 
the  Bergmeister  defines  the  right  of  the  owner  or  company  over  each  mine. 


8o 


BOOK     IV. 
XXV111 


CXCV1 


xxvin 

SHAPE  OF  A  MEER. 

Now  we  call  that  part  of  the  vein  which  is  first  discovered  and  mined, 
the  head-meer,  because  all  the  other  meers  run  from  it,  just  as  the  nerves 
from  the  head.  The  Bergmeister  begins  his  measurements  from  it,  and  the 
reason  why  he  apportions  a  larger  area  to  the  head-meer  than  to  the  others,  is 
that  he  may  give  a  suitable  reward  to  the  one  who  first  found  the  vein 
and  may  encourage  others  to  search  for  veins.  Since  meers  often  reach 
to  a  torrent,  or  river,  or  stream,  if  the  last  meet  cannot  be  completed 
it  is  called  a  fraction3.  If  it  is  the  size  of  a  double  measure,  the  Bergmeister 
grants  the  right  of  mining  it  to  him  who  makes  the  first  application,  but  if 
it  is  the  size  of  a  single  measure  or  a  little  over,  he  divides  it  between  the 
nearest  meers  on  either  side  of  it.  It  is  the  custom  among  miners  that 
the  first  meer  beyond  a  stream  on  that  part  of  the  vein  on  the  opposite 
side  is  a  new  head-meer,  and  they  call  it  the  "  opposite,"4  while  the 
other  meers  beyond  are  only  ordinary  meers.  Formerly  every  head-meer 
was  composed  of  three  double  measures  and  one  single  one,  that  is,  it  was 
forty-nine  fathoms  long  and  seven  wide,  and  so  if  we  multiply  these  two 
together  we  have  three  hundred  and  forty-three  square  fathoms,  which 
total  gives  us  the  area  of  an  ancient  head-meer. 

XL1X 


CCCXLIII 


XLIX 
SHAPE  OF  AN  ANCIENT  HEAD-MEER. 

Every  ancient  meer  was  formed  of  a  single  measure,  that  is  to  say,  it 
was  seven  fathoms  in  length  and  width,  and  was  therefore  square.  In 
memory  of  which  miners  even  now  call  the  width  of  every  meer  which  is 
located  on  a  vena  profunda  a  "  square  "5.  The  following  was  formerly  the 

3Subcisivum — "  Remainder."  German  Glossary,  Ueberschar.  The  term  used  in  Mendip 
and  Derbyshire  was  primgap  or  primegap.  It  did  not,  however,  in  this  case  belong  to  adjacent 
mines,  but  to.  the  landlord. 

*Adversum.  Glossary,  gegendrumb.  The  Bergwerk  Lexicon,  Chemnitz,  1743,  gives 
gegendrom  or  gegentramm,  and  defines  it  as  the  masse  or  lease  next  beyond  a  stream. 

6Quadratum.  Glossary,  vierung.  The  vierung  in  old  Saxon  title  meant  a  definite 
zone  on  either  side  of  the  vein,  3!  lachter  (lachter  =  sft.  7.5  inches)  into  the  hanging-wall 
and  the  same  into  the  footwall,  the  length  of  one  vierung  being  7  lachter  along  the  strike.  It 


BOOK     IV.  81 

usual  method  of  delimiting  a  vein  :  as  soon  as  the  miner  found  metal,  he 
gave  information  to  the  Bergmeister  and  the  tithe-gatherer,  who  either 
proceeded  personally  from  the  town  to  the  mountains,  or  sent  thither  men 
of  good  repute,  at  least  two  in  number,  to  inspect  the  metal-bearing  vein. 
Thereupon,  if  they  thought  it  of  sufficient  importance  to  survey,  the  Bergmeister 
again  having  gone  forth  on  an  appointed  day,  thus  questioned  him  who  first 
found  the  vein,  concerning  the  vein  and  the  diggings  :  '  Which  is  your 
vein  ?  "  "  Which  digging  carried  metal  ?  "  Then  the  discoverer,  pointing 
his  finger  to  his  vein  and  diggings,  indicated  them,  and  next  the  Bergmeister 
ordered  him  to  approach  the  windlass  and  place  two  fingers  of  his  right  hand 
upon  his  head,  and  swear  this  oath  in  a  clear  voice  :  "I  swear  by  God  and 
all  the  Saints,  and  I  call  them  all  to  witness,  that  this  is  my  vein  ;  and  more- 
over if  it  is  not  mine,  may  neither  this  my  head  nor  these  my  hands  henceforth 
perform  their  functions."  Then  the  Bergmeister,  having  started  from  the 
centre  of  the  windlass,  proceeded  to  measure  the  vein  with  a  cord,  and  to 
give  the  measured  portion  to  the  discoverer, — in  the  first  instance  a  half  and 
then  three  full  measures  ;  afterward  one  to  the  King  or  Prince,  another  to 
his  Consort,  a  third  to  the  Master  of  the  Horse,  a  fourth  to  the  Cup-bearer, 
a  fifth  to  the  Groom  of  the  Chamber,  a  sixth  to  himself.  Then,  starting 
from  the  other  side  of  the  windlass,  he  proceeded  to  measure  the  vein  in  a 
similar  manner.  Thus  the  discoverer  of  the  vein  obtained  the  head-meer, 
that  is,  seven  single  measures  ;  but  the  King  or  Ruler,  his  Consort,  the  leading 
dignitaries,  and  lastly,  the  Bergmeister,  obtained  two  measures  each,  or  two 
ancient  meers.  This  is  the  reason  there  are  to  be  found  at  Freiberg  in  Meissen 
so  many  shafts  with  so  many  intercommunications  on  a  single  vein — which  are 
to  a  great  extent  destroyed  by  age.  If,  however,  the  Bergmeister  had  already 
fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  meers  on  one  side  of  the  shaft  for  the  benefit  of 
some  other  discoverer,  then  for  those  dignitaries  I  have  just  mentioned, 
as  many  meers  as  he  was  unable  to  award  on  that  side  he  duplicated 
on  the  other.  But  if  on  both  sides  of  the  shaft  he  had  already  defined  the 
boundaries  of  meers,  he  proceeded  to  measure  out  only  that  part  of  the 
vein  which  remained  free,  and  thus  it  sometimes  happened  that  some  of 
those  persons  I  have  mentioned  obtained  no  meer  at  all.  To-day,  though 
that  old-established  custom  is  observed,  the  method  of  allotting  the  vein 
and  granting  title  has  been  changed.  As  I  have  explained  above,  the  head- 
meer  consists  of  three  double  measures,  and  each  other  meer  of  two 
measures,  and  the  Bergmeister  grants  one  each  of  the  meers  to  him  who 
makes  the  first  application.  The  King  or  Prince,  since  all  metal  is  taxed,  is 
himself  content  with  that,  which  is  usually  one-tenth. 

Of  the  width  of  every  meer,  whether  old  or  new,  one-half  lies  on  the 
footwall  side  of  a  vena  pwfunda  and  one  half  on  the  hangingwall  side.  If 
the  vein  descends  vertically  into  the  earth,  the  boundaries  similarly  descend 

must  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  form  of  rights  here  referred  to  entitled  the  miner  to  follow 
his  vein,  carrying  the  side  line  with  him  in  depth  the  same  distance  from  the  vein,  in  much 
the  same  way  as  with  the  Apex  Law  of  the  United  States.  From  this  definition  as  given  in  the 
Bergwerk  Lexicon,  p.  585,  it  would  appear  that  the  vein  itself  was  not  included  in  the  measure- 
ments, but  that  they  started  from  the  walls. 


82  BOOK    IV. 

vertically  ;  but  if  the  vein  inclines,  the  boundaries  likewise  will  be  inclined. 
The  owner  always  holds  the  mining  right  for  the  width  of  the  meer,  however 
far  the  vein  descends  into  the  depth  of  the  earth.6  Further,  the  Bergmeister, 
on  application  being  made  to  him,  grants  to  one  owner  or  company  a  right 

8HisxoRicAL  NOTE  ON  THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  MINING  LAW. — There  is  no  branch  of  the 
law  of  property,  of  which  the  development  is  more  interesting  and  illuminating  from  a  social 
point  of  view  than  that  relating  to  minerals.  Unlike  the  land,  the  minerals  have  ever  been 
regarded  as  a  sort  of  fortuitous  property,  for  the  title  of  which  there  have  been  four  principal 
claimants — that  is,  the  Overlord,  as  represented  by  the  King,  Prince,  Bishop,  or  what  not ; 
the  Community  or  the  State,  as  distinguished  from  the  Ruler  ;  the  Landowner  ;  and  the 
Mine  Operator,  to  which  class  belongs  the  Discoverer.  The  one  of  these  that  possessed  the 
dominant  right  reflects  vividly  the  social  state  and  sentiment  of  the  period.  The  Divine 
Right  of  Kings  ;  the  measure  of  freedom  of  their  subjects  ;  the  tyranny  of  the  land-owning 
class  ;  the  rights  of  the  Community  as  opposed  to  its  individual  members  ;  the  rise  of  indivi- 
dualism ;  and  finally,  the  modern  return  to  more  communal  view,  have  all  been  reflected 
promptly  in  the  mineral  title.  Of  these  parties  the  claims  of  the  Overlord  have  been  limited 
only  by  the  resistance  of  his  subjects  ;  those  of  the  State  limited  by  the  landlord  ;  those  of 
the  landlord  by  the  Sovereign  or  by  the  State  ;  while  the  miner,  ever  in  a  minority  in  in- 
fluence as  well  as  in  numbers,  has  been  buffeted  from  pillar  to  post,  his  only  protection 
being  the  fact  that  all  other  parties  depended  upon  his  exertion  and  skill. 

The  conception  as  to  which  of  these  classes  had  a  right  in  the  title  have  been  by  no 
means  the  same  in  different  places  at  the  same  time,  and  in  all  it  varies  with  different  periods  ; 
but  the  whole  range  of  legislation  indicates  the  encroachment  of  one  factor  in  the  community 
over  another,  so  that  their  relative  rights  have  been  the  cause  of  never-ending  contention, 
ever  since  a  record  of  civil  and  economic  contentions  began.  In  modern  times,  practically 
over  the  whole  world,  the  State  has  in  effect  taken  the  rights  from  the  Overlord,  but  his  claims 
did  not  cease  until  his  claims  over  the  bodies  of  his  subjects  also  ceased.  However,  he  still 
remains  in  many  places  with  his  picture  on  the  coinage.  The  Landlord  has  passed  through 
many  vicissitudes  ;  his  complete  right  to  minerals  was  practically  never  admitted  until  the 
doctrine  of  laissez-faire  had  become  a  matter  of  faith,  and  this  just  in  time  to  vest  him  with 
most  of  the  coal  and  iron  deposits  in  the  world  ;  this,  no  doubt,  being  also  partially  due  to  the 
little  regard  in  which  such  deposits  were  generally  held  at  that  time,  and  therefore  to  the 
little  opposition  to  his  ever-ready  pretentions.  Their  numbers,  however,  and  their  prominence 
in  the  support  of  the  political  powers  de  jure  have  usually  obtained  them  some  recognition. 
In  the  rise  of  individualism,  the  apogee  of  the  laissez-faire  fetish  came  about  the  time  of  the 
foundation  of  the  United  States,  and  hence  the  relaxation  in  the  claims  of  the  State  in  that 
country  and  the  corresponding  position  attained  by  the  landlord  and  miner.  The  discoverer 
and  the  operator — that  is,  the  miner  himself — has,  however,  had  to  be  reckoned  with  By  all 
three  of  the  other  claimants,  because  they  have  almost  universally  sought  to  escape  the  risks  of 
mining,  to  obtain  the  most  skilful  operation,  and  to  stimulate  the  productivity  of  the  mines  ; 
thereupon  the  miner  has  secured  at  least  partial  consideration.  This  stands  out  in  all  times 
and  all  places,  and  while  the  miner  has  had  to  take  the  risks  of  his  fortuitous  calling,  the  Over- 
lord, State,  or  Landlord  have  all  made  for  complacent  safety  by  demanding  some  kind  of  a 
tithe  on  his  exertions.  Moreover,  there  has  often  been  a  low  cunning  displayed  by  these  powers 
in  giving  something  extra  to  the  first  discoverer.  In  these  relations  of  the  powers  to  the  mine 
operator,  from  the  very  first  we  find  definite  records  of  the  imposition  of  certain  conditions  with 
extraordinary  persistence — so  fixed  a  notion  that  even  the  United  States  did  not  quite  escape  it. 
This  condition  was,  no  doubt,  designed  as  a  stimulus  to  productive  activity,  and  was  the 
requirement  that  the  miner  should  continuously  employ  himself  digging  in  the  piece  of  ground 
allotted  to  him.  The  Greeks,  Romans,  Mediaeval  Germans,  old  and  modern  Englishmen, 
modern  Australians,  all  require  the  miner  to  keep  continuously  labouring  at  his  mines,  or  lose 
his  title.  The  American,  as  his  inauguration  of  government  happened  when  things  were  easier 
for  individuals,  allows  him  a  vacation  of  n  months  in  the  year  for  a  few  years,  and  finally  a 
holiday  altogether.  There  are  other  points  where  the  Overlord,  the  State,  or  the  Landlord 
have  always  considered  that  they  had  a  right  to  interfere,  principally  as  to  the  way  the  miner 
does  his  work,  lest  he  should  miss,  or  cause  to  be  missed,  some  of  the  mineral ;  so  he  has  usually 
been  under  pains  and  penalties  as  to  his  methods — these  quite  apart  from  the  very  proper 
protection  to  human  life,  which  is  purely  a  modern  invention,  largely  of  the  miner  himself. 
Somebody  has  had  to  keep  peace  and  settle  disputes  among  the  usually  turbulent  miners 
(for  what  other  sort  of  operators  would  undertake  the  hazards  and  handicaps  ?),  and  therefore 
special  officials  and  codes,  or  Courts,  for  his  benefit  are  of  the  oldest  and  most  persistent  of 
institutions. 

Between  the  Overlord  and  the  Landowner  the  fundamental  conflict  of  view  as  to  their 
respective  rights  has  found  its  interpretation  in  the  form  of  the  mineral  title.  The  Overlord 
claimed  the  metals  as  distinguished  from  the  land,  while  the  landowner  claimed  all  beneath  his 


BOOK     IV.  83 

over  not  only  the  head  meer,  or  another  meer,  but  also  the  head  meer  and 
the  next  meer  or  two  adjoining  meers.  So  much  for  the  shape  of  meers 
and  their  dimensions  in  the  case  of  a  vena  profunda. 

I  now  come  to  the  case  of  venae  dilatatae.     The  boundaries  of  the  areas 

soil.  Therefore,  we  find  two  forms  of  title — that  in  which  the  miner  could  follow  the  ore 
regardless  of  the  surface  (the  "  apex  "  conception),  and  that  in  which  the  boundaries  were 
vertical  from  the  land  surface.  Lest  the  Americans  think  that  the  Apex  Law  was  a 
sin  original  to  themselves,  we  may  mention  that  it  was  made  use  of  in  Europe  a  few  centuries 
before  Agricola,  who  will  be  found  to  set  it  out  with  great  precision. 

From  these  points  of  view,  more  philosophical  than  legal,  we  present  a  few  notes  on 
various  ancient  laws  of  mines,  though  space  forbids  a  discussion  of  a  tithe  of  the  amount  it 
deserves  at  some  experienced  hand. 

Of  the  Ancient  Egyptian,  Lydian,  Assyrian,  Persian,  Indian,  and  Chinese  laws  as  to 
mines  we  have  no  record,  but  they  were  of  great  simplicity,  for  the  bodies  as  well  as  the  property 
of  subjects  were  at  the  abject  disposition  of  the  Overlord.  We  are  informed  on  countless  occasions 
of  Emperors,  Kings,  and  Princes  of  various  degree  among  these  races,  owning  and  operating 
mines  with  convicts,  soldiers,  or  other  slaves,  so  we  may  take  it  for  certain  that  continuous 
labour  was  enforced,  and  that  the  boundaries,  inspection,  and  landlords  did  not  cause  much 
anxiety.  However,  herein  lies  the  root  of  regalian  right. 

Our  first  glimpse  of  a  serious  right  of  the  subject  to  mines  is  among  some  of  the  Greek 
States,  as  could  be  expected  from  their  form  of  government.  With  republican  ideals,  a  rich 
mining  district  at  Mount  Laurion,  an  enterprising  and  contentious  people,  it  would  be  sur- 
prising indeed  if  Athenian  Literature  was  void  on  the  subject.  While  we  know  that  the 
active  operation  of  these  mines  extended  over  some  500  years,  from  700  to  200  B.C.,  the  period 
of  most  literary  reference  was  from  400  to  300  B.C.  Our  information  on  the  subject  is  from  two 
of  Demosthenes'  orations — one  against  Pantaenetus,  the  other  against  Phaenippis — the  first 
mining  lawsuit  in  which  the  address  of  counsel  is  extant.  There  is  also  available  some  infor- 
mation in  Xenophon's  Essay  upon  the  Revenues,  Aristotle's  Constitution  of  Athens, 
Lycurgus'  prosecution  of  Diphilos,  the  Tablets  of  the  Poletae,  and  many  incidental  references 
and  inscriptions  of  minor  order.  The  minerals  were  the  property  of  the  State,  a  conception 
apparently  inherited  from  the  older  civilizations.  Leases  for  exploitation  were  granted  to  indi- 
viduals for  terms  of  three  to  ten  years,  depending  upon  whether  the  mines  had  been  previously 
worked,  thus  a  special  advantage  was  conferred  upon  the  pioneer.  The  leases  did  not  carry 
surface  rights,  but  the  boundaries  at  Mt.  Laurion  were  vertical,  as  necessarily  must  be  the  case 
everywhere  in  horizontal  deposits.  What  they  were  elsewhere  we  do  not  know.  The  land- 
lord apparently  got  nothing.  The  miner  must  continuously  operate  his  mine,  and  was 
required  to  pay  a  large  tribute  to  the  State,  either  in  the  initial  purchase  of  his  lease  or  in 
annual  rent.  There  were  elaborate  regulations  as  to  interference  and  encroachment,  and 
proper  support  of  the  workings.  Diphilos  was  condemned  to  death  and  his  fortune  con- 
fiscated for  robbing  pillars.  The  mines  were  worked  with  slaves. 

The  Romans  were  most  intensive  miners  and  searchers  after  metallic  wealth  already 
mined.  The  latter  was  obviously  the  objective  of  most  Roman  conquest,  and  those  nations 
rich  in  these  commodities,  at  that  time  necessarily  possessed  their  own  mines.  Thus  a  map 
showing  the  extensions  of  Empire  coincides  in  an  extraordinary  manner  with  the  metal  dis- 
tribution of  Europe,  Asia,  and  North  Africa.  Further,  the  great  indentations  into  the 
periphery  of  the  Imperial  map,  though  many  were  rich  from  an  agricultural  point  of  view, 
had  no  lure  to  the  Roman  because  they  had  no  mineral  wealth.  On  the  Roman  law 
of  mines  the  student  is  faced  with  many  perplexities.  With  the  conquest  of  the  older  States, 
the  plunderers  took  over  the  mines  and  worked  them,  either  by  leases  from  the  State  to 
public  companies  or  to  individuals  ;  or  even  in  some  cases  worked  them  directly  by  the  State. 
There  was  thus  maintained  the  concept  of  State  ownership  of  the  minerals  which,  although 
apparently  never  very  specifically  defined,  yet  formed  a  basis  of  support  to  the  contention 
of  regalian  rights  in  Europe  later  on.  Parallel  with  this  system,  mines  were  discovered 
and  worked  by  individuals  under  tithe  to  the  State,  and  in  Pliny  (xxxiv,  49)  there  is  refer- 
ence to  the  miners  in  Britain  limiting  their  own  output.  Individual  mining  appears 
to  have  increased  with  any  relaxation  of  central  authority,  as  for  instance  under 
Augustus.  It  appears,  as  a  rule,  that  the  mines  were  held  on  terminable  leases, 
and  that  the  State  did  at  times  resume  them ;  the  labour  was  mostly  slaves. 
As  to  the  detailed  conditions  under  which  the  mine  operator  held  his  title,  we  know 
less  than  of  the  Greeks — in  fact,  practically  nothing  other  than  that  he  paid  a  tithe.  The 
Romans  maintained  in  each  mining  district  an  official — the  Procurator  Metallorum—who 
not  only  had  general  charge  of  the  leasing  of  the  mines  on  behalf  of  the  State,  but  was  usually 
the  magistrate  of  the  district.  A  bronze  tablet  found  near  Aljustrel,  in  Portugal,  in  1876, 
generally  known  as  the  Aljustrel  Tablet,  appears  to  be  the  third  of  a  series  setting  out  the 
regulations  of  the  mining  district.  It  refers  mostly  to  the  regulation  of  public  auctions, 
the  baths,  barbers,  and  tradesmen  ;  but  one  clause  (vn.)  is  devoted  to  the  regulation  of  those 


84  BOOK     IV. 

on  such  veins  are  not  all  measured  by  one  method.  For  in  some  places  the 
Bergmeister  gives  them  shapes  similar  to  the  shapes  of  the  meers  on  venae 
profundae,  in  which  case  the  head-meer  is  composed  of  three  double 
measures,  and  the  area  of  every  other  mine  of  two  measures,  as  I  have 

who  work  dumps  of  scoria,  etc.,  and  provides  for  payment  to  the  administrator  of  the  mines 
of  a  capitation  on  the  slaves  employed.  It  does  not,  however,  so  far  as  we  can  determine, 
throw  any  light  upon  the  actual  regulations  for  working  the  mines.  (Those  interested  will 
find  ample  detail  in  Jacques  Flach,  "  La  Table  de  Bronze  d'Aljustrel :  Nouvelle  Revue  Histori- 
que  de  Droit  Francais  et  Etranger,  1878,  p.  655  ;  Estacio  da  Veiga,  Memorias  da  A  cad.  Real 
das  Ciencias  de  Lisbon,  Nova  Serie,  Tome  V,  Part  II,  Lisbon,  1882.)  Despite  the  systematic 
law  of  property  evolved  by  the  Romans,  the  codes  contain  but  small  reference  to  mines,  and  this 
in  itself  is  indirect  evidence  of  the  concept  that  they  were  the  property  of  the  State.  Any 
general  freedom  of  the  metals  would  have  given  rise  to  a  more  extensive  body  of  law.  There 
are,  of  course,  the  well-known  sections  in  the  Justinian  and  Theodosian  Codes,  but  the  former 
in  the  main  bears  on  the  collection  of  the  tithe  and  the  stimulation  of  mining  by  ordering 
migrant  miners  to  return  to  their  own  hearths.  There  is  also  some  intangible  prohibition 
of  mining  near  edifices.  There  is  in  the  Theodosian  code  evident  extension  of  individual 
right  to  mine  or  quarry,  and  this  "  freeing  "  of  the  mines  was  later  considerably  extended. 
The  Empire  was,  however,  then  on  the  decline  ;  and  no  doubt  it  was  hoped  to  stimulate  the 
taxable  commodities.  There  is  nothing  very  tangible  as  to  the  position  of  the  landlord  with 
regard  to  minerals  found  on  his  property  ;  the  metals  were  probably  of  insufficient  frequency 
on  the  land  of  Italian  landlords  to  matter  much,  and  the  attitude  toward  subject  races  was 
not  usually  such  as  to  require  an  extensive  body  of  law. 

In  the  chaos  of  the  Middle  Ages,  Europe  was  governed  by  hundreds  of  potentates, 
great  and  small,  who  were  unanimous  on  one  point,  and  this  that  the  minerals  were  their 
property.  In  the  bickerings  among  themselves,  the  stronger  did  not  hesitate  to  interpret 
the  Roman  la  A-  in  affirming  regalian  rights  as  an  excuse  to  dispossess  the  weaker.  The  rights 
to  the  mines  form  no  small  part  of  the  differences  between  these  Potentates  and  the  more 
important  of  their  subjects  ;  and  with  the  gradual  accretion  of  power  into  a  few  hands,  we  find 
only  the  most  powerful  of  vassals  able  to  resist  such  encroachment.  However,  as  to  what 
position  the  landlord  or  miner  held  in  these  rights,  we  have  little  indication  until  about  the 
beginning  of  the  I3th  century,  after  which  there  appear  several  well-known  charters,  which 
as  time  went  on  were  elaborated  into  practical  codes  of  mining  law.  The  earliest  of  these 
charters  are  those  of  the  Bishop  of  Trent,  1185  ;  that  of  the  Harz  Miners,  1219  ;  of  the  town 
of  Iglau  in  1249.  Many  such  in  connection  with  other  districts  appear  throughout  the  isth, 
I4th,  and  I5th  centuries.  (References  to  the  most  important  of  such  charters  may  be  found 
in  Sternberg,  Umri^se  der  Geschichte  des  Bergbaues,  Prague,  1838  ;  Eisenhart,  De  Regali 
Metalli  Fodinarium,  Helmestadt,  1681  ;  Gmelin,  Beytrage  zur  Geschichte  des  Teutschen 
Bergbaus,  Halle,  1783  ;  Inama-Strenegg,  Deutsche  Wirthschaftsgeschichte,  Leipzig,  1879- 
1901  ;  Transactions,  Royal  Geol.  Soc.  Cornwall  vi,  155  ;  Lewis,  The  Stannaries,  New 
York  1908.)  By  this  time  a  number  of  mining  communities  had  grown  up,  and  the  charters 
in  the  main  are  a  confirmation  to  them  of  certain  privileges  ;  they  contain,  nevertheless,  rigor- 
ous reservation  of  the  regalian  right.  The  landlord,  where  present,  was  usually  granted  some 
interest  in  the  mine,  but  had  to  yield  to  the  miner  free  entry.  The  miner  was  simply  a 
sort  of  tributer  to  the  Crown,  loaded  with  an  obligation  when  upon  private  lands  to  pay  a 
further  portion  of  his  profits  to  the  landlord.  He  held  tenure  only  during  strenuous  opera- 
tion. However,  it  being  necessary  to  attract  skilled  men,  they  were  granted  many  civil 
privileges  not  general  to  the  people  ;  and  from  many  of  the  principal  mining  towns  "  free 
cities  "  were  created,  possessing  a  measure  of  self-government.  There  appear  in  the  Iglau 
charter  of  1249  the  first  symptoms  of  the  "  apex "  form  of  title,  this  being  the  logical 
development  of  the  conception  that  the  minerals  were  of  quite  distinct  ownership  from 
the  land.  The  law,  as  outlined  by  Agricola,  is  much  the  same  as  set  out  in  the  Iglavian 
Charter  of  three  centuries  before,  and  we  must  believe  that  such  fully  developed  conceptions 
as  that  charter  conveys  were  but  the  confirmation  of  customs  developed  over  generations. 

In  France  the  landlord  managed  to  maintain  a  stronger  position  vis-a-vis  with  the 
Crown,  despite  much  assertion  of  its  rights  ;  and  as  a  result,  while  the  landlord  admitted  the 
right  to  a  tithe  for  the  Crown,  he  maintained  the  actual  possession,  and  the  boundaries  were 
defined  with  the  land. 

In  England  the  law  varied  with  special  mining  communities,  such  as  Cornwall,  Devon, 
the  Forest  of  Dean,  the  Forest  of  Mendip,  Alston  Moor,  and  the  High  Peak,  and  they  exhibit 
a  curious  complex  of  individual  growth,  of  profound  interest  to  the  student  of  the  growth 
of  institutions.  These  communities  were  of  very  ancient  origin,  some  of  them  at  least  pre- 
Roman  ;  but  we  are,  except  for  the  reference  in  Pliny,  practically  without  any  idea  of  their 
legal  doings  until  after  the  Norman  occupation  (1066  A.D.).  The  genius  of  these  conquerors 
for  systematic  government  soon  led  them  to  inquire  into  the  doings  of  these  communities, 
and  while  gradually  systematising  their  customs  into  law,  they  lost  no  occasion  to  assert  the 


BOOK     IV.  85 

explained  more  fully  above.  In  this  case,  however,  he  measures  the  meers 
with  a  cord,  not  only  forward  and  backward  from  the  ends  of  the  head- 
meer,  as  he  is  wont  to  do  in  the  case  where  the  owner  of  a  vena  profunda  has 
a  meer  granted  him,  but  also  from  the  sides.  In  this  way  meers  are  marked 

regalian  right  to  the  minerals.  In  the  two  centuries  subsequent  to  their  advent  there  are 
on  record  numerous  inquisitions,  with  the  recognition  and  confirmation  of  "  the  customs 
and  liberties  which  had  existed  from  time  immemorial,"  always  with  the  reservation  to  the 
Crown  of  some  sort  of  royalty.  Except  for  the  High  Peak  in  Derbyshire,  the  period  and 
origin  of  these  "  customs  and  liberties  "  are  beyond  finding  out,  as  there  is  practically  no 
record  of  English  History  between  the  Roman  withdrawal  and  the  Norman  occupation. 
There  may  have  been  "liberties  "  under  the  Romans,  but  there  is  not  a  shred  of  evidence 
on  the  subject,  and  our  own  belief  is  that  the  forms  of  self-government  which  sprang  up  were 
the  result  of  the  Roman  evacuation.  The  miner  had  little  to  complain  of  in  the  Norman 
treatment  in  these  matters  ;  but  between  the  Crown  and  the  landlord  as  represented  by  the 
Barons,  Lords  of  the  Manor,  etc.,  there  were  wide  differences  of  opinion  on  the  regalian  rights, 
for  in  the  extreme  interpretation  of  the  Crown  it  tended  greatly  to  curtail  the  landlord's 
position  in  the  matter,  and  the  success  of  the  Crown  on  this  subject  was  by  no  means  universal. 
In  fact,  a  considerable  portion  of  English  legal  history  of  mines  is  but  the  outcropping  of 
this  conflict,  and  one  of  the  concessions  wrung  from  King  John  at  Runnymede  in  1215  was 
his  abandonment  of  a  portion  of  such  claims. 

The  mining  communities  of  Cornwall  and  Devon  were  early  in  the  I3th  century 
definitely  chartered  into  corporations — "  The  Stannaries  " — possessing  definite  legislative 
and  executive  functions,  judicial  powers,  and  practical  self-government ;  but  they  were 
required  to  make  payment  of  the  tithe  in  the  shape  of  "  coinage  "  on  the  tin.  Such  recog- 
nition, while  but  a  ratification  of  prior  custom,  was  not  obtained  without  struggle,  for  the 
Norman  Kings  early  asserted  wide  rights  over  the  mines.  Tangible  record  of  mining  in 
these  parts,  from  a  legal  point  of  view,  practically  begins  with  a  report  by  William  de  Wrotham 
in  1198  upon  his  arrangements  regarding  the  coinage.  A  charter  of  King  John  in  1201,  while 
granting  free  right  of  entry  to  the  miners,  thus  usurped  the  rights  of  the  landlords — a  claim 
which  he  was  compelled  by  the  Barons  to  moderate  ;  the  Crown,  as  above  mentioned  did 
maintain  its  right  to  a  royalty,  but  the  landlord  held  the  minerals.  It  is  not,  however,  until 
the  time  of  Richard  Carew's  "  Survey  of  Cornwall  "  (London,  1602)  that  we  obtain  much 
insight  into  details  of  miners'  title,  and  the  customs  there  set  out  were  maintained  in  broad 
principle  down  to  the  igth  century.  At  Carew's  time  the  miner  was  allowed  to  prospect  freely 
upon  "  Common  "  or  wastrel  lands  (since  mostly  usurped  by  landlords),  and  upon  mineral 
discovery  marked  his  boundaries,  within  which  he  was  entitled  to  the  vertical  contents. 
Even  upon  such  lands,  however,  he  must  acknowledge  the  right  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  to  a 
participation  in  the  mine.  Upon  "  enclosed  "  lands  he  had  no  right  of  entry  without  the 
consent  of  the  landlord  ;  in  fact,  the  minerals  belonged  to  the  land  as  they  do  to-day  except 
where  voluntarily  relinquished.  In  either  case  he  was  compelled  to  "  renew  his  bounds  " 
once  a  year,  and  to  operate  more  or  less  continuously  to  maintain  the  right  once  obtained. 
There  thus  existed  a  "  labour  condition  "  of  variable  character,  usually  imposed  more  or  less 
vigorously  in  the  bargains  with  landlords.  The  regulations  in  Devonshire  differed  in  the 
important  particular  that  the  miner  had  right  of  entry  to  private  lands,  although  he  was  not 
relieved  of  the  necessity  to  give  a  participation  of  some  sort  to  the  landlord.  The  Forests  of 
Dean,  Mendip,  and  other  old  mining  communities  possessed  a  measure  of  self-government, 
which  do  not  display  any  features  in  their  law  fundamentally  different  from  those  of  Cornwall 
and  Devon.  The  High  Peak  lead  mines  of  Derbyshire,  however,  exhibit  one  of  the  most  pro- 
foundly interesting  of  these  mining  communities.  As  well  as  having  distinctively  Saxon  names 
for  some  of  the  mines,  the  customs  there  are  of  undoubted  Saxon  origin,  and  as  such  their 
ratification  by  the  Normans  caused  the  survival  of  one  of  the  few  Saxon  institutions  in 
England — a  fact  which,  we  believe,  has  been  hitherto  overlooked  by  historians.  Beginning 
with  inquisitions  by  Edward  I.  in  1288,  there  is  in  the  Record  Office  a  wealth  of  information, 
the  bare  titles  of  which  form  too  extensive  a  list  to  set  out  here.  (Of  published  works,  the 
most  important  are  Edward  Manlove's  "  The  Liberties  and  Customs  of  the  Lead  Mines  within 
the  Wapentake  of  Wirksworth,"  London,  1653,  generally  referred  to  as  the  "  Rhymed 
Chronicle  "  ;  Thomas  Houghton,  "  Rara  Avis  in  Terra,"  London,  1687  ;  William  Hardy, 
"  The  Miner's  Guide,"  Sheffield,  1748  ;  Thomas  Tapping,  "  High  Peak  Mineral  Customs," 
London,  1851.)  The  miners  in  this  district  were  presided  over  by  a  "  Barmaster,"  "  Bargh- 
master,"  or  "  Barmar,"  as  he  was  variously  spelled,  all  being  a  corruption  of  the  German 
Bergmeister,  with  precisely  the  same  functions  as  to  the  allotment  of  title,  settlement  of 
disputes,  etc.,  as  his  Saxon  progenitor  had,  and,  like  him,  he  was  advised  by  a  jury.  The 
miners  had  entry  to  all  lands  except  churchyards  (this  regulation  waived  upon  death),  and  a 
few  similar  exceptions,  and  was  subject  to  royalty  to  the  Crown  and  the  landlord.  The  dis- 
coverer was  entitled  to  a  finder's  "  meer  "  of  extra  size,  and  his  title  was  to  the  vein  within 
the  end  lines,  i.e.,  the  "  apex  "  law.  This  title  was  held  subject  to  rigorous  labour  con- 


86 


BOOK     IV. 


out  when  a  torrent  or  some  other  force  of  Nature  has  laid  open  a  vena 
dilatata  in  a  valley,  so  that  it  appears  either  on  the  slope  of  a  mountain 
or  hill  or  on  a  plain.  Elsewhere  the  Bergmeister  doubles  the  width  of  the 
head-meer  and  it  is  made  fourteen  fathoms  wide,  while  the  width  of  each  of 
the  other  meers  remains  single,  that  is  seven  fathoms,  but  the  length  is  not 
denned  by  boundaries.  In  some  places  the  head-meer  consists  of  three 
double  measures,  but  has  a  width  of  fourteen  fathoms  and  a  length  of 
twenty-one. 

XXI 


X 


XXI 
SHAPE  OF  A  HEAD-MEER. 

In  the  same  way,  every  other  meer  is  composed  of  two  measures, 
doubled  in  the  same  fashion,  so  that  it  is  fourteen  fathoms  in  width  and 
of  the  same  length. 

XIIII 


XIIII 
SHAPE  OF  EVERY  OTHER  MEER. 

ditions,  amounting  to  forfeiture  for  failure  to  operate  the  mine  for  a  period  of  nine  weeks. 
Space  does  not  permit  of  the  elaboration  of  the  details  of  this  subject,  which  we  hope  to 
pursue  elsewhere  in  its  many  historical  bearings.  Among  these  we  may  mention  that  if  the 
American  "Apex  law"  is  of  English  descent,  it  must  be  laid  to  the  door  of  Derbyshire,  and 
not  of  Cornwall,  as  is  generally  done.  Our  own  belief,  however,  is  that  the  American 
"  apex  "  conception  came  straight  from  Germany. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  follow  these  inquiries  into  mining  law  beyond  the  i5th  century, 
but  we  may  point  out  that  with  the  growth  of  the  sentiment  of  individualism  the  miners  and 
landlords  obtained  steadily  wider  and  wider  rights  at  the  cost  of  the  State,  until  well  within 
the  igth  century.  The  growth  of  stronger  communal  sentiment  since  the  middle  of  the  last 
century  has  already  found  its  manifestation  in  the  legislation  with  regard  to  mines,  for  the 
laws  of  South  Africa,  Australia,  and  England,  and  the  agitation  in  the  United  States  are  all 
toward  greater  restrictions  on  the  mineral  ownership  in  favour  of  the  State. 


BOOK     IV.  87 

Elsewhere  every  meer,  whether  a  head-meer  or  other  meer,  comprises 
forty-two  fathoms  in  width  and  as  many  in  length. 

In  other  places  the  Bergmeister  gives  the  owner  or  company  all  of  some 
locality  defined  by  rivers  or  little  valleys  as  boundaries.  But  the  boundaries 
of  every  such  area  of  whatsoever  shape  it  be,  descend  vertically  into  the 
earth;  so  the  owner  of  that  area  has  a  right  over  that  part  of  any  vena 
dilatata  which  lies  beneath  the  first  one,  just  as  the  owner  of  the  meer  on 
a  vena  profunda  has  a  right  over  so  great  a  part  of  all  other  venae  profundae 
as  lies  within  the  boundaries  of  his  meer  ;  for  just  as  wherever  one  vena 
profunda  is  found,  another  is  found  not  far  away,  so  wherever  one  vena 
dilatata  is  found,  others  are  found  beneath  it. 

Finally,  the  Bergmeister  divides  vena  cumulata  areas  in  different  ways, 
for  in  some  localities  the  head-meer  is  composed  of  three  measures,  doubled 
in  such  a  way  that  it  is  fourteen  fathoms  wide  and  twenty-one  long ;  and 
every  other  meer  consists  of  two  measures  doubled,  and  is  square,  that  is, 
fourteen  fathoms  wide  and  as  many  long.  In  some  places  the  head-meer 
is  composed  of  three  single  measures,  and  its  width  is  seven  fathoms  and 
its  length  twenty-one,  which  two  numbers  multiplied  together  make  one 
hundred  and  forty-seven  square  fathoms. 

XXI 


CXLVII 


XXI 

SHAPE  OF  A  HEAD-MEER. 

Each  other  meer  consists  of  one  double  measure.  In  some  places  the 
head-meer  is  given  the  shape  of  a  double  measure,  and  every  other  meer  that 
of  a  single  measure.  Lastly,  in  other  places  the  owner  or  a  company  is  given 
a  right  over  some  complete  specified  locality  bounded  by  little  streams, 
valleys,  or  other  limits.  Furthermore,  all  meers  on  venae  cumulatae,  as  in 
the  case  of  dilatatae,  descend  vertically  into  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and 
each  meer  has  the  boundaries  so  determined  as  to  prevent  disputes  arising 
between  the  owners  of  neighbouring  mines. 

The  boundary  marks  in  use  among  miners  formerly  consisted  only  of 
stones,  and  from  this  their  name  was  derived,  for  now  the  marks  of  a 
boundary  are  called  "  boundary  stones."  To-day  a  row  of  posts,  made  either 
of  oak  or  pine,  and  strengthened  at  the  top  with  iron  rings  to  prevent  them 
from  being  damaged,  is  fixed  beside  the  boundary  stones  to  make  them 
more  conspicuous.  By  this  method  in  former  times  the  boundaries  of  the 
fields  were  marked  by  stones  or  posts,  not  only  as  written  of  in  the  book  "  De 
Limitibus  Agrorum,"1  but  also  as  testified  to  by  the  songs  of  the  poets.  Such 

7  ?De  Limitibus  et  de  Re  Agraria  of  Sextus  Julius  Frontinus  (about  50-90  A.D.) 


88  BOOK    IV. 

then  is  the  shape  of  the  meets,  varying  in  accordance  with  the  different 
kinds  of  veins. 

Now  tunnels  are  of  two  sorts,  one  kind  having  no  right  of  property,  the 
other  kind  having  some  limited  right.  For  when  a  miner  in  some  particular 
locality  is  unable  to  open  a  vein  on  account  of  a  great  quantity  of  water,  he 
runs  a  wide  ditch,  open  at  the  top  and  three  feet  deep,  starting  on  the  slope 
and  running  up  to  the  place  where  the  vein  is  found.  Through  it  the  water 
flows  off,  so  that  the  place  is  made  dry  and  fit  for  digging.  But  if  it  is  not 
sufficiently  dried  by  this  open  ditch,  or  if  a  shaft  which  he  has  now  for 
the  first  time  begun  to  sink  is  suffering  from  overmuch  water,  he  goes  to 
the  Bergmeister  and  asks  that  official  to  give  him  the  right  for  a  tunnel. 
Having  obtained  leave,  he  drives  the  tunnel,  and  into  its  drains  all  the 
water  is  diverted,  so  that  the  place  or  shaft  is  made  fit  for  digging.  If 
it  is  not  seven  fathoms  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  to  the  bottom  of  this 
kind  of  tunnel,  the  owner  possesses  no  rights  except  this  one  :  namely,  that 
the  owners  of  the  mines,  from  whose  leases  the  owner  of  the  tunnel  extracts 
gold  or  silver,  themselves  pay  him  the  sum  he  expends  within  their  meer  in 
driving  the  tunnel  through  it. 

To  a  depth  or  height  of  three  and  a  half  fathoms  above  and  below  the 
mouth  of  the  tunnel,  no  one  is  allowed  to  begin  another  tunnel.  The  reason 
for  this  is  that  this  kind  of  a  tunnel  is  liable  to  be  changed  into  the  other 
kind  which  has  a  complete  right  of  property,  when  it  drains  the  meers  to  a 
depth  of  seven  fathoms,  or  to  ten,  according  as  the  old  custom  in  each  place 
acquires  the  force  of  law.  In  such  case  this  second  kind  of  tunnel  has  the 
following  right ;  in  the  first  place,  whatever  metal  the  owner,  or  company 
owning  it,  finds  in  any  meer  through  which  it  is  driven,  all  belongs  to  the 
tunnel  owner  within  a  height  or  depth  of  one  and  a  quarter  fathoms.  In 
the  years  which  are  not  long  passed,  the  owner  of  a  tunnel  possessed  all  the 
metal  which  a  miner  standing  at  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  touched  with 
a  bar,  whose  handle  did  not  exceed  the  customary  length ;  but  nowadays 
a  certain  prescribed  height  and  width  is  allowed  to  the  owner  of  the  tunnel, 
lest  the  owners  of  the  mines  be  damaged,  if  the  length  of  the  bar  be 
longer  than  usual.  Further,  every  metal-yielding  mine  which  is  drained 
and  supplied  with  ventilation  by  a  tunnel,  is  taxed  in  the  proportion  of  one- 
ninth  for  the  benefit  of  the  owner  of  the  tunnel.  But  if  several  tunnels  of 
this  kind  are  driven  through  one  mining  area  which  is  yielding  metals,  and 
all  drain  it  and  supply  it  with  ventilation,  then  of  the  metal  which  is  dug 
out  from  above  the  bottom  of  each  tunnel,  one-ninth  is  given  to  the  owner  of 
that  tunnel ;  of  that  which  is  dug  out  below  the  bottom  of  each  tunnel, 
one-ninth  is  in  each  case  given  to  the  owner  of  the  tunnel  which  follows 
next  in  order  below.  But  if  the  lower  tunnel  does  not  yet  drain  the  shaft  of 
that  meer  nor  supply  it  with  ventilation,  then  of  the  metal  which  is  dug  out 
below  the  bottom  of  the  higher  tunnel,  one-ninth  part  is  given  to  the  owner 
of  such  upper  tunnel.  Moreover,  no  one  tunnel  deprives  another  of  its 
right  to  one-ninth  part,  unless  it  be  a  lower  one,  from  the  bottom  of  which 
to  the  bottom  of  the  one  above  must  not  be  less  than  seven  or  ten  fathoms, 


BOOK    IV. 


89 


according  as  the  king  or  prince  has  decreed.  Further,  of  all  the  money 
which  the  owner  of  the  tunnel  has  spent  on  his  tunnel  while  driving  it 
through  a  meer,  the  owner  of  that  meer  pays  one-fourth  part.  If  he  does 
not  do  so  he  is  not  allowed  to  make  use  of  the  drains. 

Finally,  with  regard  to  whatever  veins  are  discovered  by  the  owner 
at  whose  expense  the  tunnel  is  driven,  the  right  of  which  has  not  been 
already  awarded  to  anyone,  on  the  application  of  such  owner  the  Bergmeister 
grants  him  a  right  of  a  head-meer,  or  of  a  head-meer  together  with  the  next 
meer.  Ancient  custom  gives  the  right  for  a  tunnel  to  be  driven  in  any 
direction  for  an  unlimited  length.  Further,  to-day  he  who  commences  a 
tunnel  is  given,  on  his  application,  not  only  the  right  over  the  tunnel,  but 
even  the  head  and  sometimes  the  next  meer  also.  In  former  days  the  owner 
of  the  tunnel  obtained  only  so  much  ground  as  an  arrow  shot  from  the  bow 
might  cover,  and  he  was  allowed  to  pasture  cattle  therein.  In  a  case  where 
the  shafts  of  several  meers  on  some  vein  could  not  be  worked  on  account  of 
the  great  quantity  of  water,  ancient  custom  also  allowed  the  Bergmeister  to 
grant  the  right  of  a  large  meer  to  anyone  who  would  drive  a  tunnel.  When, 
however,  he  had  driven  a  tunnel  as  far  as  the  old  shafts  and  had  found 
metal,  he  used  to  return  to  the  Bergmeister  and  request  him  to  bound  and 
mark  off  the  extent  of  his  right  to  a  meer.  Thereupon,  the  Bergmeister, 
together  with  a  certain  number  of  citizens  of  the  town — in  whose  place 
Jurors  have  now  succeeded — used  to  proceed  to  the  mountain  and  mark  off 
with  boundary  stones  a  large  meer,  which  consisted  of  seven  double 
measures,  that  is  to  say,  it  was  ninety-eight  fathoms  long  and  seven  wide, 
which  two  numbers  multiplied  together  make  six  hundred  and  eighty-six 
square  fathoms. 

XCV11I 


DCLXXXVI 


XCVIII 
LARGE  AREA. 

But  each  of  these  early  customs  has  been  changed,  and  we  now  employ 
the  new  method. 

I  have  spoken  of  tunnels  ;  I  will  now  speak  about  the  division  of  owner- 
ship in  mines  and  tunnels.  One  owner  is  allowed  to  possess  and  to  work 
one,  two,  three,  or  more  whole  meers,  or  similarly  one  or  more  separate 
tunnels,  provided  he  conforms  to  the  decrees  of  the  laws  relating  to 
metals,  and  to  the  orders  of  the  Bergmeister.  And  because  he  alone  pro- 
vides the  expenditure  of  money  on  the  mines,  if  they  yield  metal  he  alone 
obtains  the  product  from  them.  But  when  large  and  frequent  expenditures 
are  necessary  in  mining,  he  to  whom  the  Bergmeister  first  gave  the  right 


go  BOOK     IV. 

often  admits  others  to  share  with  him,  and  they  join  with  him  in  forming  a 
company,  and  they  each  lay  out  a  part  of  the  expense  and  share  with  him 
the  profit  or  loss  of  the  mine.  But  the  title  of  the  mines  or  tunnels  remains 
undivided,  although  for  the  purpose  of  dividing  the  expense  and  profit  it 
may  be  said  each  mine  or  tunnel  is  divided  into  parts8. 

This  division  is  made  in  various  ways.  A  mine,  and  the  same  thing 
must  be  understood  with  regard  to  a  tunnel,  may  be  divided  into  two  halves, 
that  is  into  two  similar  portions,  by  which  method  two  owners  spend 
an  equal  amount  on  it  and  draw  an  equal  profit  from  it,  for  each  possesses 
one  half.  Sometimes  it  is  divided  into  four  shares,  by  which  compact 
four  persons  can  be  owners,  so  that  each  possesses  one-fourth,  or  also  two 
persons,  so  that  one  possesses  three-fourths,  and  the  other  only  one-fourth  ; 
or  three  owners,  so  that  the  first  has  two-fourths,  and  the  second  and  third 
one-fourth  each.  Sometimes  it  is  divided  into  eight  shares,  by  which  plan 
there  may  be  eight  owners,  so  that  each  is  possessor  of  one-eighth  ;  some- 
times there  are  two  owners,  so  that  one  has  five-sixths9  together  with  one 
twenty-fourth,  and  the  other  one-eighth  ;  or  there  may  be  three  owners,  in 
which  one  has  three-quarters  and  the  second  and  third  each  one-eighth  ; 
or  it  may  be  divided  so  that  one  owner  has  seven-twelfths,  together  with 
one  twenty-fourth,  a  second  owner  has  one-quarter,  and  a  third  owner  has 
one-eighth  ;  or  so  that  the  first  has  one-half,  the  second  one-third  and  one 
twenty-fourth,  and  the  third  one-eighth  ;  or  so  that  the  first  has  one-half, 
as  before,  and  the  second  and  third  each  one-quarter  ;  or  so  that  the  first 
and  second  each  have  one-third  and  one  twenty-fourth,  and  the  third  one- 
quarter  ;  and  in  the  same  way  the  divisions  may  be  adjusted  in  all  the  other 
proportions.  The  different  ways  of  dividing  the  shares  originate  from  the 
different  proportions  of  ownership.  Sometimes  a  mine  is  divided .  into 
sixteen  parts,  each  of  which  is  a  twenty-fourth  and  a  forty-eighth  ;  or  it  may 
be  divided  into  thirty-two  parts,  each  of  which  is  a  forty-eighth  and  half  a 
seventy-second  and  a  two  hundred  and  eighty-eighth  ;  or  into  sixty-four 
parts  of  which  each  share  is  one  seventy-second  and  one  five  hundred  and 
seventy-sixth  ;  or  finally,  into  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  parts,  any  one 
of  which  is  half  a  seventy-second  and  half  of  one  five  hundred  and  seventy- 
sixth. 

Now  an  iron  mine  either  remains  undivided  or  is  divided  into  two, 
four,  or  occasionally  more  shares,  which  depends  on  the  excellence  of  the 
veins.  But  a  lead,  bismuth,  or  tin  mine,  and  likewise  one  of  copper  or  even 
quicksilver,  is  also  divided  into  eight  shares,  or  into  sixteen  or  thirty-two, 
and  less  commonly  into  sixty-four.  The  number  of  the  divisions  of  the  silver 
mines  at  Freiberg  in  Meissen  did  not  formerly  progress  beyond  this  ;  but 

8Such  a  form  of  ownership  is  very  old.  Apparently  upon  the  instigation  of  Xenophon 
(see  Note  7,  p.  29)  the  Greeks  formed  companies  to  work  the  mines  of  Laurion,  further 
information  as  to  which  is  given  in  note  6,  p.  27.  Pliny  (Note  7,  p.  232)  mentions  the 
Company  working  the  quicksilver  mines  in  Spain.  In  fact,  company  organization  was 
very  common  among  the  Romans,  who  speculated  largely  in  the  shares,  especially  in  those 
companies  which  farmed  the  taxes  of  the  provinces,  or  leased  public  lands,  or  took  military 
and  civil  contracts. 

•The  Latin  text  gives  one-sixth,  obviously  an  error. 


BOOK     IV.  91 

within  the  memory  of  our  fathers,  miners  have  divided  a  silver  mine,  and 
similarly  the  tunnel  at  Schneeberg,  first  of  all  into  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
eight  shares,  of  which  one  hundred  and  twenty-six  are  the  property  of 
private  owners  in  the  mines  or  tunnels,  one  belongs  to  the  State  and  one 
to  the  Church  ;  while  in  Joachimsthal  only  one  hundred  and  twenty-two 
shares  of  the  mines  or  tunnels  are  the  property  of  private  owners,  four 
are  proprietary  shares,  and  the  State  and  Church  each  have  one  in  the 
same  way.  To  these  there  has  lately  been  added  in  some  places  one  share 
for  the  most  needy  of  the  population,  which  makes  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine  shares.  It  is  only  the  private  owners  of  mines  who  pay  contributions. 
A  proprietary  holder,  though  he  holds  as  many  as  four  shares  such  as  I  have 
described,  does  not  pay  contributions,  but  gratuitously  supplies  the  owners 
of  the  mines  with  sufficient  wood  from  his  forests  for  timbering,  machinery, 
buildings,  and  smelting  ;  nor  do  those  belonging  to  the  State,  Church,  and 
the  poor  pay  contributions,  but  the  proceeds  are  used  to  build  or  repair 
public  works  and  sacred  buildings,  and  to  support  the  most  needy  with  the 
profits  which  they  draw  from  the  mines.  Furthermore,  in  our  State,  the 
one  hundred  and  twenty-eighth  share  has  begun  to  be  divided  into  two, 
four,  or  eight  parts,  or  even  into  three,  six,  twelve,  or  smaller  parts.  This 
is  done  when  one  mine  is  created  out  of  two,  for  then  the  owner  who  formerly 
possessed  one-half  becomes  owner  of  one-fourth  ;  he  who  possessed  one- 
fourth,  of  one-eighth  ;  he  who  possessed  one-third,  of  one-sixth  ;  he  who 
possessed  one-sixth,  of  one-twelfth.  Since  our  countrymen  call  a  mine  a 
symposium,  that  is,  a  drinking  bout,  we  are  accustomed  to  call  the  money  which 
the  owners  subscribe  a  symbolum,  or  a  contribution10.  For,  just  as  those  who 
go  to  a  banquet  (symposium]  give  contributions  (symbola),  so  those  who  purpose 
making  large  profits  from  mining  are  accustomed  to  contribute  toward  the 
expenditure.  However,  the  manager  of  the  mine  assesses  the  contributions 
of  the  owners  annually,  or  for  the  most  part  quarterly,  and  as  often  he 
renders  an  account  of  receipts  and  expenses.  At  Freiberg  in  Meissen  the 
old  practice  was  for  the  manager  to  exact  a  contribution  from  the  owners 
every  week,  and  every  week  to  distribute  among  them  the  profits  of  the 
mines,  but  this  practice  during  almost  the  last  fifteen  years  has  been  so  far 
changed  that  contribution  and  distribution  are  made  four11  times  each 
year.  Large  or  small  contributions  are  imposed  according  to  the  number 
of  workmen  which  the  mine  or  tunnel  requires  ;  as  a  result,  those  who 
possess  many  shares  provide  many  contributions.  Four  times  a  year  the 
owners  contribute  to  the  cost,  and  four  times  during  the  year  the  profits  of 
the  mines  are  distributed  among  them  ;  these  are  sometimes  large,  some- 
times small,  according  as  there  is  more  or  less  gold  or  silver  or  other  metal 
dug  out.  Indeed,  from  the  St.  George  mine  in  Schneeberg  the  miners  extracted 
so  much  silver  in  a  quarter  of  a  year  that  silver  cakes,  which  were  worth 

10A  symposium  is  a  banquet,  and  a  symbola  is  a  contribution  of  money  to  a  banquet. 
This  sentence  is  probably  a  play  on  the  old  German  Zeche,  mine,  this  being  also  a  term  for 
a  drinking  bout. 

uln  the  Latin  text  this  is  "  three  " — obviously  an  error. 


92  BOOK    IV. 

1,100  Rhenish  guldens,  were  distributed  to  each  one  hundred  and  twenty-eighth 
share.  From  the  Annaberg  mine  which  is  known  as  the  Himmelich  Hoz, 
they  had  a  dole  of  eight  hundred  thaler  ;  from  a  mine  in  Joachimsthal 
which  is  named  the  Sternen,  three  hundred  thaler ;  from  the  head  mine  at 
Abertham,  which  is  called  St.  Lorentz,  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  thaler12. 
The  more  shares  of  which  any  individual  is  owner  the  more  profits  he  takes. 
I  will  now  explain  how  the  owners  may  lose  or  obtain  the  right  over  a 
mine,  or  a  tunnel,  or  a  share.  Formerly,  if  anyone  was  able  to  prove  by 
witnesses  that  the  owners  had  failed  to  send  miners  for  three  continuous 
shifts13,  the  Bergmeister  deprived  them  of  their  right  over  the  mine,  and 
gave  the  right  over  it  to  the  informer,  if  he  desired  it.  But  although  miners 
preserve  this  custom  to-day,  still  mining  share  owners  who  have  paid 
their  contributions  do  not  lose  their  right  over  their  mines  against  their  will. 
Formerly,  if  water  which  had  not  been  drawn  off  from  the  higher  shaft  of 
some  mine  percolated  through  a  vein  or  stringer  into  the  shaft  of  another 
mine  and  impeded  their  work,  then  the  owners  of  the  mine  which  suffered 
the  damage  went  to  the  Bergmeister  and  complained  of  the  loss,  and  he  sent 
to  the  shafts  two  Jurors.  If  they  found  that  matters  were  as  claimed, 
the  right  over  the  mine  which  caused  the  injury  was  given  to  the  owners 
who  suffered  the  injury.  But  this  custom  in  certain  places  has  been  changed, 
for  the  Bergmeister,  if  he  finds  this  condition  of  things  proved  in  the  case 
of  two  shafts,  orders  the  owners  of  the  shaft  which  causes  the  injury  to 
contribute  part  of  the  expense  to  the  owners  of  the  shaft  which  receives  the 
injury  ;  if  they  fail  to  do  so,  he  then  deprives  them  of  their  right  over  their 
mine  ;  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  owners  send  men  to  the  workings  to  dig 
and  draw  off  the  water  from  the  shafts,  they  keep  their  right  over  their 
mine.  Formerly  owners  used  to  obtain  a  right  over  any  tunnel,  firstly,  if 
in  its  bottom  they  made  drains  and  cleansed  them  of  mud  and  sand  so  that 
the  water  might  flow  out  without  any  hindrance,  and  restored  those  drains 
which  had  been  damaged ;  secondly,  if  they  provided  shafts  or  openings  to 
supply  the  miners  with  air,  and  restored  those  which  had  fallen  in  ;  and 
finally,  if  three  miners  were  employed  continuously  in  driving  the  tunnel. 
But  the  principal  reason  for  losing  the  title  to  a  tunnel  was  that  for  a  period 
of  eight  days  no  miner  was  employed  upon  it ;  therefore,  when  anyone 
was  able  to  prove  by  witnesses  that  the  owners  of  a  tunnel  had  not  done 
these  things,  he  brought  his  accusation  before  the  Bergmeister,  who,  after 
going  out  from  the  town  to  the  tunnel  and  inspecting  the  drains  and  the 
ventilating  machines  and  everything  else,  and  finding  the  charge  to  be  true, 
placed  the  witness  under  oath,  and  asked  him  :  "  Whose  tunnel  is  this  at  the 
present  time  ?  "  The  witness  would  reply  :  "  The  King's  "  or  "  The 

12See  Note  9,  p.  74,  for  further  information  with  regard  to  these  mines.  The  Rhenish 
gulden  was  about  6.9  shillings,  or  $1.66.  Silver  was  worth  about  this  amount  per  Troy 
ounce  at  this  period,  so  that  roughly,  silver  of  a  value  of  1,100  gulden  would  be  about  1,100 
Troy  ounces.  The  Saxon  thaler  was  worth  about  4.64  shillings  or  about  $1.11.  The  thaler, 
therefore,  represented  about  .65  Troy  ounces  of  silver,  so  that  300  thalers  were  about 
195  Troy  ounces,  and  225  thalers  about  146  Troy  ounces. 

I30pera  continens.     The  Glossary  gives  schicht, — the  origin  of  the   English  "  shift." 


BOOK     IV. 


93 


Prince's."  Thereupon  the  Bergmeister  gave  the  right  over  the  tunnel  to 
the  first  applicant.  This  was  the  severe  rule  under  which  the  owners  at  one 
time  lost  their  rights  over  a  tunnel  ;  but  its  severity  is  now  considerably 
mitigated,  for  the  owners  do  not  now  forthwith  lose  their  right  over  a  tunnel 
through  not  having  cleaned  out  the  drains  and  restored  the  shafts  or 
ventilation  holes  which  have  suffered  damage  ;  but  the  Bergmeister  orders 
the  tunnel  manager  to  do  it,  and  if  he  does  not  obey,  the  authorities  fine 
the  tunnel.  Also  it  is  sufficient  for  one  miner  to  be  engaged  in  driving  the 
tunnel.  Moreover,  if  the  owner  of  a  tunnel  sets  boundaries  at  a  fixed  spot 
in  the  rocks  and  stops  driving  the  tunnel,  he  may  obtain  a  right  over  it  so 
far  as  he  has  gone,  provided  the  drains  are  cleaned  out  and  ventilation 
holes  are  kept  in  repair.  But  any  other  owner  is  allowed  to  start  from  the 
established  mark  and  drive  the  tunnel  further,  if  he  pays  the  former  owners 
of  the  tunnel  as  much  money  every  three  months  as  the  Bergmeister  decides 
ought  to  be  paid. 

There  remain  for  discussion,  the  shares  in  the  mines  and  tunnels. 
Formerly  if  anybody  conveyed  these  shares  to  anyone  else,  and  the  latter 
had  once  paid  his  contribution,  the  seller14  was  bound  to  stand  by  his  bargain, 
and  this  custom  to-day  has  the  force  of  law.  But  if  the  seller  denied  that  the 
contribution  had  been  paid,  while  the  buyer  of  the  shares  declared  that  he  could 
prove  by  witnesses  that  he  had  paid  his  contribution  to  the  other  proprietors, 
and  a  case  arose  for  trial,  then  the  evidence  of  the  other  proprietors  carried 
more  weight  than  the  oath  of  the -seller.  To-day  the  buyer  of  the  shares  proves 
that  he  has  paid  his  contribution  by  a  document  which  the  mine  or  tunnel 
manager  always  gives  each  one  ;  if  the  buyer  has  contributed  no  money 
there  is  no  obligation  on  the  seller  to  keep  his  bargain.  Formerly,  as  I  have 
said  above,  the  proprietors  used  to  contribute  money  weekly,  but  now  con- 
tributions are  paid  four  times  each  year.  To-day,  if  for  the  space  of  a  month 
anyone  does  not  take  proceedings  against  the  seller  of  the  shares  for  the  con- 
tribution, the  right  of  taking  proceedings  is  lost.  But  when  the  Clerk  has 
already  entered  on  the  register  the  shares  which  had  been  conveyed  or 
bought,  none  of  the  owners  loses  his  right  over  the  share  unless  the  money 
is  not  contributed  which  the  manager  of  the  mine  or  tunnel  has  demanded 
from  the  owner  or  his  agent.  Formerly,  if  on  the  application  of  the  manager 
the  owner  or  his  agent  did  not  pay,  the  matter  was  referred  to  the  Berg- 
meister, who  ordered  the  owner  or  his  agent  to  make  his  contribution  ;  then 
if  he  failed  to  contribute  for  three  successive  weeks,  the  Bergmeister  gave 
the  right  to  his  shares  to  the  first  applicant.  To-day  this  custom  is  un- 
changed, for  if  owners  fail  for  the  space  of  a  month  to  pay  the  contribu- 
tions which  the  manager  of  the  mine  has  imposed  on  them,  on  a  stated  day 
their  names  are  proclaimed  aloud  and  struck  off  the  list  of  owners,  in 
the  presence  of  the  Bergmeister,  the  Jurors,  the  Mining  Clerk,  and  the  Share 
Clerk,  and  each  of  such  shares  is  entered  on  the  proscribed  list.  If,  how- 

14The  terms  in  the  Latin  text  are  donafor,  a  giver  of  a  gift,  and  donatus,  a  receiver.  It 
appears  to  us,  however,  that  some  consideration  passed,  and  we  have,  therefore,  used  "  seller  " 
and  "  buyer." 


94  BOOK     IV. 

ever,  on  the  third,  or  at  latest  the  fourth  day,  they  pay  their  contributions 
to  the  manager  of  the  mine  or  tunnel,  and  pay  the  money  which  is  due  from 
them  to  the  Share  Clerk,  he  removes  their  shares  from  the  proscribed 
list.  They  are  not  thereupon  restored  to  their  former  position  unless  the 
other  owners  consent ;  in  which  respect  the  custom  now  in  use  differs  from 
the  old  practice,  for  to-day  if  the  owners  of  shares  constituting  anything 
over  half  the  mine  consent  to  the  restoration  of  those  who  have  been 
proscribed,  the  others  are  obliged  to  consent  whether  they  wish  to  or  not. 
Formerly,  unless  such  restoration  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  approval  of 
the  owners  of  one  hundred  shares,  those  who  had  been  proscribed  were  not 
restored  to  their  former  position. 

The  procedure  in  suits  relating  to  shares  was  formerly  as  follows  :  he 
who  instituted  a  suit  and  took  legal  proceedings  against  another  in  respect 
of  the  shares,  used  to  make  a  formal  charge  against  the  accused  possessor 
before  the  Bergmeister.  This  was  done  either  at  his  house  or  in  some  public 
place  or  at  the  mines,  once  each  day  for  three  days  if  the  shares  belonged  to 
an  old  mine,  and  three  times  in  eight  days  if  they  belonged  to  a  head- 
meer.  But  if  he  could  not  find  the  possessor  of  the  shares  in  these  places,  it 
was  valid  and  effectual  to  make  the  accusation  against  him  at  the  house  of 
the  Bergmeister.  When,  however,  he  made  the  charge  for  the  third  time,  he 
used  to  bring  with  him  a  notary,  whom  the  Bergmeister  would  interrogate  : 
"  Have  I  earned  the  fee  ?  "  and  who  would  respond  :  "  You  have  earned 
it  "  ;  thereupon  the  Bergmeister  would  give  the  right  over  the  shares  to  him 
who  made  the  accusation,  and  the  accuser  in  turn  would  pay  down  the 
customary  fee  to  the  Bergmeister.  After  these  proceedings,  if  the  man  whom 
the  Bergmeister  had  deprived  of  his  shares  dwelt  in  the  city,  one  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  mine  or  of  the  head-mine  was  sent  to  him  to  acquaint  him 
with  the  facts,  but  if  he  dwelt  elsewhere  proclamation  was  made  in  some 
public  place,  or  at  the  mine,  openly  and  in  a  loud  voice  in  the  hearing  of 
numbers  of  miners.  Nowadays  a  date  is  denned  for  the  one  who  is  answer- 
able for  the  debt  of  shares  or  money,  and  information  is  given  the  accused 
by  an  official  if  he  is  near  at  hand,  or  if  he  is  absent,  a  letter  is  sent  him ; 
nor  is  the  right  over  his  shares  taken  from  anyone  for  the  space  of  one  and 
a  half  months.  So  much  for  these  matters. 

Now,  before  I  deal  with  the  methods  which  must  be  employed  in 
working,  I  will  speak  of  the  duties  of  the  Mining  Prefect,  the  Bergmeister, 
the  Jurors,  the  Mining  Clerk,  the  Share  Clerk,  the  manager  of  the  mine 
or  tunnel,  the  foreman  of  the  mine  or  tunnel,  and  the  workmen. 

To  the  Mining  Prefect,  whom  the  King  or  Prince  appoints  as  his  deputy, 
all  men  of  all  races,  ages,  and  rank,  give  obedience  and  submission.  He 
governs  and  regulates  everything  at  his  discretion,  ordering  those  things 
which  are  useful  and  advantageous  in  mining  operations,  and  prohibiting 
those  which  are  to  the  contrary.  He  levies  penalties  and  punishes  offenders  ; 
he  arranges  disputes  which  the  Bergmeister  has  been  unable  to  settle,  and  if 
even  he  cannot  arrange  them,  he  allows  the  owners  who  are  at  variance  over 
some  point  to  proceed  to  litigation  ;  he  even  lays  down  the  law,  gives  orders 


BOOK     IV. 


95 


as  a  magistrate,  or  bids  them  leave  their  rights  in  abeyance,  and  he  deter- 
mines the  pay  of  persons  who  hold  any  post  or  office.  He  is  present  in 
person  when  the  mine  managers  present  their  quarterly  accounts  of  profits 
and  expenses,  and  generally  represents  the  King  or  Prince  and  upholds  his 
dignity.  The  Athenians  in  this  way  set  Thucydides,  the  famous  historian, 
over  the  mines  of  Thasos15. 

Next  in  power  to  the  Mining  Prefect  comes  the  Bergmeister,  since  he 
has  jurisdiction  over  all  who  are  connected  with  mines,  with  a  few  exceptions, 
which  are  the  Tithe  Gatherer,  the  Cashier,  the  Silver  Refiner,  the  Master 
of  the  Mint,  and  the  Coiners  themselves.  Fraudulent,  negligent,  or  dissolute 
men  he  either  throws  into  prison,  or  deprives  of  promotion,  or  fines  ; 
of  these  fines,  part  is  given  as  a  tribute  to  those  in  power.  When  the  mine 
owners  have  a  dispute  over  boundaries  he  arbitrates  it ;  or  if  he  cannot 
settle  the  dispute,  he  pronounces  judgment  jointly  with  the  Jurors; 
from  them,  however,  an  appeal  lies  to  the  Mining  Prefect.  He  transcribes 
his  decrees  in  a  book  and  sets  up  the  records  in  public.  It  is  also  his  duty 
to  grant  the  right  over  the  mines  to  those  who  apply,  and  to  confirm  their 
rights  ;  he  also  must  measure  the  mines,  and  fix  their  boundaries,  and  see 
that  the  mine  workings  are  not  allowed  to  become  dangerous.  Some  of 
these  duties  he  observes  on  fixed  days  ;  for  on  Wednesday  in  the  presence 
of  the  Jurors  he  confirms  the  rights  over  the  mines  which  he  has  granted, 
settles  disputes  about  boundaries,  and  pronounces  judgments.  On  Mondays, 
Tuesdays,  Thursdays,  and  Fridays,  he  rides  up  to  the  mines,  and  dismounting 
at  some  of  them  explains  what  is  required  to  be  done,  or  considers  the 
boundaries  which  are  under  controversy.  On  Saturday  all  the  mine  managers 
and  mine  foremen  render  an  account  of  the  money  which  they  have  spent 
on  the  mines  during  the  preceding  week,  and  the  Mining  Clerk  transcribes 
this  account  into  the  register  of  expenses.  Formerly,  for  one  Principality 
there  was  one  Bergmeister,  who  used  to  create  all  the  judges  and  exercise 
jurisdiction  and  control  over  them ;  for  every  mine  had  its  own  judge, 
just  as  to-day  each  locality  has  a  Bergmeister  in  his  place,  the  name  alone 
being  changed.  To  this  ancient  Bergmeister,  who  used  to  dwell  at  Freiberg  in 
Meissen,  disputes  were  referred ;  hence  right  up  to  the  present  time  the  one 
at  Freiberg  still  has  the  power  of  pronouncing  judgment  when  mine  owners 
who  are  engaged  in  disputes  among  themselves  appeal  to  him.  The  old 
Bergmeister  could  try  everything  which  was  presented  to  him  hi  any  mine 
whatsoever  ;  whereas  the  judge  could  only  try  the  things  which  were  done 
in  his  own  district,  in  the  same  way  that  every  modern  Bergmeister  can. 

To  each  Bergmeister  is  attached  a  clerk,  who  writes  out  a  schedule 
signifying  to  the  applicant  for  a  right  over  a  mine,  the  day  and  hour  on  which 
the  right  is  granted,  the  name  of  the  applicant,  and  the  location  of  the  mine. 
He  also  affixes  at  the  entrance  to  the  mine,  quarterly,  at  the  appointed  time, 
a  sheet  of  paper  on  which  is  shown  how  much  contribution  must  be  paid  to 
the  manager  of  the  mine.  These  notices  are  prepared  jointly  with  the 

15See  Note  29,  p.  23. 


96  BOOK     IV. 

Mining  Clerk,  and  in  common  they  receive  the  fee  rendered  by  the  foremen 
of  the  separate  mines. 

I  now  come  to  the  Jurors,  who  are  men  experienced  in  mining 
matters  and  of  good  repute.  Their  number  is  greater  or  less  as  there 
are  few  or  more  mines  ;  thus  if  there  are  ten  mines  there  will  be  five 
pairs  of  Jurors,  like  a  decemviral  college16.  Into  however  many 
divisions  the  total  number  of  mines  has  been  divided,  so  many  divisions 
has  the  body  of  Jurors  ;  each  pair  of  Jurors  usually  visits  some  of 
the  mines  whose  administration  is  under  their  supervision  on  every 
day  that  workmen  are  employed  ;  it  is  usually  so  arranged  that  they 
visit  all  the  mines  in  the  space  of  fourteen  days.  They  inspect  and  con- 
sider all  details,  and  deliberate  and  consult  with  the  mine  foreman  on 
matters  relating  to  the  underground  workings,  machinery,  timbering,  and 
everything  else.  They  also  jointly  with  the  mine  foreman  from  time  to 
time  make  the  price  per  fathom  to  the  workmen  for  mining  the  ore,  fixing 
it  at  a  high  or  low  price,  according  to  whether  the  rock  is  hard  or  soft  ;  if, 
however,  the  contractors  find  that  an  unforeseen  and  unexpected  hardness 
occurs,  and  for  that  reason  have  difficulty  and  delay  in  carrying  out  their 
work,  the  Jurors  allow  them  something  in  excess  of  the  price  fixed ; 
while  if  there  is  a  softness  by  reason  of  water,  and  the  work  is  done  more 
easily  and  quickly,  they  deduct  something  from  the  price.  Further,  if  the 
Jurors  discover  manifest  negligence  or  fraud  on  the  part  of  any  foreman 
or  workman,  they  first  admonish  or  reprimand  him  as  to  his  duties  and 
obligations,  and  if  he  does  not  become  more  diligent  and  improve,  the  matter 
is  reported  to  the  Bergmeister,  who  by  right  of  his  authority  deprives  such 
persons  of  their  functions  and  office,  or,  if  they  have  committed  a  crime, 
throws  them  into  prison.  Lastly,  because  the  Jurors  have  been  given 
to  the  Bergmeister  as  councillors  and  advisors,  in  their  absence  he  does  not 
confirm  the  right  over  any  mine,  nor  measure  the  mines,  nor  fix  their 
boundaries,  nor  settle  disputes  about  boundaries,  nor  pronounce  judgment, 
nor,  finally,  does  he  without  them  listen  to  any  account  of  profits  and 
expenditure. 

Now  the  Mining  Clerk  enters  each  mine  in  his  books,  the  new  mines 
in  one  book,  the  old  mines  which  have  been  re-opened  in  another.  This 
is  done  in  the  following  way  :  first  is  written  the  name  of  the  man  who  has 
applied  for  the  right  over  the  mine,  then  the  day  and  hour  on  which  he 
made  his  application,  then  the  vein  and  the  locality  in  which  it  is  situated, 
next  the  conditions  on  which  the  right  has  been  given,  and  lastly,  the  day  on 
which  the  Bergmeister  confirmed  it.  A  document  containing  all  these 
particulars  is  also  given  to  the  person  whose  right  over  a  mine  has  been 
confirmed.  The  Mining  Clerk  also  sets  down  in  another  book  the  names 
of  the  owners  of  each  mine  over  which  the  right  has  been  confirmed  ; 
hi  another  any  intermission  of  work  permitted  to  any  person  for  cer- 

lsDecemviri—"  The  Ten  Men."  The  original  Decemviri  were  a  body  appointed  by 
the  Romans  in  452  B.C.,  principally  to  codify  the  law.  Such  commissions  were  afterward 
instituted  for  other  purposes,  but  the  analogy  of  the  above  paragraph  is  a  little  remote. 


BOOK     IV.  97 

tain  reasons  by  the  Bergmeister  ;  in  another  the  money  which  one  mine 
supplies  to  another  for  drawing  off  water  or  making  machinery  ;  and  in 
another  the  decisions  of  the  Bergmeister  and  the  Jurors,  and  the  disputes 
settled  by  them  as  honorary  arbitrators.  All  these  matters  he  enters  in  the 
books  on  Wednesday  of  every  week  ;  if  holidays  fall  on  that  day  he  does  it 
on  the  following  Thursday.  Every  Saturday  he  enters  in  another  book  the 
total  expenses  of  the  preceding  week,  the  account  of  which  the  mine  manager 
has  rendered  ;  but  the  total  quarterly  expenses  of  each  mine  manager,  he 
enters  in  a  special  book  at  his  own  convenience.  He  enters  similarly  in 
another  book  a  list  of  owners  who  have  been  proscribed.  Lastly,  that  no  one 
may  be  able  to  bring  a  charge  of  falsification  against  him,  all  these  books 
are  enclosed  in  a  chest  with  two  locks,  the  key  of  one  of  which  is  kept  by  the 
Mining  Clerk,  and  of  the  other  by  the  Bergmeister. 

The  Share  Clerk  enters  in  a  book  the  owners  of  each  mine  whom 
the  first  finder  of  the  vein  names  to  him,  and  from  time  to  time  replaces  the 
names  of  the  sellers  with  those  of  the  buyers  of  the  shares.  It  sometimes 
happens  that  twenty  or  more  owners  come  into  the  possession  of  some 
particular  share.  Unless,  however,  the  seller  is  present,  or  has  sent  a  letter 
to  the  Mining  Clerk  with  his  seal,  or  better  still  with  the  seal  of  the  Mayor 
of  the  town  where  he  dwells,  his  name  is  not  replaced  by  that  of  anyone  else  ; 
for  if  the  Share  Clerk  is  not  sufficiently  cautious,  the  law  requires  him 
to  restore  the  late  owner  wholly  to  his  former  position.  He  writes  out  a 
fresh  document,  and  in  this  way  gives  proof  of  possession.  Four  times  a 
year,  when  the  accounts  of  the  quarterly  expenditure  are  rendered,  he 
names  the  new  proprietors  to  the  manager  of  each  mine,  that  the  manager 
may  know  from  whom  he  should  demand  contributions  and  among  whom 
to  distribute  the  profits  of  the  mines.  For  this  work  the  mine  manager  pays 
the  Clerk  a  fixed  fee. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  duties  of  the  mine  manager.  In  the  case  of  the 
owners  of  every  mine  which  is  not  yielding  metal,  the  manager  announces 
to  the  proprietors  their  contributions  in  a  document  which  is  affixed  to  the 
doors  of  the  town  hall,  such  contributions  being  large  or  small,  according  as 
the  Bergmeister  and  two  Jurors  determine.  If  anyone  fails  to  pay  these 
contributions  for  the  space  of  a  month,  the  manager  removes  their  names 
from  the  list  of  owners,  and  makes  their  shares  the  common  property  of  the 
other  proprietors.  And  so,  whomsoever  the  mine  manager  names  as  not 
having  paid  his  contribution,  that  same  man  the  Mining  Clerk  designates 
in  writing,  and  so  also  does  the  Share  Clerk.  Of  the  contribution,  the 
mine  manager  applies  part  to  the  payment  of  the  foreman  and  workmen, 
and  lays  by  a  part  to  purchase  at  the  lowest  price  the  necessary  things  for 
the  mine,  such  as  iron  tools,  nails,  firewood,  planks,  buckets,  drawing-ropes, 
or  grease.  But  in  the  case  of  a  mine  which  is  yielding  metal,  the  Tithe- 
gatherer  pays  the  mine  manager  week  by  week  as  much  money  as  suffices 
to  discharge  the  workmen's  wages  and  to  provide  the  necessary  implements 
for  mining.  The  mine  manager  of  each  mine  also,  in  the  presence  of  its 
foreman,  on  Saturday  in  each  week  renders  an  account  of  his  expenses  to 


98  BOOK    IV. 

the  Bergmeister  and  the  Jurors,  he  renders  an  account  of  his  receipts, 
whether  the  money  has  been  contributed  by  the  owners  or  taken  from  the 
Tithe-gatherer  ;  and  of  his  quarterly  expenditure  in  the  same  way 
to  them  and  to  the  Mining  Prefect  and  to  the  Mining  Clerk,  four 
times  a  year  at  the  appointed  time ;  for  just  as  there  are  four  seasons 
of  the  year,  namely.  Spring,  Summer,  Autumn,  and  Winter,  so  there  are 
fourfold  accounts  of  profits  and  expenses.  In  the  beginning  of  the  first 
month  of  each  quarter  an  account  is  rendered  of  the  money  which  the 
manager  has  spent  on  the  mine  during  the  previous  quarter,  then  of  the 
profit  which  he  has  taken  from  it  during  the  same  period  ;  for  example, 
the  account  which  is  rendered  at  the  beginning  of  spring  is  an  account  of  all 
the  profits  and  expenses  of  each  separate  week  of  winter,  which  have  been 
entered  by  the  Mining  Clerk  in  the  book  of  accounts.  If  the  manager 
has  spent  the  money  of  the  proprietors  advantageously  in  the  mine  and 
has  faithfully  looked  after  it,  everyone  praises  him  as  a  diligent  and  honest 
man  ;  if  through  ignorance  in  these  matters  he  has  caused  loss,  he  is  generally 
deprived  of  his  office  ;  if  by  his  carelessness  and  negligence  the  owners  have 
suffered  loss,  the  Bergmeister  compels  him  to  make  good  the  loss  ;  and  finally, 
if  he  has  been  guilty  of  fraud  or  theft,  he  is  punished  with  fine,  prison,  or 
death.  Further,  it  is  the  business  of  the  manager  to  see  that  the  foreman 
of  the  mine  is  present  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the  shifts,  that  he  digs 
the  ore  in  an  advantageous  manner,  and  makes  the  required  timbering, 
machines,  and  drains.  The  manager  also  makes  the  deductions  from  the 
pay  of  the  workmen  whom  the  foreman  has  noted  as  negligent.  Next, 
if  the  mine  is  rich  in  metal,  the  manager  must  see  that  its  ore-house  is  closed 
on  those  days  on  which  no  work  is  performed  ;  and  if  it  is  a  rich  vein  of  gold 
or  silver,  he  sees  that  the  miners  promptly  transfer  the  output  from  the  shaft 
or  tunnel  into  a  chest  or  into  the  strong  room  next  to  the  house  where  the 
foreman  dwells,  that  no  opportunity  for  theft  may  be  given  to  dishonest 
persons.  This  duty  he  shares  in  common  with  the  foreman,  but  the  one 
which  follows  is  peculiarly  his  own.  When  ore  is  smelted  he  is  present  in 
person,  and  watches  that  the  smelting  is  performed  carefully  and  advan- 
tageously. If  from  it  gold  or  silver  is  melted  out,  when  it  is  melted  in  the 
cupellation  furnace  he  enters  the  weight  of  it  in  his  books  and  carries  it 
to  the  Tithe-gatherer,  who  similarly  writes  a  note  of  its  weight  in  his  books  ; 
it  is  then  conveyed  to  the  refiner.  When  it  has  been  brought  back,  both 
the  Tithe-gatherer  and  manager  again  enter  its  weight  in  their  books.  Why 
again  ?  Because  he  looks  after  the  goods  of  the  owners  just  as  if  they  were 
his  own.  Now  the  laws  which  relate  to  mining  permit  a  manager  to  have 
charge  of  more  than  one  mine,  but  in  the  case  of  mines  yielding  gold  or 
silver,  to  have  charge  of  only  two.  If,  however,  several  mines  following  the 
head-mine  begin  to  produce  metal,  he  remains  in  charge  of  these  others  until 
he  is  freed  from  the  duty  of  looking  after  them  by  the  Bergmeister.  Last  of 
all,  the  manager,  the  Bergmeister,  and  the  two  Jurors,  in  agreement 
with  the  owners,  settle  the  remuneration  for  the  labourers.  Enough  of  the 
duties  and  occupation  of  the  manager. 


BOOK     IV.  99 

»  x 

I  will  now  leave  the  manager,  and  discuss  him  who  controls  the  workmen 
of  the  mine,  who  is  therefore  called  the  foreman,  although  some  call  him 
the  watchman.  It  is  he  who  distributes  the  work  among  the  labourers,  and 
sees  diligently  that  each  faithfully  and  usefully  performs  his  duties.  He 
also  discharges  workmen  on  account  of  incompetence,  or  negligence,  and 
supplies  others  in  their  places  if  the  two  Jurors  and  manager  give  their 
consent.  He  must  be  skilful  in  working  wood,  that  he  may  timber  shafts, 
place  posts,  and  make  underground  structures  capable  of  supporting  an  under- 
mined mountain,  lest  the  rocks  from  the  hangingwall  of  the  veins,  not  being 
supported,  become  detached  from  the  mass  of  the  mountain  and  over- 
whelm the  workmen  with  destruction.  He  must  be  able  to  make  and  lay 
out  the  drains  in  the  tunnels,  into  which  the  water  from  the  veins,  stringers, 
and  seams  in  the  rocks  may  collect,  that  it  may  be  properly  guided  and 
can  flow  away.  Further,  he  must  be  able  to  recognize  veins  and  stringers, 
so  as  to  sink  shafts  to  the  best  advantage,  and  must  be  able  to  discern  one 
kind  of  material  which  is  mined  from  another,  or  to  train  his  subordinates 
that  they  may  separate  the  materials  correctly.  He  must  also  be  well 
acquainted  with  all  methods  of  washing,  so  as  to  teach  the  washers  how 
the  metalliferous  earth  or  sand  is  washed.  He  supplies  the  miners  with  iron 
tools  when  they  are  about  to  start  to  work  in  the  mines,  and  apportions  a 
certain  weight  of  oil  for  their  lamps,  and  trains  them  to  dig  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  sees  that  they  work  faithfully.  When  their  shift  is  finished, 
he  takes  back  the  oil  which  has  been  left.  On  account  of  his  numerous  and 
important  duties  and  labours,  only  one  mine  is  entrusted  to  one  foreman, 
nay,  rather  sometimes  two  or  three  foremen  are  set  over  one  mine. 

Since  I  have  mentioned  the  shifts,  I  will  briefly  explain  how  these  are 
carried  on.  The  twenty-four  hours  of  a  day  and  night  are  divided  into  three 
shifts,  and  each  shift  consists  of  seven  hours.  The  three  remaining  hours  are 
intermediate  between  the  shifts,  and  form  an  interval  during  which  the 
workmen  enter  and  leave  the  mines.  The  first  shift  begins  at  the  fourth  hour 
in  the  morning  and  lasts  till  the  eleventh  hour  ;  the  second  begins  at  the 
twelfth  and  is  finished  at  the  seventh  ;  these  two  are  day  shifts  in  the 
morning  and  afternoon.  The  third  is  the  night  shift,  and  commences  at  the 
eighth  hour  in  the  evening  and  finishes  at  the  third  in  the  morning.  The 
Bergmeister  does  not  allow  this  third  shift  to  be  imposed  upon  the  workmen 
unless  necessity  demands  it.  In  that  case,  whether  they  draw  water  from 
the  shafts  or  mine  the  ore,  they  keep  their  vigil  by  the  night  lamps,  and  to 
prevent  themselves  falling  asleep  from  the  late  hours  or  from  fatigue,  they 
lighten  their  long  and  arduous  labours  by  singing,  which  is  neither  wholly 
untrained  nor  unpleasing.  In  some  places  one  miner  is  not  allowed  to 
undertake  two  shifts  in  succession,  because  it  often  happens  that  he  either 
falls  asleep  in  the  mine,  overcome  by  exhaustion  from  too  much  labour,  or 
arrives  too  late  for  his  shift,  or  leaves  sooner  than  he  ought.  Elsewhere  he 
is  allowed  to  do  so,  because  he  cannot  subsist  on  the  pay  of  one  shift, 
especially  if  provisions  grow  dearer.  The  Bergmeister  does  not,  however, 
forbid  an  extraordinary  shift  when  he  concedes  only  one  ordinary  shift. 


ioo  BOOK     IV. 

When  it  is  time  to  go  to  work  the  sound  of  a  great  bell,  which  the  foreigners 
call  a  "  campana,"  gives  the  workmen  warning,  and  when  this  is  heard  they 
run  hither  and  thither  through  the  streets  toward  the  mines.  Similarly, 
the  same  sound  of  the  bell  warns  the  foreman  that  a  shift  has  just  been 
finished  ;  therefore  as  soon  as  he  hears  it,  he  stamps  on  the  woodwork  of  the 
shaft  and  signals  the  workmen  to  come  out.  Thereupon,  the  nearest  as  soon 
as  they  hear  the  signal,  strike  the  rocks  with  their  hammers,  and  the  sound 
reaches  those  who  are  furthest  away.  Moreover,  the  lamps  show  that  the 
shift  has  come  to  an  end  when  the  oil  becomes  almost  consumed  and  fails 
them.  The  labourers  do  not  work  on  Saturdays,  but  buy  those  things  which 
are  necessary  to  life,  nor  do  they  usually  work  on  Sundays  or  annual 
festivals,  but  on  these  occasions  devote  the  shift  to  holy  things.  However, 
the  workmen  do  not  rest  and  do  nothing  if  necessity  demands  their  labour  ; 
for  sometimes  a  rush  of  water  compels  them  to  work,  sometimes  an  impending 
fall,  sometimes  something  else,  and  at  such  times  it  is  not  considered 
irreligious  to  work  on  holidays.  Moreover,  all  workmen  of  this  class  are 
strong  and  used  to  toil  from  birth. 

The  chief  kinds  of  workmen  are  miners,  shovelers,  windlass  men,  carriers, 
sorters,  washers,  and  smelters,  as  to  whose  duties  I  will  speak  in  the  fol- 
lowing books,  in  their  proper  place.  At  present  it  is  enough  to  add  this  one 
fact,  that  if  the  workmen  have  been  reported  by  the  foreman  for  negligence, 
the  Bergmeister,  or  even  the  foreman  himself,  jointly  with  the  manager, 
dismisses  them  from  their  work  on  Saturday,  or  deprives  them  of  part  of 
their  pay  ;  or  if  for  fraud,  throws  them  into  prison.  However,  the  owners 
of  works  in  which  the  metals  are  smelted,  and  the  master  of  the  smelter,  look 
after  their  own  men.  As  to  the  government  and  duties  of  miners,  I  have 
now  said  enough  ;  I  will  explain  them  more  fully  in  another  work  entitled 
De  Jure  et  Legibus  Metallicis11. 

17This  work  was  apparently  never  published ;  see  Appendix  A. 

END    OF    BOOK    IV. 


BOOK    V. 


N  the  last  book  I  have  explained  the  methods  of 
delimiting  the  meers  along  each  kind  of  vein,  and 
the  duties  of  mine  officials.  In  this  book1  I  will 
in  like  manner  explain  the  principles  of  under- 
ground mining  and  the  art  of  surveying.  First 
then,  I  will  proceed  to  deal  with  those  matters 
which  pertain  to  the  former  heading,  since  both  the 
subject  and  methodical  arrangement  require  it. 
And  so  I  will  describe  first  of  all  the  digging  of 
shafts,  tunnels,  and  drifts  on  venae  pro/undue  ;  next  I  will  discuss  the  good 
indications  shown  by  canales2,  by  the  materials  which  are  dug  out,  and  by 
the  rocks  ;  then  I  will  speak  of  the  tools  by  which  veins  and  rocks  are  broken 
down  and  excavated  ;  the  method  by  which  fire  shatters  the  hard  veins  ; 
and  further,  of  the  machines  with  which  water  is  drawn  from  the  shafts 
and  air  is  forced  into  deep  shafts  and  long  tunnels,  for  digging  is  impeded 
by  the  inrush  of  the  former  or  the  failure  of  the  latter  ;  next  I  will  deal 
with  the  two  kinds  of  shafts,  and  with  the  making  of  them  and  of  tunnels ; 
and  finally,  I  will  describe  the  method  of  mining  venae  dilatatae,  venae  cumu- 
latae,  and  stringers. 

*It  has  been  suggested  that  we  should  adopt  throughout  this  volume  the  mechanical 
and  mining  terms  used  in  English  mines  at  Agricola's  time.  We  believe,  however,  that  but 
a  little  inquiry  would  illustrate  the  undesirabOity  of  this  course  as  a  whole.  Where  there- 
is  choice  in  modern  miner's  nomenclature  between  an  old  and  a  modern  term,  we  have  leaned 
toward  age,  if  it  be  a  term  generally  understood.  But  except  where  the  subject  described 
has  itself  become  obsolete,  we  have  revived  no  obsolete  terms.  In  substantiation  of  this 
view,  we  append  a  few  examples  of  terms  which  served  the  English  miner  well  for  centuries, 
some  of  which  are  still  extant  in  some  local  communities,  yet  we  believe  they  would  carry 
as  little  meaning  to  the  average  reader  as  would  the  reproduction  of  the  Latin  terms  coined 
by  Agricola. 

A  perpendicular  vein. 

Walls  of  the  vein. 

Cracks  in  the  walls. 

Gouge. 

Outcrop. 

Incline  or  underlay  of  the 
vein. 

Impoverishment  of  the  vein. 

A  "  horse  "  in  a  vein. 
Pinching  "  of  a  vein. 


Rake 

Woughs 

Shakes 

Flookan 

Bryle 

Hade 


Slough 
Sole 
Stool 
Winds   | 
Turn 
Dippas  ) 
Grove 
Dutins 


Drainage  tunnel. 

Lowest  drift. 

Face  of  a  drift  or  stope. 

Winze. 


Shaft. 

Set  of  timber. 
Stemple   =  Post  or  stull. 
Laths       =  Lagging. 


Bawling 

Either 

Twitches 

As  examples  of  the  author's  coinage  and  adaptations  of  terms  in  this  book  we  may 
cite  : —  • 

Fossa  lalens  «-  Drift. 

Fossa  latens  transversa          =  Crosscut. 
Tectum  =  Hangingwall. 

Fundamentum  «-  Footwall. 

Tigna  per  intervalla  posita   —  Wall  plate. 
Arbores  dissectae  —  Lagging. 

Formae  =  Hitches. 

We  have  adopted  the  term  "  tunnel  "  for  openings  by  way  of  outlet  to  the  mine. 
The  word  in  this  narrow  sense  is  as  old  as  "  adit,"  a  term  less  expressive  and  not  so  generally 
used  in  the  English-speaking  mining  world.  We  have  for  the  same  reason  adopted  the  word 
"  drift  "  instead  of  the  term  "  level  "  so  generally  used  in  America,  because  that  term  always 
leads  to  confusion  in  discussion  of  mine  surveys.  We  may  mention,  however,  that  the  term 
"  level "  is  a  heritage  from  the  Derbyshire  mines,  and  is  of  an  equally  respectable  age  as  "drift." 
2See  note  on  p.  46-47.  The  canales,  as  here  used,  were  the  openings  in  the  earth,  in 
which  minerals  were  deposited. 


102  BOOK    V. 

Now  when  a  miner  discovers  a  vena  projunda  he  begins  sinking  a  shaft 
and  above  it  sets  up  a  windlass,  and  builds  a  shed  over  the  shaft  to  prevent 
the  rain  from  falling  in,  lest  the  men  who  turn  the  windlass  be  numbed 
by  the  cold  or  troubled  by  the  rain.  The  windlass  men  also  place  their 
barrows  in  it,  and  the  miners  store  their  iron  tools  and  other  implements  therein. 
Next  to  the  shaft-house  another  house  is  built,  where  the  mine  foreman  and  the 
other  workmen  dwell,  and  in  which  are  stored  the  ore  and  other  things  which 
are  dug  out.  Although  some  persons  build  only  one  house,  yet  because 
sometimes  boys  and  other  living  things  fall  into  the  shafts,  most  miners 
deliberately  place  one  house  apart  from  the  other,  or  at  least  separate  them 
by  a  wall. 

Now  a  shaft  is  dug,  usually  two  fathoms  long,  two-thirds  of  a  fathom 
wide,  and  thirteen  fathoms  deep  ;  but  for  the  purpose  of  connecting  with  a 
tunnel  which  has  already  been  driven  in  a  hill,  a  shaft  may  be  sunk  to  a 
depth  of  only  eight  fathoms,  at  other  times  to  fourteen,  more  or  less3.  A 
shaft  may  be  made  vertical  or  inclined,  according  as  the  vein  which  the 
miners  follow  in  the  course  of  digging  is  vertical  or  inclined.  A  tunnel  is  a 
subterranean  ditch  driven  lengthwise,  and  is  nearly  twice  as  high  as  it  is 
broad,  and  wide  enough  that  workmen  and  others  may  be  able  to  pass  and 
carry  their  loads.  It  is  usually  one  and  a  quarter  fathoms  high,  while 
its  width  is  about  three  and  three-quarters  feet.  Usually  two  workmen  are 
required  to  drive  it,  one  of  whom  digs  out  the  upper  and  the  other  the  lower 
part,  and  the  one  goes  forward,  while  the  other  follows  closely  after.  Each 
sits  upon  small  boards  fixed  securely  from  the  footwall  to  the  hangingwall, 
or  if  the  vein  is  a  soft  one,  sometimes  on  a  wedge-shaped  plank  fixed  on  to  the 
vein  itself.  Miners  sink  more  inclined  shafts  than  vertical,  and  some  of  each 
kind  do  not  reach  to  tunnels,  while  some  connect  with  them.  But  as  for 
some  shafts,  though  they  have  already  been  sunk  to  the  required  depth, 
the  tunnel  which  is  to  pierce  the  mountain  may  not  yet  have  been  driven 
far  enough  to  connect  with  them. 

It  is  advantageous  if  a  shaft  connects  with  a  tunnel,  for  then  the  miners 
and  other  workmen  carry  on  more  easily  the  work  they  have  undertaken  ; 
but  if  the  shaft  is  not  so  deep,  it  is  usual  to  drift  from  one  or  both  sides  of  it. 
From  these  openings  the  owner  or  foreman  becomes  acquainted  with  the 
veins  and  stringers  that  unite  with  the  principal  vein,  or  cut  across  it,  or 

•This  statement,  as  will  appear  by  the  description  later  on,  refers  to  the  depth  of 

winzes    or     to    the    distance     between    drifts,    that    is    "  the    lift."         We    have    not, 

however,  been  justified  in  using  the  term    "winze,"  because  some  of  these  were  openings 

to     the     surface.       As  showing     the     considerable    depth    of    shafts    in    Agricola's    time. 

we    may   quote    the   following   from   Bermannus    (p.    442)  :    "  The    depths    of   our   shafts 

forced   us   to   invent   hauling   machines   suitable   for   them.     There    are   some  of   them 

larger    and   more   ingenious    than    this    one,    for    use    in    deep    shafts,    as,    for    instance, 

those   in    my   native    town  of   Geyer,    but   more   especially   at   Schneeberg,    where    the 

shaft  of  the  mine  from  which  so  much  treasure  was  taken  in  our  memory  has  reached  the 

depth  of  about  200  fathoms    (feet  ?),    wherefore  the  necessity  of  this  kind  of  machinery. 

Naevius  :  What  an  enormous  depth  !   Have  you  reached  the  Inferno  ?      Bermannus  :   Oh, 

at  Kuttenberg  there  are  shafts  more  than  500  fathoms  (feet  ?)    deep.         Naevius  :    And 

not  yet  reached  the  Kingdom  of  Pluto  ?  "     It  is  impossible  to  accept  these  as  fathoms, 

as  this  would  in  the  last  case  represent  3,000  feet  vertically.     The  expression  used,  however, 

for  fathoms  is  passus.  presumably  the  Roman  measure  equal  to  58'!  inches. 


BOOK    V. 


103 


divide  it  obliquely  ;   however,  my  discourse  is  now  concerned  mainly  with 
vena  profunda,  but  most  of  all  with  the  metallic  material  which  it  contains. 


THREE  VERTICAL  SHAFTS,  OF  WHICH  THE  FIRST,  A,  DOES  NOT  REACH  THE  TUNNEL  ;  THE 

SECOND,  B,  REACHES  THE  TUNNEL ;  TO  THE  THIRD,  C,  THE  TUNNEL  HAS  NOT  YET  BEEN 

DRIVEN.     D— TUNNEL. 


IO4 


BOOK     V. 


Excavations  of  this  kind  were  called  by   the  Greeks  tcpwrrrai  for,  extending 
along  after  the  manner  of  a   tunnel,  they  are  entirely  hidden   within  the 


THREE  INCLINED  SHAFTS,  OF  WHICH  A  DOES  NOT  YET  REACH  THE  TUNNEL  ;  B  REACHES  THE 

TUNNEL  J   TO  THE  THIRD,  C,  THE  TUNNEL  HAS  NOT  YET  BEEN  DRIVEN.   D — TUNNEL. 


BOOK     V. 


105 


ground.      This  kind  of  an  opening,  however,  differs  from  a  tunnel  in  that  it 
is  dark  throughout  its  length,  whereas  a  tunnel  has  a  mouth  open  to  daylight. 


A — SiiArT.     B,  C — DRIFT.     D — ANOTHER  SHAFT.    E — TUNNEL.     F — MOUTH  OF  TUNNEL. 


106  BOOK    V. 

I  have  spoken  of  shafts,  tunnels,  and  drifts.  I  will  now  speak  of  the 
indications  given  by  the  canales,  by  the  materials  which  are  dug  out,  and  by 
the  rocks.  These  indications,  as  also  many  others  which  I  will  explain,  are 
to  a  great  extent  identical  in  venae  dilatatae  and  venae  cumulatae  with  venae 
pro/undue. 

When  a  stringer  junctions  with  a  main  vein  and  causes  a  swelling,  a 
shaft  should  be  sunk  at  the  junction.  But  when  we  find  the  stringer  inter- 
secting the  main  vein  crosswise  or  obliquely,  if  it  descends  vertically  down 
to  the  depths  of  the  earth,  a  second  shaft  should  be  sunk  to  the  point  where 
the  stringer  cuts  the  main  vein  ;  but  if  the  stringer  cuts  it  obliquely  the 
shaft  should  be  two  or  three  fathoms  back,  in  order  that  the  junction  may 
be  pierced  lower  down.  At  such  junctions  lies  the  best  hope  of  finding  the 
ore  for  the  sake  of  which  we  explore  the  ground,  and  if  ore  has  already  been 
found,  it  is  usually  found  in  much  greater  abundance  at  that  spot.  Again, 
if  several  stringers  descend  into  the  earth,  the  miner,  in  order  to  pierce 
through  the  point  of  contact,  should  sink  the  shaft  in  the  midst  of  these 
stringers,  or  else  calculate  on  the  most  prominent  one. 

Since  an  inclined  vein  often  lies  near  a  vertical  vein,  it  is  advisable 
to  sink  a  shaft  at  the  spot  where  a  stringer  or  cross-vein  cuts  them  both  ; 
or  where  a  vena  dilatata  or  a  stringer  dilatata  passes  through,  for  minerals 
are  usually  found  there.  In  the  same  way  we  have  a  good  prospect  of  finding 
metal  at  the  point  where  an  inclined  vein  joins  a  vertical  one  ;  this  is  why 
miners  cross-cut  the  hangingwall  or  footwall  of  a  main  vein,  and  in  these 
openings  seek  for  a  vein  which  may  junction  with  the  principal  vein  a  few 
fathoms  below.  Nay,  further,  these  same  miners,  if  no  stringer  or  cross- 
vein  intersects  the  main  vein  so  that  they  can  follow  it  in  their  workings, 
even  cross-cut  through  the  solid  rock  of  the  hangingwall  or  footwall.  These 
cross-cuts  are  likewise  called  "  Kpvirrat,"  whether  the  beginning  of  the 
opening  which  has  to  be  undertaken  is  made  from  a  tunnel  or  from  a  drift. 
Miners  have  some  hope  when  only  a  cross  vein  cuts  a  main  vein.  Further, 
if  a  vein  which  cuts  the  main  vein  obliquely  does  not  appear  anywhere 
beyond  it,  it  is  advisable  to  dig  into  that  side  of  the  main  vein  toward  which 
the  oblique  vein  inclines,  whether  the  right  or  left  side,  that  we  may  ascer- 
tain if  the  main  vein  has  absorbed  it ;  if  after  cross-cutting  six  fathoms  it 
is  not  found,  it  is  advisable  to  dig  on  the  other  side  of  the  main  vein,  that 
we  may  know  for  certain  whether  it  has  carried  it  forward.  The  owners 
of  a  main  vein  can  often  dig  no  less  profitably  on  that  side  where  the  vein 
which  cuts  the  main  vein  again  appears,  than  where  it  first  cuts  it ;  the 
owners  of  the  intersecting  vein,  when  that  is  found  again,  recover  their  title, 
which  had  in  a  measure  been  lost. 

The  common  miners  look  favourably  upon  the  stringers  which  come 
from  the  north  and  join  the  main  vein  ;  on  the  other  hand,  they  look 
unfavourably  upon  those  which  come  from  the  south,  and  say  that  these  do 
much  harm  to  the  main  vein,  while  the  former  improve  it.  But  I  think 
that  miners  should  not  neglect  either  of  them  :  as  I  showed  in  Book  III, 
experience  does  not  confirm  those  who  hold  this  opinion  about  veins,  so  now 


BOOK    V.  107 

again  I  could  furnish  examples  of  each  kind  of  stringers  rejected  by  the 
common  miners  which  have  proved  good,  but  I  know  this  could  be  of  little 
or  no  benefit  to  posterity. 

If  the  miners  find  no  stringers  or  veins  in  the  hangingwall  or  footwall  of 
the  main  vein,  and  if  they  do  not  find  much  ore,  it  is  not  worth  while  to 
undertake  the  labour  of  sinking  another  shaft.  Nor  ought  a  shaft  to  be  sunk 
where  a  vein  is  divided  into  two  or  three  parts,  unless  the  indications  are 
satisfactory  that  those  parts  may  be  united  and  joined  together  a  little  later. 
Further,  it  is  a  bad  indication  for  a  vein  rich  in  mineral  to  bend  and  turn 
hither  and  thither,  for  unless  it  goes  down  again  into  the  ground  vertically  or 
inclined,  as  it  first  began,  it  produces  no  more  metal ;  and  even  though  it 
does  go  down  again,  it  often  continues  barren.  Stringers  which  in  their 
outcrops  bear  metals,  often  disappoint  miners,  no  metal  being  found  in  depth. 
Further,  inverted  seams  in  the  rocks  are  counted  among  the  bad  indications. 

The  miners  hew  out  the  whole  of  solid  veins  when  they  show  clear  evidence 
of  being  of  good  quality ;  similarly  they  hew  out  the  drusy4  veins, 
especially  if  the  cavities  are  plainly  seen  to  have  formerly  borne  metal,  or 
if  the  cavities  are  few  and  small.  They  do  not  dig  barren  veins  through 
which  water  flows,  if  there  are  no  metallic  particles  showing  ;  occasionally, 
however,  they  dig  even  barren  veins  which  are  free  from  water,  because 
of  the  pyrites  which  is  devoid  of  all  metal,  or  because  of  a  fine  black  soft 
substance  which  is  like  wool.  They  dig  stringers  which  are  rich  in  metal, 
or  sometimes,  for  the  purpose  of  searching  for  the  vein,  those  that  are  devoid 
of  ore  which  lie  near  the  hangingwall  or  footwall  of  the  main  vein.  This 
then,  generally  speaking,  is  the  mode  of  dealing  with  stringers  and  veins. 

Let  us  now  consider  the  metallic  material  which  is  found  in  the  canales 
of  venae  pro/undue,  venae  dilatatae,  and  venae  cumulatae,  being  in  all  these 
either  cohesive  and  continuous,  or  scattered  and  dispersed  among  them, 
or  swelling  out  in  bellying  shapes,  or  found  in  veins  or  stringers  which 
originate  from  the  main  vein  and  ramify  like  branches  ;  but  these  latter  veins 
and  stringers  are  very  short,  for  after  a  little  space  they  do  not  appear  again. 
If  we  come  across  a  small  quantity  of  metallic  material  it  is  an  indication  ; 
but  if  a  large  quantity,  it  is  not  an  "  indication,"  but  the  very  thing  for 
which  we  explore  the  earth.  As  soon  as  a  miner  who  searches  for  veins 
discovers  pure  metal  or  minerals,  or  rich  metallic  material,  or  a  great 
abundance  of  material  which  is  poor  in  metal,  let  him  sink  a  shaft  on  the 
spot  without  any  delay.  If  the  material  appears  more  abundant  or  of  better 
quality  on  the  one  side,  he  will  incline  his  digging  in  that  direction. 

Gold,  silver,  copper,  and  quicksilver  are  often  found  native5  ;  less 
often  iron  and  bismuth  ;  almost  never  tin  and  lead.  Nevertheless  tin-stone 
is  not  far  removed  from  the  pure  white  tin  which  is  melted  out  of  them,  and 
galena,  from  which  lead  is  obtained,  differs  little  from  that  metal  itself. 

Now  we  may  classify  gold  ores.     Next  after  native  gold,  we  come  to  the 

*Cavernos.     The  Glossary  gives  drusen,  our  word  drusy  having  had  this  origin. 
*Purum, — "  pure."     Interpretatio  gives  the  German  as  gedigen, — "  native." 


io8 


BOOK    V. 


rudis6,  of  yellowish  green,  yellow,  purple,  black,  or  outside  red  and  inside 
gold  colour.  These  must  be  reckoned  as  the  richest  ores,  because  the  gold 
exceeds  the  stone  or  earth  in  weight.  Next  come  all  gold  ores  of  which  each 
one  hundred  librae  contains  more  than  three  unciae  of  gold7  ;  for  although  but 
a  small  proportion  of  gold  is  found  in  the  earth  or  stone,  yet  it  equals  in  value 
other  metals  of  greater  weight.8  All  other  gold  ores  are  considered  poor,  because 


*Rudis, — "  Crude."  By  this  expression  the  author  really  means  ores  very  rich  in 
any  designated  metal.  In  many  cases  it  serves  to  indicate  the  minerals  of  a  given  metal,  as 
distinguished  from  the  metal  itself.  Our  system  of  mineralogy  obviously  does  not  afford  an 
acceptable  equivalent.  Agricola  (De  Nat.  Foss.,  p.  360)  says  :  "  I  find  it  necessary  to  call 
'  each  genus  (of  the  metallic  minerals)  by  the  name  of  its  own  metal,  and  to  this  I  add  a 
'  word  which  differentiates  it  from  the  pure  (puro)  metal,  whether  the  latter  has  been  mined 
'  or  smelted  ;  so  I  speak  of  rudis  gold,  silver,  quicksilver,  copper,  tin,  bismuth,  lead,  or  iron. 
'  This  is  not  because  I  am  unaware  that  Varro  called  silver  rudis  which  had  not  yet  been 
'  refined  and  stamped,  but  because  a  word  which  will  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other  is 
'  not  to  be  found." 

'The  reasons  for  retaining  the  Latin  weights  are  given  in  the  Appendix  on  Weights 
and  Measures.  A  centumpondium  weighs  70.6  Ibs.  avoirdupois,  an  uncia  412.2  Troy 
grains,  therefore,  this  value  is  equal  to  72  ounces  18  pennyweights  per  short  ton. 

8Agricola  mentions  many  minerals  in  De  Re  Metallica,  but  without  such  description 
as  would  make  possible  a  hazard  at  their  identity.  From  his  De  Nafura  Fossilium,  however, 
and  from  other  mineralogies  of  the  i6th  Century,  some  can  be  fully  identified  and  others 
surmised.  While  we  consider  it  desirable  to  set  out  the  probable  composition  of  these 
minerals,  on  account  of  the  space  required,  the  reasons  upon  which  our  opinion  has  been  based 
cannot  be  given  in  detail,  as  that  would  require  extensive  quotations.  In  a  general  way,  we 
have  throughout  the  text  studiously  evaded  the  use  of  modern  mineralogical  terms — unless 
the  term  used  to-day  is  of  Agricola's  age— and  have  adopted  either  old  English  terms  of 
pre-chemistry  times  or  more  loose  terms  used  by  common  miners.  Obviously  modern 
mineralogic  terms  imply  a  precision  of  knowledge  not  existing  at  that  period.  It  must  not 
be  assumed  that  the  following  is  by  any  means  a  complete  list  of  the  minerals  described  by 
Agricola,  but  they  include  most  of  those  referred  to  in  this  chapter.  His  system  of  min- 
eralogy we  have  set  out  in  note  4,  p.  i,  and  it  requires  no  further  comment  here.  The 
grouping  given  below  is  simply  for  convenience  and  does  not  follow  Agricola's  method.  Where 
possible,  we  tabulate  in  columns  the  Latin  term  used  in  De  Re  Metallica;  the  German  equiv- 
alent given  by  the  Author  in  either  the  Interpretatio  or  the  Glossary  ;  our  view  of  the  probable 
modern  equivalent  based  on  investigation  of  his  other  works  and  other  ancient  mineralogies, 
and  lastly  the  terms  we  have  adopted  in  the  text.  The  German  spelling  is  that  given  in  the 
original.  As  an  indication  of  Agricola's  position  as  a  mineralogist,  we  mark  with  an  asterisk 
the  minerals  which  were  first  specifically  described  by  him.  We  also  give  some  notes  on 
matters  of  importance  bearing  on  the  nomenclature  used  in  De  Re  Metallica.  Historical  notes 
on  the  chief  metals  will  be  found  elsewhere,  generally  with  the  discussion  of  smelting  methods. 
We  should  not  omit  to  express  our  indebtedness  to  Dana's  great  "  System  of  Mineralogy," 
in  the  matter  of  correlation  of  many  old  and  modern  minerals. 

GOLD  MINERALS.  Agricola  apparently  believed  that  there  were  various  gold 
minerals,  green,  yellow,  purple,  black,  etc.  There  is  nothing,  however,  in  his  works  that 
permits  of  any  attempt  to  identify  them,  and  his  classification  seems  to  rest  on  gangue 
colours. 

SILVER  MINERALS. 
Argentum  purum  in  venis 

reperitur 
Argentum  rude     . . 


Gedigen  silber 
Gedigen  silber  ertz 


Argentum    rude    plumbei 

coloris Glas  ertz 

Argentum  rude  rubrum  . .         Rot  gold  ertz 


Argentite 


Argentum  rude  rubrum 

translucidum 
Argentum  rude  album 


Durchsichtig  rod 
gulden  ertz  . . 

Weis  rod  gulden  ertz  : 
Dan  es  ist  frisch  wie 
offtmals  rod  gulden 
ertz  pfleget  zusein  . . 


Pyrargyrite 
(Ag3SbS3) 

Proustite 
(Ag3As  S3) 


*Native  silver 
Rudis  silver,  or 
pure  silver 
minerals 

*Silver  glance 
*Red  silver 
*Ruby  silver 


White  silver 


BOOK    V.  109 

the  earth  or  stone  too  far  outweighs  the  gold.  A  vein  which  contains  a 
larger  proportion  of  silver  than  of  gold  is  rarely  found  to  be  a  rich  one. 
Earth,  whether  it  be  dry  or  wet,  rarely  abounds  in  gold  ;  but  in  dry  earth 
there  is  more  often  found  a  greater  quantity  of  gold,  especially  if  it  has  the 


Argentum    rude   jecoris 

colore 
Argentum  rude  luteum    . . 

Argentum  rude  cineraceum 
Argentum  rude  nigrum  . . 
Argentum  rude  purpureum 


Gedigen  leberfarbig 
ertz 
Gedigen  geelertz 

Gedigen  grate  erlz 
Gedigen  schwartz  ertz 


Part  Bromyrite 
(Ag  Br) 


Part  Cerargurite 
(Ag  Cl)  (Horn 
Silver)  Part 
Stephanite 
(Ag5SbS4) 


Liver-coloured 

silver 
Yellow  silver 

*Grey  silver 
*Black  silver 
*Purple  silver 


Gedigen  braun  ertz    . . 

The  last  six  may  be  in  part  also  alteration  products  from  all  silver  minerals. 
The  reasons  for  indefiniteness  in  determination  usually  lie  in  the  failure  of  ancient 
authors  to  give  sufficient  or  characteristic  descriptions.     In  many  cases  Agricola  is  sufficiently 
definite  as  to  assure  certainty,  as  the  following  description  of  what  we  consider  to  be  silver 
glance,  from  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  360),  will  indicate  :    "  Lead-coloured  rudis  silver  is 
'  called  by  the  Germans  from  the  word   glass   (glasertz),  not   from    lead.      Indeed,    it    has 
'  the  colour  of   the   latter    or    of  galena  (plumbago],  but  not  of  glass,  nor  is  it  transparent 
'  like  glass,  which  one  might  indeed  expect  had  the  name  been  correctly  derived.     This 
'  mineral  is  occasionally  so  like  galena  in  colour,  although  it  is  darker,  that  one  who  is  not 
'  experienced  in  minerals  is  unable  to  distinguish  between  the  two  at  sight,  but  in  substance 
'  they  differ  greatly  from  one  another.     Nature  has  made  this  kind  of  silver  out  of  a  little 
'  earth  and  much  silver.     Whereas  galena  consists  of  stone  and  lead  containing  some  silver. 
'  But  the  distinction  between  them  can  be  easily  determined,  for  galena  may  be  ground 
'  to  powder  in  a  mortar  with  a  pestle,  but  this  treatment  flattens  out  this  kind  of  rudis  silver. 
'  Also  galena,  when  struck  by  a  mallet  or  bitten  or  hacked  with  a  knife,  splits  and  breaks  to 
'  pieces  ;   whereas  this  silver  is  malleable  under  the  hammer,  may  be  dented  by  the  teeth, 
'  and  cut  with  a  knife." 


COPPER   MINERALS. 
Aes  purum  fossils        Gedigen  kupfer 
Aes  rude  plumbei 

colons  . .         Kupferglas  ertz 

Chalcitis  Rodt  atrament 


Pyrites   aurei 

colore 

Pyrites  aerosus . . 
Caeruleum 
Chrysocolla 

Molochites 
Lapis  aerarius  . . 
Aes  caldarium 
rubrum  fuscum 

or 

Aes  sui  coloris  . . 
Aes  nigrum 


Geelkis   oder 
kupferkis 

Berglasur 
Berggriin  und 
schifergriin 
Molochit 
Kupfer  ertz 

Lebeter  kupfer 

Rotkupfer 
Schwartz  kupfer 


Native  copper 

Chalcocite  (Cu2  S) 

A  decomposed  copper 

or  iron  sulphide 
Part  chalcopyrite  (Cu 

Fe   S)    part   bornite 


Azurite 

Part  chrysocolla 

Part  Malachite 

Malachite 


When  used  for  an  ore,  is 
probably  cuprite    . . 

Probably  CuO  from 
oxidation    of    other 
minerals 


Native  copper 

"Copper  glance 
Chalcitis  (see  notes 
on  p.  573) 

Copper  pyrites 

Azure 

Chrysocolla  (see 
note  7,  p.  560) 
Malachite 
Copper  ore 


*Ruby  copper  ore 


*Black  copper 


In  addition  to  the  above  the  Author   uses   the  following,  which  were  in  the  main 
artificial  products  : 


Aerugo 

Aes  luteum 
Aes  caldarium   . 
Aerisftos 
Aeris  squama    . 

Atr  amentum 
sutorium 
caeruleum  or 
chalcanthum 


Grunspan  oder 
Spanschgrun 
Gelfar  kupfer 
Lebeterkupfer 
Kupferbraun 
Kupferhammerschlag 


Verdigris 

Impure  blister  copper 

Cupric  oxide  scales    . . 


Blaw  kupfer  wasser        Chalcanthite 


Verdigris 
Unrefined  copper 

(see  note  16,  p.  511) 
J  Copper  flower 
(  Copper    scale     (see 
note  9,  p.  233) 


Native   blue  vitriol 
(see  note  on  p.  572) 


IO 


no 


BOOK    V. 


appearance  of  having  been  melted  in  a  furnace,  and  if  it  is  not  lacking  in 
scales  resembling  mica.  The  solidified  juices,  azure,  chrysocolla,  orpiment, 
and  realgar,  also  frequently  contain  gold.  Likewise  native  or  rudis  gold  is 
found  sometimes  in  large,  and  sometimes  in  small  quantities  in  quartz, 


Blue  and  green  copper  minerals  were  distinguished  by  all  the  ancient  mineralogists. 
Theophrastus,  Dioscorides,  Pliny,  etc.,  all  give  sufficient  detail  to  identify  their  cyanus  and 
caeruleum  partly  with  modern  azurite,  and  their  chrysocolla  partly  with  the  modern  mineral 
of  the  same  name.  However,  these  terms  were  also  used  for  vegetable  pigments,  as  well 
as  for  the  pigments  made  from  the  minerals.  The  Greek  origin  of  chrysocolla  (chrusos,  gold 
and  kolla,  solder)  may  be  blamed  with  another  and  distinct  line  of  confusion,  in  that  this 
term  has  been  applied  to  soldering  materials,  from  Greek  down  to  modern  times,  some  of  the 
ancient  mineralogists  even  asserting  that  the  copper  mineral  chrysocolla  was  used  for  this 
purpose.  Agricola  uses  chrysocolla  for  borax,  but  is  careful  to  state  in  every  case  (see  note 
xx.,  p.  x)  :  "  Chrysocolla  made  from  nitrum,"  or  "  Chrysocolla  which  the  Moors  call  Borax." 
Dioscorides  and  Pliny  mention  substances  which  were  evidently  copper  sulphides,  but  no 
description  occurs  prior  to  Agricola  that  permits  a  hazard  as  to  different  species. 

LEAD    MINERALS. 


Plumbarius  lapis 
Galena 
Plumbum  nigrum 

lutei  coloris     . . 
Plumbago  metallica 
Cerussa 
Ochra  facticia 

or  ochra  plumbaria    Pleigeel 


Giant*         . .         . .         Galena 
Glanfz   und   pleiertz        Galena 


Pleiertz  oder  pleischweis  Cerussite  (Pb  C03) 


Galena 
Galena 

Yellow  lead  ore 


Pleiweis 


Artificial  White-lead . 


Molybdaena 

Plumbago  fornacis 

Spuma  argenti  . . 

Lithargyrum 

Minium  secundarium  Menning 


Herdplei 
Glett 


Massicot  (Pb  O) 

Part  litharge  . . 

Litharge 
Minium  (Pb3O4) 


White-lead    (see 
note  4,  p.  440) 
*Lead-ochre  (see 
note  8,  p.  232) 
Hearth-lead    (see 
note  37,  p.  476) 
Litharge  (see  note 

on  p.  465) 
Red-lead  (see  note 
7.  P-  232) 

So  far  as  we  can  determine,  all  of  these  except  the  first  three  were  believed  by  Agricola 
to  be  artificial  products.  Of  the  first  three,  galena  is  certain  enough,  but  while  he  obviously 
was  familiar  with  the  alteration  lead  products,  his  descriptions  are  inadequate  and  much 
confused  with  the  artificial  oxides.  Great  confusion  arises  in  the  ancient  mineralogies  over 
the  terms  molybdaena,  plumbago,  plumbum,  galena,  and  spuma  argenti,  all  of  which,  from 
Roman  mineralogists  down  to  a  century  after  Agricola,  were  used  for  lead  in  some  form.  Further 
discussion  of  such  confusion  will  be  found  in  note  37,  p.  476.  Agricola  in  Bermannus  and 
De  Natura  Fossilium,  devotes  pages  to  endeavouring  to  reconcile  the  ancient  usages  of  these 
terms,  and  all  the  confusion  existing  in  Agricola's  time  was  thrice  confounded  when  the 
names  molybdaena  and  plumbago  were  assigned  to  non-lead  minerals. 

TIN.  Agricola  knew  only  one  tin  mineral  :  Lapilli  nigri  ex  quibus  conflalur  plumbum 
candidum,  i.e.,  "  Little  black  stones  from  which  tin  is  smelted,"  and  he  gives  the  German 
equivalent  as  zwitter,  "  tinstone."  He  describes  them  as  being  of  different  colours,  but 
probably  due  to  external  causes. 

ANTIMONY.  (Inter pretatio, — spiesglas.)  The  stibi  or  stibium  of  Agricola  was  no 
doubt  the  sulphide,  and  he  follows  Dioscorides  in  dividing  it  into  male  and  female  species. 
This  distinction,  however,  is  impossible  to  apply  from  the  inadequate  descriptions  given. 
The  mineral  and  metal  known  to  Agricola  and  his  predecessors  was  almost  always  the  sulphide, 
and  we  have  not  felt  justified  in  using  the  term  antimony  alone,  as  that  implies  the  refined 
product,  therefore,  we  have  adopted  either  the  Latin  term  or  the  old  English  term  "  grey 
antimony."  The  smelted  antimony  of  commerce  sold  under  the  latter  term  was  the 
sulphide.  For  further  notes  see  p.  428. 

BISMUTH*.  Plumbum  cinereum  (Inter pretatio, — bismut).  Agricola  states  that  this 
mineral  occasionally  occurs  native,  "  but  more  often  as  a  mineral  of  another  colour  "  (De 
Nat.  Fos.,  p.  337),  and  he  also  describes  its  commonest  form  as  black  or  grey.  This, 
considering  his  localities,  would  indicate  the  sulphide,  although  he  assigns  no  special  name  to 
it.  Although  bismuth  is  mentioned  before  Agricola  in  the  Nutzliche  Bergbuchlin,  he  was  the 
first  to  describe  it  (see  p.  433). 

QUICKSILVER.  Apart  from  native  quicksilver,  Agricola  adequately  describes  cinna- 
bar only.  The  term  used  by  him  for  the  mineral  is  minium  nativum  (Interpretatio, — 
bergzinober  or  cinnabaris).  He  makes  the  curious  statement  (DeNat.  Fos.  p.  335)  that  rudis 
quicksilver  also  occurs  liver-coloured  and  blackish, — probably  gangue  colours.  (See  p.  432). 


BOOK    V. 


in 


schist,  marble,  and  also  in  stone  which  easily  melts  in  fire  of  the  second 
degree,  and  which  is  sometimes  so  porous  that  it  seems  completely  decom- 
posed.     Lastly,  gold  is  found  in  pyrites,  though  rarely  in  large  quantities. 
When  considering  silver  ores  other  than  native  silver,  those  ores  are 


ARSENICAL  MINERALS.  Metallic  arsenic  was  unknown,  although  it  has  been  main- 
tained that  a  substance  mentioned  by  Albertus  Magnus  (De  Rebus  Metallicis)  was  the 
metallic  form.  Agricola,  who  was  familiar  with  all  Albertus's  writings,  makes  no  mention 
of  it,  and  it  appears  to  us  that  the  statement  of  Albertus  referred  only  to  the  oxide  from 
sublimation.  Our  word  "  arsenic  "  obviously  takes  root  in  the  Greek  for  orpiment,  which 
was  also  used  by  Pliny  (xxxiv,  56)  as  arrhenicum,  and  later  was  modified  to  arsenicum 
by  the  Alchemists,  who  applied  it  to  the  oxide.  Agricola  gives  the  following  in  Bermannus  (p. 
448),  who  has  been  previously  discussing  realgar  and  orpiment : — "  Ancon  :  Avicenna 
"  also  has  a  white  variety.  Bermannus  :  I  cannot  at  all  believe  in  a  mineral  of  a  white 
"  colour  ;  perhaps  he  was  thinking  of  an  artificial  product ;  there  are  two  which  the  Alchemists 
"  make,  one  yellow  and  the  other  white,  and  they  are  accounted  the  most  powerful  poisons 
"  to-day,  and  are  called  only  by  the  name  arsenicum."  In  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  219)  is 
described  the  making  of  "  the  white  variety  "  by  sublimating  orpiment,  and  also  it  is  noted 
that  realgar  can  be  made  from  orpiment  by  heating  the  latter  for  five  hours  in  a  sealed 
crucible.  In  De  Re  Metallica  (Book  X.),  he  refers  to  auripigmentum  facticum,  and  no  doubt 
means  the  realgar  made  from  orpiment.  The  four  minerals  of  arsenic  base  mentioned  by 
Agricola  were  : — 

Operment        . .         Orpiment  (As?  83 )     . .  Orpiment 

Rosgeel  . .         Realgar  (As  S)  . .  Realgar 

Arsenih  Artificial  arsenical  oxide         White  arsenic 


A  uripigmentum 
Sandaraca 
Arsenicum 

Lapis  subrutilus  atque 
.  .  splendens 


*Mispickel 


Mistpuckel     . .         Arsenopyrite  (Fe  As  S) 

We  are  somewhat  uncertain  as  to  the  identification  of  the  last.  The  yellow  and  red  sul- 
phides, however,  were  well  known  to  the  Ancients,  and  are  described  by  Aristotle,  Theophrastus 
(71  and  89),  Dioscorides  (v,  81),  Pliny  (xxxni,  22,  etc.)  ;  and  Strabo  (xn,  3,  40)  mentions 
a  mine  of  them  near  Pompeiopolis,  where,  because  of  its  poisonous  character  none  but  slaves 
were  employed.  The  Ancients  believed  that  the  yellow  sulphide  contained  gold — hence 
the  name  aunpigmentum,  and  Pliny  describes  the  attempt  of  the  Emperor  Caligula  to  extract 
the  gold  from  it,  and  states  that  he  did  obtain  a  small  amount,  but  unprofitably.  So  late 
a  mineralogist  as  Hill  (1750)  held  this  view,  which  seemed  to  be  general.  Both  realgar  and 
orpiment  were  important  for  pigments,  medicinal  purposes,  and  poisons  among  the  Ancients. 
In  addition  to  the  above,  some  arsenic-cobalt  minerals  are  included  under  cadmia. 

IRON    MINERALS. 
Ferrum  purum 
Terra  ferria 
Ferri  vena 

Galenas  genus  tertium 
omnis  metalli 


Gedigen  eistn . . 
Eisen  ertz 
Eisen  ertz 


Native  iron 


*Native  iron 


mamssimt 
Schistos 

Ferri  vena  jecoris 

colore 
Ferrugo 
Magnes 

Ochra  nativa . . 


Haematites 

Schistos 

Pyrites 

Pyrites  argenti  coloris 

Misy  .. 

Sory   .. 

Melanteria 

The  classification  of  iron 


Eisen  glantz  . . 
Glaskcipfe    oder 
bliitstein 


Leber  ertz 
Rust    . . 
Siegelstein 
magnet 
Berg  geel 

Bliit  stein 

Glas  kopfe 
Kis 

wasser  oder 
weisser  kis 
Gel  atrament 


oder 


Various  soft  and  hard 
iron  ores,  probably 
mostly  hematite  . . 


Part  limonite 

Magnetite 
Limonite 

Part  hematite 
Part  jasper 
Part  limonite . 
Pyrites 

Marcasite 
Part  copiapite 


Graw    und  Partly   a    decomposed 

Schwartz  atrament      iron  pyrite 
Schwartz    und  Melanterite    (native 

grau  atrament  vitriol) 

ores  on  the  basis  of  exterior  characteristics, 


Ironstone 


Iron  rust 

Lodestone 
Yellow    ochre    or 

ironstone 
Bloodstone  or 

ironstone 
Ironstone 
Pyrites 

*White  iron  pyrites 
Misy  (see  note  on 

P-  573) 
Sory  (see  note  on 

P-  573) 
Melanteria   (see 

note  on  p.  573) 
chiefly  hardness   and 


H2  BOOK    V. 

classified  as  rich,  of  which  each  one  hundred  librae  contains  more  than  three 
librae  of  silver.  This  quality  comprises  rudis  silver,  whether  silver  glance  or 
ruby  silver,  or  whether  white,  or  black,  or  grey,  or  purple,  or  yellow,  or  liver- 
brilliancy,  does  not  justify  a  more  narrow  rendering  than  "  ironstone."  Agricola  (De  Nat. 
Fos.,  Book  V.)  gives  elaborate  descriptions  of  various  iron  ores,  but  the  descriptions  under 
any  special  name  would  cover  many  actual  minerals.  The  subject  of  pyrites  is  a  most  con- 
fused one ;  the  term  originates  from  the  Greek  word  for  fire,  and  referred  in  Greek  and 
Roman  times  to  almost  any  stone  that  would  strike  sparks.  By  Agricola  it  was  a  generic 
term  in  somewhat  the  same  sense  that  it  is  still  used  in  mineralogy,  as,  for  instance,  iron 
pyrite,  copper  pyrite,  etc.  So  much  was  this  the  case  later  on,  that  Henckel,  the  leading 
mineralogist  of  the  i8th  Century,  entitled  his  large  volume  Pyritologia,  and  in  it  embraces 
practically  all  the  sulphide  minerals  then  known.  The  term  marcasite,  of  mediaeval  Arabic 
origin,  seems  to  have  had  some  vogue  prior  and  subsequent  to  Agricola.  He,  however,  puts 
it  on  one  side  as  merely  a  synonym  for  pyrite,  nor  can  it  be  satisfactorily  defined  in  much 
better  terms.  Agricola  apparently  did  not  recognise  the  iron  base  of  pyrites,  for  he  says 
(De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  366)  :  "  Sometimes,  however,  pyrites  do  not  contain  any  gold,  silver,  copper, 
"  or  lead,  and  yet  it  is  not  a  pure  stone,  but  a  compound,  and  consists  of  stone  and  a  substance 
"  which  is  somewhat  metallic,  which  is  a  species  of  its  own."  Many  varieties  were  known 
to  him  and  described,  partly  by  their  other  metal  association,  but  chiefly  by  their  colour. 

CADMIA.  The  minerals  embraced  under  this  term  by  the  old  mineralogists  form 
one  of  the  most  difficult  chapters  in  the  history  of  mineralogy.  These  complexities  reached 
their  height  with  Agricola,  for  at  this  time  various  new  minerals  classed  under  this  heading 
had  come  under  debate.  All  these  minerals  were  later  found  to  be  forms  of  zinc,  cobalt,  or 
arsenic,  and  some  of  these  minerals  were  in  use  long  prior  to  Agricola.  From  Greek  and 
Roman  times  down  to  long  after  Agricola,  brass  was  made  by  cementing  zinc  ore  with 
copper.  Aristotle  and  Strabo  mention  an  earth  used  to  colour  copper,  but  give  no  details. 
It  is  difficult  to  say  what  zinc  mineral  the  cadmium  of  Dioscorides  (v,  46)  and  Pliny 
(xxxiv,  2),  really  was.  It  was  possibly  only  furnace  calamine,  or  perhaps  blende,  for  it  was 
associated  with  copper.  They  amply  describe  cadmia  produced  in  copper  furnaces,  and 
pompholyx  (zinc  oxide).  It  was  apparently  not  until  Theophilus  (1150)  that  the  term 
calamina  appears  for  that  mineral.  Precisely  when  the  term  "  zinc,"  and  a  knowledge  of 
the  metal,  first  appeared  in  Europe  is  a  matter  of  some  doubt ;  it  has  been  attributed  to 
Paracelsus,  a  contemporary  of  Agricola  (see  note  on  p.  409),  but  we  do  not  believe  that  author's 
work  in  question  was  printed  until  long  after.  The  quotations  from  Agricola  given  below,  in 
which  zincum  is  mentioned  in  an  obscure  way,  do  not  appear  in  the  first  editions  of  these 
works,  but  only  in  the  revised  edition  of  1559.  In  other  words,  Agricola  himself  only  learned 
of  a  substance  under  this  name  a  short  period  before  his  death  in  1555.  The  metal  was 
imported  into  Europe  from  China  prior  to  this  time.  He  however  does  describe  actual 
metallic  zinc  under  the  term  conterfei,  and  mentions  its  occurrence  in  the  cracks  of  furnace 
walls.  (See  also  notes  on  p.  409). 

The  word  cobalt  (German  kobelt)  is  from  the  Greek  word  cobalos,  "  mime,"  and  its 
German  form  was  the  term  for  gnomes  and  goblins.  It  appears  that  the  German  miners, 
finding  a  material  (Agricola's  "corrosive  material ")  which  injured  their  hands  and  feet,  con- 
nected it  with  the  goblins,  or  used  the  term  as  an  epithet,  and  finally  it  became  established 
for  certain  minerals  (see  note  21,  p.  214,  on  this  subject).  The  first  written  appearance  of  the 
term  in  connection  with  minerals,  appears  in  Agricola's  Bermannus  (1530).  The  first 
practical  use  of  cobalt  was  in  the  form  of  zaffre  or  cobalt  blue.  There  seems  to  be  no  mention 
of  the  substance  by  the  Greek  or  Roman  writers,  although  analyses  of  old  colourings  show 
some  traces  of  cobalt,  but  whether  accidental  or  not  is  undetermined.  The  first  mention 
we  know  of,  was  by  Biringuccio  in  1540  (De  La  Pirotechnica,  Book  n,  Chap,  ix.),  who  did 
not  connect  it  with  the  minerals  then  called  cobalt  or  cadmia.  "  Zaffera  is  another  mineral 
'  substance,  like  a  metal  of  middle  weight,  which  will  not  melt  alone,  but  accompanied 
'  by  vitreous  substances  it  melts  into  an  azure  colour  so  that  those  who  colour  glass,  or 
'  paint  vases  or  glazed  earthenware,  make  use  of  it.  Not  only  does  it  serve  for  the  above- 
'  mentioned  operations,  but  if  one  uses  too  great  a  quantity  of  it,  it  will  be  black  and  all  other 
'  colours,  according  to  the  quantity  used."  Agricola,  although  he  does  not  use  the  word 
zaffre,  does  refer  to  a  substance  of  this  kind,  and  in  any  event  also  missed  the  relation 
between  zaffre  and  cobalt,  as  he  seems  to  think  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  347)  that  zaffre  came  from 
bismuth,  a  belief  that  existed  until  long  after  his  time.  The  cobalt  of  the  Erzgebirge  was 
of  course,  intimately  associated  with  this  mineral.  He  says,  "  the  slag  of  bismuth,  mixed 
"  together  with  metalliferous  substances,  which  when  melted  make  a  kind  of  glass,  will  tint 
"  glass  and  earthenware  vessels  blue."  Zaffre  is  the  roasted  mineral  ground  with  sand,  while 
smalt,  a  term  used  more  frequently,  is  the  fused  mixture  with  sand. 

The  following  are  the  substances  mentioned  by  Agricola,  which,  we  believe,  relate 
to  cobalt  and  zinc  minerals,  some  of  them  arsenical  compounds.  Other  arsenical  minerals 
we  give  above. 


BOOK    V. 


coloured,  or  any  other.  Sometimes  quartz,  schist,  or  marble  is  of  this  quality 
also,  if  much  native  or  rudis  silver  adheres  to  it.  But  that  ore  is  considered 
of  poor  quality  if  three  librae  of  silver  at  the  utmost  are  found  in  each 
one  hundred  librae  of  it9.  Silver  ore  usually  contains  a  greater  quantity 


Cadmia  fossilis     . . 

Cadmia  metallica . . 
Cadmia  fornacis    . . 

Bituminosa  cadmia 

Galena  inanis 
Cobaltum  cineraceum 
Cobaltum  nigrum 
Cobaltum  ferri 

colore 
Zincum 
Liquor  Candidus 

ex  fornace  .  .  .  etc 
Atr  amentum  sutorium, 

candidum,  polis- 

simum  reperitur 

Goselariae 
Spodos    subtenanea 

cinerea 

Spodos   subtenanea 
nigra 


Spodos    subtenanea 

viridis    .  . 
Pompholyx 


Calmei ;  lapis 
calaminaris    . . 

Kobelt     .. 

Mitlere  und  obere 
offenbruche 

Kobelt  des  bergwachl 

Blende 


Zinck 
Conterfei 


Geeler  zechen  rauch 

Schwartzer  zechen 
rauch,  auff  dem, 
Altenberge  nennet 
man  in  kis 


Calamine 

Part  cobalt 

Furnace  accretions    . . 

or  furnace  calamine 
(Mansfeld  copper 

schists) 

Sphalerite*  (Zu  S)  . . 
Smallite*  (CoAs2 )  . . 
Abolite* 

Cobaltite  (CoAsA)  . . 
Zinc 

Zinc 


Goslarite  (Zn  SO4 ) 


Grauer  zechen  rauch 
Hiittenrauch 


Either  natural  or  arti- 
ficial zinc  oxides,  no 
doubt    containing 
arsenical  oxides 


Calamine 
*Cadmia  melallica 

Furnace  accretions 
Bituminosa  cadmia 
(see  note  4,  p.  273) 
*Blende 

Cadmia  metallica 

Zinc 

See  note  48,  p.  408 


*Native  white  vitriol 
Grey  spodos 

Black  spodos 


Green  spodos 

Pompholyx   (see 
note  26,  p.  394) 

As  seen  from  the  following  quotations  from  Agricola,  on  cadmia  and  cobalt,  there  was  infinite 

confusion  as  to  the  zinc,  cobalt,  and  arsenic  minerals  ;  nor  do  we  think  any  good  purpose  is 

served  by  adding  to  the  already  lengthy  discussion  of  these  passages,  the  obscurity  of  which 

is  natural  to  the  state  of  knowledge  ;    but  we  reproduce  them  as  giving  a  fairly  clear  idea  of 

the  amount  of  confusion  then  existing.     It  is,  however,  desirable  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 

mines  familiar  to  Agricola  abounded  in  complex  mixtures  of  cobalt,  nickel,  arsenic,  bismuth, 

zinc,  and  antimony.     Agricola  frequently  mentions  the  garlic  odour  from  cadmia  metallica, 

which,  together  with  the  corrosive  qualities  mentioned  below,  would  obviously  be  due  to 

arsenic.     Bermannus  (p.  459).     "  This  kind  of  pyrites  miners  call  cobaltum,  if  it  be  allowed 

'  to  me  to  use  our  German  name.     The   Greeks   call   it   cadmia.     The  juices,  however,  out 

'  of  which  pyrites  and  silver  are  formed,  appear  to  solidify  into  one  body,  and  thus  is  produced 

'  what  they  call  cobaltum.     There  are  some  who  consider  this  the  same  as  pyrites,  because 

'  it  is  almost  the  same.     There  are  some  who  distinguish  it  as  a  species,  which  pleases  me, 

'  for  it  has  the  distinctive  property  of  being  extremely  corrosive,  so  that  it  consumes  the 

'  hands  and  feet  of  the  workmen,  unless  they  are  well  protected,  which  I  do  not  believe  that 

'  pyrites  can  do.     Three  kinds  are  found,  and  distinguished  more  by  the  colour  than  by  other 

'  properties  ;   they  are  black  (abolite  ?),  grey  (smallite  ?),  and  iron  colour  (cobalt  glance  ?). 

'  Moreover,  it  contains  more  silver  than  does  pyrites.     .     ."     Bermannus  (p.  431).     "  It  (a 

'  sort  of  pyrites)  is  so  like  the  colour  of  galena  that  not  without  cause  might  anybody  have 

'  doubt  in  deciding  whether  it  be  pyrites  or  galena Perhaps  this  kind  is  neither 

'  pyrites  nor  galena,  but  has  a  genus  of  its  own.  For  it  has  not  the  colour  of  pyrites,  nor  the 
'  hardness.  It  is  almost  the  colour  of  galena,  but  of  entirely  different  components.  From 
'  it  there  is  made  gold  and  silver,  and  a  great  quantity  is  dug  out  from  Reichenstein  which 
'  is  in  Silesia,  as  was  lately  reported  to  me.  Much  more  is  found  at  Raurici,  which  they  call 
'  zincum ;  which  species  differs  from  pyrites,  for  the  latter  contains  more  silver  than  gold, 
'  the  former  only  gold,  or  hardly  any  silver." 

(De  Natura  Fossilium,  p.  170).  "  Cadmia  fossilis  has  an  odour  like  garlic  "  .  .  (p.  367). 
We  now  proceed  with  cadmia,  not  the  cadmia  fornacis  (furnace  accretions)  of 
which  I  spoke  in  the  last  book,  nor  the  cadmia  fossilis  (calamine)  devoid  of  metal,  which 
is  used  to  colour  copper,  whose  nature  I  explained  in  Book  V,  but  the  metallic  mineral 
(fossilis  metallica),  which  Pliny  states  to  be  an  ore  from  which  copper  is  made.  The 
Ancients  have  left  no  record  that  another  metal  could  be  smelted  from  it.  Yet  it  is  a  fact 


•Three  librae  of  silver  per  centumpondium  would  be  equal  to  875  ounces  per  short  ton. 


BOOK    V. 


than  this,  because  Nature  bestows  quantity  in  place  of  quality;  such  ore 
is  mixed  with  all  kinds  of  earth  and  stone  compounds,  except  the  various 
kinds  of  rudis  silver ;  especially  with  pyrites,  cadmia  metallica  fossilis,  galena, 
stibium,  and  others. 

"  that  not  only  copper  but  also  silver  may  be  smelted  from  it,  and  indeed  occasionally  both 
copper  and  silver  together.  Sometimes,  as  is  the  case  with  pyrites,  it  is  entirely  devoid 
of  metal.  It  is  frequently  found  in  copper  mines,  but  more  frequently  still  in  silver  mines. 
And  there  are  likewise  veins  of  cadmia  itself.  .  .  .  There  are  several  species  of  the 
cadmia  fossilis  just  as  there  were  of  cadmia  fornacum.  For  one  kind  has  the  form  of  grapes 
and  another  of  broken  tiles,  a  third  seems  to  consist  of  layers.  But  the  cadmia  fossilis 
has  much  stronger  properties  than  that  which  is  produced  in  the  furnaces.  Indeed,  it  often 
possesses  such  highly  corrosive  power  that  it  corrodes  the  hands  and  feet  of  the  miners. 
It,  therefore,  differs  from  pyrites  in  colour  and  properties.  For  pyrites,  if  it  does  not 
contain  vitriol,  is  generally  either  of  a  gold  or  silver  colour,  rarely  of  any  other.  Cadmia 
is  either  black  or  brown  or  grey,  or  else  reddish  like  copper  when  melted  in  the  furnace. 
.  .  .  .  For  this  cadmia  is  put  in  a  suitable  vessel,  in  the  same  way  as  quicksilver,  so 
that  the  heat  of  the  fire  will  cause  it  to  sublimate,  and  from  it  is  made  a  black  or  brown  or 
grey  body  which  the  Alchemists  call  "sublimated  cadmia"  (cadmiam  sublima(am).  This 
possesses  corrosive  properties  of  the  highest  degree.  Cognate  with  cadmia  and  pyrites 
is  a  compound  which  the  Noricians  and  Rhetians  call  zincum.  This  contains  gold  and 
silver,  and  is  either  red  or  white.  It  is  likewise  found  in  the  Sudetian  mountains,  and  is 
devoid  of  those  metals.  .  .  .  With  this  cadmia  is  naturally  related  mineral  spodos, 
known  to  the  Moor  Serapion,  but  unknown  to  the  Greeks  ;  and  also  pompholyx — for  both 
are  produced  by  fire  where  the  miners,  breaking  the  hard  rocks  in  drifts,  tunnels,  and 
shafts,  burn  the  cadmia  or  pyrites  or  galena  or  other  similar  minerals.  From  cadmia  is 
made  black,  brown,  and  grey  spodos ;  from  pyrites,  white  pompholyx  and  spodos  ;  from 
galena  is  made  yellow  or  grey  spodos.  But  pompholyx  produced  from  copper  stone  (lapide 
aeroso)  after  some  time  becomes  green.  The  black  spodos,  similar  to  soot,  is  found  at 
Altenberg  in  Meissen.  The  white  pompholyx,  like  wool  which  floats  in  the  air  in  summer, 
is  found  in  Hildesheim  in  the  seams  in  the  rocks  of  almost  all  quarries  except  in  the  sand- 
stone. But  the  grey  and  the  brown  and  the  yellow  pompholyx  are  found  in  those  silver 
mines  where  the  miners  break  up  the  rocks  by  fire.  All  consist  of  very  fine  particles  which 
are  very  light,  but  the  lightest  of  all  is  white  pompholyx." 
QUARTZ  MINERALS. 

Quartz 


Quarzum    ("  which 
Latins  call  silex  ") 
Silex 

Crysiallum 
Achates 
Sarda 
Jaspis 

Murrhina 
Coticula 


Querlz  oder 

kiselstein 
Hornstein    oder 

feurstein 
Crystal    . . 
A  chat 
Carneol  . . 
Jaspis     . . 

Chalcedonius 
Goldstein 


Amethystus  ..         Amethyst 

LIME    MINERALS. 
Lapis  specularis  . . 
Gypsum 
M armor 

Marmor  alabastrites 
Marmor  glarea 
Saxum  calcis 
Marga 
Tophus 


Gips 

Marmelstein 
Alabaster 

Kalchstein 
Mergel  . . 
Toffstein  oder 

topstein 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Amiantus  ..         . .         Federwis,  pliant 
salamanderhar   . 


Magnetis   . . 

Bracteolae  magnetidi 

simile 
Mica 


Silberweis  oder 
katzensilber 


Katzensilber  oder 
glimmer 


Flinty  or  jaspery 

quartz 

Clear  crystals . . 
Agate 
Carnelian 
Part  coloured  quartz 

part  jade  . . 
Chalcedony  . . 
A  black  silicious  stone 

Amethyst 

Gypsum 

Marble 
Alabaster 
Calcite(?) 
Limestone 

Marl 

Sintry  limestones, 
stalagmites,  etc.     . . 


Usually  asbestos 


i-  Mica 


Quartz  (see  note  15, 
p.  380) 

Hornstone 
Crystal 
Agate 
Carnelian 

Jaspis 
Chalcedony 
Touchstone  (see 
note  37,  p.  252) 
Amethyst 

Gypsum 

Marble 
Alabaster 
Calc  spar(?) 
Limestone 
Marl 

Tophus    (see    note 
13,  P-  233) 


Asbestos 


*Mica 


BOOK    V.  115 

As  regards  other  kinds  of  metal,  although  some  rich  ores  are  found, 
still,  unless  the  veins  contain  a  large  quantity  of  ore,  it  is  very  rarely  worth 
while  to  dig  them.  The  Indians  and  some  other  races  do  search  for  gems  in 
veins  hidden  deep  in  the  earth,  but  more  often  they  are  noticed  from  their 
clearness,  or  rather  their  brilliancy,  when  metals  are  mined.  When  they 
outcrop,  we  follow  veins  of  marble  by  mining  in  the  same  way  as  is 
done  with  rock  or  building-stones  when  we  come  upon  them.  But 
gems,  properly  so  called,  though  they  sometimes  have  veins  of  their  own, 
are  still  for  the  most  part  found  in  mines  and  rock  quarries,  as  the 
lodestone  in  iron  mines,  the  emery  in  silver  mines,  the  lapis  judaicus, 
trochites,  and  the  like  in  stone  quarries  where  the  diggers,  at  the  bidding 
of  the  owners,  usually  collect  them  from  the  seams  in  the  rocks.10  Nor  does  the 
miner  neglect  the  digging  of  "  extraordinary  earths,"11  whether  they  are  found 

Silex  ex  eo   iclu  Jerri 
facile  ignis  elicitur. 
.     .     .       excubus 
figuris         . .         . .  . .  . .         Feldspar  . .         . .          *Feldspar 

Medulla  saxorum     . .         Steinmarck . .         ..         Kaolinite . .         . .  Porcelain  clay 

Fluores  (lapides  gem- 
marum  simili}       ..         Flusse         ..         ..         Fluorspar  ..         'Fluorspar  (see  note 

Marmor    in    metallis  15,  p.  380) 

repertum     ..         . .         Spat  . .         . .         Barite      . .         . .         *Heavy  spar 

Apart  from  the  above,  many  other  minerals  are  mentioned  in  other  chapters,  and 
some  information  is  given  with  regard  to  them  in  the  footnotes. 

10As  stated  in  note  on  p.  2,  Agricola  divided  "  stones  so  called  "  into  four  kinds ; 
the  first,  common  stones  in  which  he  included  lodestone  and  jasper  or  bloodstone ;  the 
second  embraced  gems ;  the  third  were  decorative  stones,  such  as  marble,  porphyry,  etc. ; 
the  fourth  were  rocks,  such  as  sandstone  and  limestone. 

LODESTONE.  (Magnes ;  Interpretatio  gives  Siegelstein  oder  magnet).  The  lode- 
stone  was  well-known  to  the  Ancients  under  various  names — magnes,  magnetis,  heraclion, 
and  sideritis.  A  review  of  the  ancient  opinions  as  to  its  miraculous  properties  would  require 
more  space  than  can  be  afforded.  It  is  mentioned  by  many  Greek  writers,  including 
Hippocrates  (460-372  B.C.)  and  Aristotle  ;  while  Theophrastus  (53),  Dioscorides  (v,  105), 
and  Pliny  (xxxiv,  42,  xxxvi  25)  describe  it  at  length.  The  Ancients  also  maintained 
the  existence  of  a  stone,  theamedes,  having  repellant  properties,  and  the  two  were  supposed 
to  exist  at  times  in  the  same  stone. 

EMERY.  (Smiris ;  Interpretatio  gives  smirgel).  Agricola  (De  Natura  Fossilium.,  p. 
265)  says  :  "  The  ring-makers  polish  and  clean  their  hard  gems  with  smiris.  The  glaziers 
"  use  it  to  cut  their  glass  into  sheets.  It  is  found  in  the  silver  mines  of  Annaberg  in  Meissen 
"  and  elsewhere."  Stones  used  for  polishing  gems  are  noted  by  the  ancient  authors,  and 
Dana  (Syst.  of  Mineralogy,  p.  211)  considers  the  stone  of  Armenia,  of  Theophrastus  (77),  to  be 
emery,  although  it  could  quite  well  be  any  hard  stone,  such  as  Novaculite — which  is  found 
in  Armenia.  Dioscorides  (v,  166)  describes  a  stone  with  which  the  engravers  polish  gems. 
LAPIS  JUDAICUS.  (Interpretatio  gives  Jiiden  stein).  This  was  undoubtedly  a  fossil, 
possibly  a  pentremites.  Agricola  (De  Natura  Fosilium,  p.  256)  says  :  "  It  is  shaped  like  an 
"  acorn,  from  the  obtuse  end  to  the  point  proceed  raised  lines,  all  equidistant,  etc."  Many 
fossils  were  included  among  the  semi-precious  stones  by  the  Ancients.  Pliny  (xxxvn,  55, 
66,  73)  describes  many  such  stones,  among  them  the  balanites,  phoenicitis  and  the  pyren, 
which  resemble  the  above. 

TROCHITIS.  (Interpretatio  gives  spangen  oder  rederstein).  This  was  also  a  fossil, 
probably  crinoid  stems.  Agricola  (De  Natura  Fosilium,  p.  256)  describes  it :  "  Trochites  is  so 
called  from  a  wheel,  and  is  related  to  lapis  judaicus.  Nature  has  indeed  given  it  the  shape 
of  a  drum  (tympanum).  The  round  part  is  smooth,  but  on  both  ends  as  it  were  there  is  a 
module  from  which  on  all  sides  there  extend  radii  to  the  outer  edge,  which  corresponds  with 
the  radii.  These  radii  are  so  much  raised  that  it  is  fluted.  The  size  of  these  trochites 
varies  greatly,  for  the  smallest  is  so  little  that  the  largest  is  ten  times  as  big,  and  the  largest 
are  a  digit  in  length  by  a  third  of  a  digit  in  thickness  .  .  .  when  immersed  in  vinegar 
they  make  bubbles." 

uThe  "  extraordinary  earths  "  of  Agricola  were  such  substances  as  ochres,  tripoli, 
fullers  earth,  potters'  clay,  clay  used  for  medicinal  purposes,  etc.,  etc. 


u6  BOOK    V. 

v 

in  gold  mines,  silver  mines,  or  other  mines  ;  nor  do  other  miners  neglect  them 
if  they  are  found  in  stone  quarries,  or  in  their  own  veins  ;  their  value  is  usually 
indicated  by  their  taste.  Nor,  lastly,  does  the  miner  fail  to  give  attention  to 
the  solidified  juices  which  are  found  in  metallic  veins,  as  well  as  in  their  own 
veins,  from  which  he  collects  and  gathers  them.  But  I  will  say  no  more 
on  these  matters,  because  I  have  explained  more  fully  all  the  metals  and 
mineral  substances  in  the  books  "  De  Natura  Fossilium." 

But  I  will  return  to  the  indications.  If  we  come  upon  earth  which  is 
like  lute,  in  which  there  are  particles  of  any  sort  of  metal,  native  or  rudis, 
the  best  possible  indication  of  a  vein  is  given  to  miners,  for  the  metallic 
material  from  which  the  particles  have  become  detached  is  necessarily  close 
by.  But  if  this  kind  of  earth  is  found  absolutely  devoid  of  all  metallic 
material,  but  fatty,  and  of  white,  green,  blue,  and  similar  colours,  they  must 
not  abandon  the  work  that  has  been  started.  Miners  have  other  indications  in 
the  veins  and  stringers,  which  I  have  described  already,  and  in  the  rocks,  about 
which  I  will  speak  a  little  later.  If  the  miner  comes  across  other  dry  earths 
which  contain  native  or  rudis  metal,  that  is  a  good  indication  ;  if  he  comes 
across  yellow,  red,  black,  or  some  other  "  extraordinary  "  earth,  though  it  is 
devoid  of  mineral,  it  is  not  a  bad  indication.  Chrysocolla,  or  azure,  or  verdigris, 
or  orpiment,  or  realgar,  when  they  are  found,  are  counted  among  the  good 
indications.  Further,  where  underground  springs  throw  up  metal  we  ought 
to  continue  the  digging  we  have  begun,  for  this  points  to  the  particles  having 
been  detached  from  the  main  mass  like  a  fragment  from  a  body.  In  the 
same  way  the  thin  scales  of  any  metal  adhering  to  stone  or  rock  are  counted 
among  the  good  indications.  Next,  if  the  veins  which  are  composed  partly 
of  quartz,  partly  of  clayey  or  dry  earth,  descend  one  and  all  into  the  depths 
of  the  earth  together,  with  their  stringers,  there  is  good  hope  of  metal  being 
found  ;  but  if  the  stringers  afterward  do  not  appear,  or  little  metallic 
material  is  met  with,  the  digging  should  not  be  given  up  until  there  is  nothing 
remaining.  Dark  or  black  or  horn  or  liver-coloured  quartz  is  usually  a  good 
sign  ;  white  is  sometimes  good,  sometimes  no  sign  at  all.  But  calc-spar, 
showing  itself  in  a  vena  profunda,  if  it  disappears  a  little  lower  down  is  not  a 
good  indication  ;  for  it  did  not  belong  to  the  vein  proper,  but  to  some  stringer. 
Those  kinds  of  stone  which  easily  melt  in  fire,  especially  if  they  are  translucent 
(fluorspar?),  must  be  counted  among  the  medium  indications,  for  if  other 
good  indications  are  present  they  are  good,  but  if  no  good  indications  are 
present,  they  give  no  useful  significance.  In  the  same  way  we  ought  to  form 
our  judgment  with  regard  to  gems.  Veins  which  at  the  hangingwall  and 
footwall  have  horn-coloured  quartz  or  marble,  but  in  the  middle  clayey 
earth,  give  some  hope  ;  likewise  those  give  hope  in  which  the  hangingwall 
or  footwall  shows  iron-rust  coloured  earth,  and  in  the  middle  greasy  and 
sticky  earth  ;  also  there  is  hope  for  those  which  have  at  the  hanging  or  footwall 
that  kind  of  earth  which  we  call  "  soldiers'  earth,"  and  in  the  middle  black 
earth  or  earth  which  looks  as  if  burnt.  The  special  indication  of  gold  is 
orpiment ;  of  silver  is  bismuth  and  stibium  ;  of  copper  is  verdigris,  melanteria, 
sory,  chalcitis,  misy,  and  vitriol ;  of  tin  is  the  large  pure  black  stones  of 


BOOK    V.  117 

which  the  tin  itself  is  made,  and  a  material  they  dig  up  resembling  litharge  ; 
of  iron,  iron  rust.  Gold  and  copper  are  equally  indicated  by  chrysocolla  and 
azure ;  silver  and  lead,  by  the  lead.  But,  though  miners  rightly 
call  bismuth  "  the  roof  of  silver,"  and  though  copper  pyrites  is  the  common 
parent  of  vitriol  and  melanteria,  still  these  sometimes  have  their  own 
peculiar  minerals,  just  as  have  orpiment  and  stibium. 

Now,  just  as  certain  vein  materials  give  miners  a  favourable  indication, 
so  also  do  the  rocks  through  which  the  canales  of  the  veins  wind  their 
way,  for  sand  discovered  in  a  mine  is  reckoned  among  the  good  indications, 
especially  if  it  is  very  fine.  In  the  same  way  schist,  when  it  is  of  a 
bluish  or  blackish  colour,  and  also  limestone,  of  whatever  colour  it  may  be,  is 
a  good  sign  for  a  silver  vein.  There  is  a  rock  of  another  kind  that  is  a  good  sign  ; 
in  it  are  scattered  tiny  black  stones  from  which  tin  is  smelted  ;  especially  when 
the  whole  space  between  the  veins  is  composed  of  this  kind  of  rock. 
Very  often  indeed,  this  good  kind  of  rock  in  conjunction  with  valuable 
stringers  contains  within  its  folds  the  canales  of  mineral  bearing  veins  :  if 
it  descends  vertically  into  the  earth,  the  benefit  belongs  to  that  mine  in 
which  it  is  seen  first  of  all ;  if  inclined,  it  benefits  the  other  neighbouring 
mines12.  As  a  result  the  miner  who  is  not  ignorant  of  geometry  can  calculate 
from  the  other  mines  the  depth  at  which  the  canales  of  a  vein  bearing  rich 
metal  will  wind  its  way  through  the  rock  into  his  mine.  So  much  for  these 
matters. 

I  now  come  to  the  mode  of  working,  which  is  varied  and  complex,  for  in 
some  places  they  dig  crumbling  ore,  in  others  hard  ore,  in  others  a  harder 
ore,  and  in  others  the  hardest  kind  of  ore.  In  the  same  way,  in  some  places 
the  hangingwall  rock  is  soft  and  fragile,  in  others  hard,  in  others  harder,  and 
in  still  others  of  the  hardest  sort.  I  call  that  ore  "  crumbling  "  which  is  com- 
posed of  earth,  and  of  soft  solidified  juices  ;  that  ore  "  hard  "  which  is  composed 
of  metallic  minerals  and  moderately  hard  stones,  such  as  for  the  most  part 
are  those  which  easily  melt  in  a  fire  of  the  first  and  second  orders,  like  lead 
and  similar  materials.  I  call  that  ore  "  harder  "  when  with  those  I  have  already 
mentioned  are  combined  various  sorts  of  quartz,  or  stones  which  easily  melt 
in  fire  of  the  third  degree,  or  pyrites,  or  cadmia,  or  very  hard  marble.  I  call 
that  ore  hardest,  which  is  composed  throughout  the  whole  vein  of  these  hard 
stones  and  compounds.  The  hanging  or  footwalls  of  a  vein  are  hard,  when 
composed  of  rock  in  which  there  are  few  stringers  or  seams  ;  harder,  in 
which  they  are  fewer ;  hardest,  in  which  they  are  fewest  or  none  at  all. 
When  these  are  absent,  the  rock  is  quite  devoid  of  water  which  softens 
it.  But  the  hardest  rock  of  the  hanging  or  footwall,  however,  is  seldom  as 
hard  as  the  harder  class  of  ore. 

Miners  dig  out  crumbling  ore  with  the  pick  alone.  When  the  metal 
has  not  yet  shown  itself,  they  do  not  discriminate  between  the  hangingwall 
and  the  veins  ;  when  it  has  once  been  found,  they  work  with  the  utmost  care. 
For  first  of  all  they  tear  away  the  hangingwall  rock  separately  from  the  vein, 
afterward  with  a  pick  they  dislodge  the  crumbling  vein  from  the  footwall 
"Presumably  the  ore-body  dips  into  a  neighbouring  property. 


n8  BOOK    V. 

into  a  dish  placed  underneath  to  prevent  any  of  the  metal  from  falling  to 
the  ground.  They  break  a  hard  vein  loose  from  the  footwall  by  blows  with 
a  hammer  upon  the  first  kind  of  iron  tool13,  all  of  which  are  designated  by 
appropriate  names,  and  with  the  same  tools  they  hew  away  the  hard  hanging- 
wall  rock.  They  hew  out  the  hangingwall  rock  in  advance  more  frequently,  the 
rock  of  the  footwall  more  rarely ;  and  indeed,  when  the  rock  of  the  footwall 
resists  iron  tools,  the  rock  of  the  hangingwall  certainly  cannot  be  broken  unless 
it  is  allowable  to  shatter  it  by  fire.  With  regard  to  the  harder  veins  which  are 
tractable  to  iron  tools,  and  likewise  with  regard  to  the  harder  and  hardest 
kind  of  hangingwall  rock,  they  generally  attack  them  with  more  powerful 
iron  tools,  in  fact,  with  the  fourth  kind  of  iron  tool,  which  are  called  by  their 
appropriate  names  ;  but  if  these  are  not  ready  to  hand,  they  use  two  or 
three  iron  tools  of  the  first  kind  together.  As  for  the  hardest  kind  of  metal- 
bearing  vein,  which  in  a  measure  resists  iron  tools,  if  the  owners  of  the 
neighbouring  mines  give  them  permission,  they  break  it  with  fires.  But  if 
these  owners  refuse  them  permission,  then  first  of  all  they  hew  out  the  rock  of 
the  hangingwall,  or  of  the  footwall  if  it  be  less  hard  ;  then  they  place  timbers 
set  in  hitches  in  the  hanging  or  footwall,  a  little  above  the  vein,  and  from 
the  front  and  upper  part,  where  the  vein  is  seen  to  be  seamed  with  small 
cracks,  they  drive  into  one  of  the  little  cracks  one  of  the  iron  tools  which 
I  have  mentioned  ;  then  in  each  fracture  they  place  four  thin  iron 
blocks,  and  in  order  to  hold  them  more  firmly,  if  necessary,  they  place 
as  many  thin  iron  plates  back  to  back ;  next  they  place  thinner  iron 
plates  between  each  two  iron  blocks,  and  strike  and  drive  them  by 
turns  with  hammers,  whereby  the  vein  rings  with  a  shrill  sound ;  and  the 
moment  when  it  begins  to  be  detached  from  the  hangingwall  or  footwall 
rock,  a  tearing  sound  is  heard.  As  soon  as  this  grows  distinct  the  miners 
hastily  flee  away  ;  then  a  great  crash  is  heard  as  the  vein  is  broken  and'  torn, 
and  falls  down.  By  this  method  they  throw  down  a  portion  of  a  vein  weigh- 
ing a  hundred  pounds  more  or  less.  But  if  the  miners  by  any  other  method 
hew  the  hardest  kind  of  vein  which  is  rich  in  metal,  there  remain  certain 
cone-shaped  portions  which  can  be  cut  out  afterward  only  with  difficulty.  As 
for  this  knob  of  hard  ore,  if  it  is  devoid  of  metal,  or  if  they  are  not  allowed  to 
apply  fire  to  it,  they  proceed  round  it  by  digging  to  the  right  or  left,  because 
it  cannot  be  broken  into  by  iron  wedges  without  great  expense.  Meantime, 
while  the  workmen  are  carrying  out  the  task  they  have  undertaken,  the 
depths  of  the  earth  often  resound  with  sweet  singing,  whereby  they  lighten  a 
toil  which  is  of  the  severest  kind  and  full  of  the  greatest  dangers. 

As  I  have  just  said,  fire  shatters  the  hardest  rocks,  but  the  method  of  its 
application  is  not  simple14.    For  if  a  vein  held  in  the  rocks  cannot  be  hewn 

18The  various  kinds  of  iron  tools  are  described  in  great  detail  in  Book  VI. 

"Fire-setting  as  an  aid  to  breaking  rock  is  of  very  ancient  origin,  and  moreover  it 
persisted  in  certain  German  and  Norwegian  mines  down  to  the  end  of  the  igth  century — 
270  years  after  the  first  application  of  explosives  to  mining.  The  first  specific  reference  to 
fire-setting  in  mining  is  by  Agatharchides  (2nd  century  B.C.)  whose  works  are  not  extant, 
but  who  is  quoted  by  both  Diodorus  Siculus  and  Photius,  for  which  statement  see  note  8,  p. 
279.  Pliny  (xxxin,  21)  says  :  "  Occasionally  a  kind  of  silex  is  met  with,  which  must  be 
"  broken  with  fire  and  vinegar,  or  as  the  tunnels  are  filled  with  suffocating  fumes  and  smoke, 


BOOK    V.  119 

out  because  of  the  hardness  or  other  difficulty,  and  the  drift  or  tunnel  is 
low,  a  heap  of  dried  logs  is  placed  against  the  rock  and  fired  ;  if  the  drift  or 
tunnel  is  high,  two  heaps  are  necessary,  of  which  one  is  placed  above  the 
other,  and  both  burn  until  the  fire  has  consumed  them.  This  force  does  not 
generally  soften  a  large  portion  of  the  vein,  but  only  some  of  the  surface. 
When  the  rock  in  the  hanging  or  footwall  can  be  worked  by  the  iron  tools 
and  the  vein  is  so  hard  that  it  is  not  tractable  to  the  same  tools,  then  the 
walls  are  hollowed  out ;  if  this  be  in  the  end  of  the  drift  or  tunnel  or  above 
or  below,  the  vein  is  then  broken  by  fire,  but  not  by  the  same  method  ;  for 
if  the  hollow  is  wide,  as  many  logs  are  piled  into  it  as  possible,  but  if  narrow, 
only  a  few.  By  the  one  method  the  greater  fire  separates  the  vein  more 
completely  from  the  footwall  or  sometimes  from  the  hangingwall,  and  by  the 
other,  the  smaller  fire  breaks  away  less  of  the  vein  from  the  rock,  because  in 
that  case  the  fire  is  confined  and  kept  in  check  by  portions  of  the  rock  which 
surround  the  wood  held  in  such  a  narrow  excavation.  Further,  if  the 
excavation  is  low,  only  one  pile  of  logs  is  placed  in  it,  if  high,  there  are 
two,  one  placed  above  the  other,  by  which  plan  the  lower  bundle  being 
kindled  sets  alight  the  upper  one  ;  and  the  fire  being  driven  by  the  draught 
into  the  vein,  separates  it  from  the  rock  which,  however  hard  it  may  be,  often 
becomes  so  softened  as  to  be  the  most  easily  breakable  of  all.  Applying  this 
principle,  Hannibal,  the  Carthaginian  General,  imitating  the  Spanish  miners, 

"  they  frequently  use  bruising  machines,  carrying  150  librae  of  iron."  This  combination 
of  fire  and  vinegar  he  again  refers  to  (xxm,  27),  where  he  dilates  in  the  same  sentence  on  the 
usefulness  of  vinegar  for  breaking  rock  and  for  salad  dressing.  This  myth  about  breaking 
rocks  with  fire  and  vinegar  is  of  more  than  usual  interest,  and  its  origin  seems  to  be  in  the 
legend  that  Hannibal  thus  broke  through  the  Alps.  Livy  (59  B.C.,  17  A.D.)  seems  to  be  the  first 
to  produce  this  myth  in  writing  ;  and,  in  any  event,  by  Pliny's  time  (23-79  A-D-)  it  had  become 
an  established  method — in  literature.  Livy  (XXI,  37)  says,  in  connection  with  Hannibal's 
crossing  of  the  Alps  :  "  They  set  fire  to  it  (the  timber)  when  a  wind  had  arisen  suitable  to 
"  excite  the  fire,  then  when  the  rock  was  hot  it  was  crumbled  by  pouring  on  vinegar  (infuso 
"  aceto).  In  this  manner  the  cliff  heated  by  the  fire  was  broken  by  iron  tools,  and  the 
"  declivities  eased  by  turnings,  -so  that  not  only  the  beasts  of  burden  but  also  the  elephants 
"  could  be  led  down."  Hannibal  crossed  the  Alps  in  218  B.C.  and  Livy's  account  was 
written  200  years  later,  by  which  time  Hannibal's  memory  among  the  Romans  was  generally 
surrounded  by  Herculean  fables.  Be  this  as  it  may,  by  Pliny's  time  the  vinegar  was 
generally  accepted,  and  has  been  ceaselessly  debated  ever  since.  Nor  has  the  myth  ceased 
to  grow,  despite  the  remarks  of  Gibbon,  Lavalette,  and  others.  A  recent  historian  (Hen- 
nebert,  Histoire  d'  Annibal  n,  p.  253)  of  that  famous  engineer  and  soldier,  soberly  sets  out  to 
prove  that  inasmuch  as  literal  acceptance  of  ordinary  vinegar  is  impossible,  the  Phoenecians 
must  have  possessed  some  mysterious  high  explosive.  A  still  more  recent  biographer  swallows 
this  argument  in  Mo.  (Morris,  "  Hannibal,"  London,  1903,  p.  103).  A  study  of  the  com- 
mentators of  this  passage,  although  it  would  fill  a  volume  with  sterile  words,  would  disclose 
one  generalization  :  That  the  real  scholars  have  passed  over  the  passage  with  the  comment 
that  it  is  either  a  corruption  or  an  old  woman's  tale,  but  that  hosts  of  soldiers  who  set  about 
the  biography  of  famous  generals  and  campaigns,  almost  to  a  man  take  the  passage  seriously, 
and  seriously  explain  it  by  way  of  the  rock  being  limestone,  or  snow,  or  by  the  use  of  explosives, 
or  other  foolishness.  It  has  been  proposed,  although  there  are  grammatical  objections,  that  the 
text  is  slightly  corrupt  and  read  infosso  acuto,  instead  of  infuso  aceto,  in  which  case  all  becomes 
easy  from  a  mining  point  of  view.  If  so,  however,  it  must  be  assumed  that  the  corruption 
occurred  during  the  20  years  between  Livy  and  Pliny. 

By  the  use  of  fire-setting  in  recent  times  at  Konigsberg  (Arthur  L.  Collins, 
"  Fire-setting,"  Federated  Inst.  of  Mining  Engineers,  Vol.  V,  p.  82)  an  advance  of  from  5  to 
20  feet  per  month  in  headings  was  accomplished,  and  on  the  score  of  economy  survived  the 
use  of  gunpowder,  but  has  now  been  abandoned  in  favour  of  dynamite.  We  may  mention 
that  the  use  of  gunpowder  for  blasting  was  first  introduced  at  Schemnitz  by  Caspar  Weindle, 
in  1627,  but  apparently  was  not  introduced  into  English  mines  for  nearly  75  years  afterward, 
as  the  late  I7th  century  English  writers  continue  to  describe  fire-setting. 


120 


BOOK    V. 


overcame  the  hardness  of  the  Alps  by  the  use  of  vinegar  and  fire.  Even 
if  a  vein  is  a  very  wide  one,  as  tin  veins  usually  are,  miners  excavate  into  the 
small  streaks,  and  into  those  hollows  they  put  dry  wood  and  place  amongst 
them  at  frequent  intervals  sticks,  all  sides  of  which  are  shaved  down  fan- 
shaped,  which  easily  take  light,  and  when  once  they  have  taken  fire  com- 
municate it  to  the  other  bundles  of  wood,  which  easily  ignite. 


A — KINDLED  LOGS.     B — STICKS  SHAVED  DOWN  FAN-SHAPED.    C — TUNNEL. 

While  the  heated  veins  and  rock  are  giving  forth  a  foetid  vapour  and  the 
shafts  or  tunnels  are  emitting  fumes,  the  miners  and  other  workmen  do  not 
go  down  in  the  mines  lest  the  stench  affect  their  health  or  actually  kill  them, 
as  I  will  explain  in  greater  detail  when  I  come  to  speak  of  the  evils  which 
affect  miners.  The  Bergmeister,  in  order  to  prevent  workmen  from  being 
suffocated,  gives  no  one  permission  to  break  veins  or  rock  by  fire  in  shafts  or 
tunnels  where  it  is  possible  for  the  poisonous  vapour  and  smoke  to  permeate 
the  veins  or  stringers  and  pass  through  into  the  neighbouring  mines,  which 
have  no  hard  veins  or  rock.  As  for  that  part  of  a  vein  or  the  surface  of  the 
rock  which  the  fire  has  separated  from  the  remaining  mass,  if  it  is  overhead, 
the  miners  dislodge  it  with  a  crowbar,  or  if  it  still  has  some  degree  of  hardness, 
they  thrust  a  smaller  crowbar  into  the  cracks  and  so  break  it  down,  but  if 


BOOK    V. 


121 


it  is  on  the  sides  they  break  it  with  hammers.  Thus  broken  off,  the  rock 
tumbles  down  ;  or  if  it  still  remains,  they  break  it  off  with  picks.  Rock 
and  earth  on  the  one  hand,  and  metal  and  ore  on  the  other,  are  filled  into 
buckets  separately  and  drawn  up  to  the  open  air  or  to  the  nearest  tunnel. 
If  the  shaft  is  not  deep,  the  buckets  are  drawn  up  by  a  machine  turned  by 
men  ;  if  it  is  deep,  they  are  drawn  by  machines  turned  by  horses. 

It  often  happens  that  a  rush  of  water  or  sometimes  stagnant  air  hinders 
the  mining  ;  for  this  reason  miners  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  these 
matters,  just  as  much  as  to  digging,  or  they  should  do  so.  The  water  of  the 
veins  and  stringers  and  especially  of  vacant  workings,  must  be  drained  out 
through  the  shafts  and  tunnels.  Air,  indeed,  becomes  stagnant  both  in 
tunnels  and  in  shafts  ;  in  a  deep  shaft,  if  it  be  by  itself,  this  occurs  if  it  is 
neither  reached  by  a  tunnel  nor  connected  by  a  drift  with  another  shaft  ; 
this  occurs  in  a  tunnel  if  it  has  been  driven  too  far  into  a  mountain  and  no 
shaft  has  yet  been  sunk  deep  enough  to  meet  it ;  in  neither  case  can  the 
air  move  or  circulate.  For  this  reason  the  vapours  become  heavy  and 
resemble  mist,  and  they  smell  of  mouldiness,  like  a  vault  or  some  under- 
ground chamber  which  has  been  completely  closed  for  many  years.  This 
suffices  to  prevent  miners  from  continuing  their  work  for  long  in  these  places, 
even  if  the  mine  is  full  of  silver  or  gold,  or  if  they  do  continue,  they  cannot 
breathe  freely  and  they  have  headaches  ;  this  more  often  happens  if  they 
work  in  these  places  in  great  numbers,  and  bring  many  lamps,  which  then 
supply  them  with  a  feeble  light,  because  the  foul  air  from  both  lamps  and 
men  make  the  vapours  still  more  heavy. 

A  small  quantity  of  water  is  drawn  from  the  shafts  by  machines  of 
different  kinds  which  men  turn  or  work.  If  so  great  a  quantity  has  flowed 
into  one  shaft  as  greatly  to  impede  mining,  another  shaft  is  sunk  some 
fathoms  distant  from  the  first,  and  thus  in  one  of  them  work  and  labour  are 
carried  on  without  hindrance,  and  the  water  is  drained  into  the  other,  which 
is  sunk  lower  than  the  level  of  the  water  in  the  first  one  ;  then  by  these 
machines  or  by  those  worked  by  horses,  the  water  is  drawn  up  into  the  drain 
and  flows  out  of  the  shaft-house  or  the  mouth  of  the  nearest  tunnel.  But 
when  into  the  shaft  of  one  mine,  which  is  sunk  more  deeply,  there  flows  all 
the  water  of  all  the  neighbouring  mines,  not  only  from  that  vein  in  which 
the  shaft  is  sunk,  but  also  from  other  veins,  then  it  becomes  necessary  for  a 
large  sump  to  be  made  to  collect  the  water  ;  from  this  sump  the  water  is 
drained  by  machines  which  draw  it  through  pipes,  or  by  ox-hides,  about 
which  I  will  say  more  in  the  next  book.  The  water  which  pours  into  the 
tunnels  from  the  veins  and  stringers  and  seams  in  the  rocks  is  carried 
away  in  the  drains. 

Air  is  driven  into  the  extremities  of  deep  shafts  and  long  tunnels  by 
powerful  blowing  machines,  as  I  will  explain  in  the  following  book,  which 
will  deal  with  these  machines  also.  The  outer  air  flows  spontaneously  into 
the  caverns  of  the  earth,  and  when  it  can  pass  through  them  comes  out  again. 
This,  however,  comes  about  in  different  ways,  for  in  spring  and  summer  it 
flows  into  the  deeper  shafts,  traverses  the  tunnels  or  drifts,  and  finds  its  way 


122  BOOK    V. 

out  of  the  shallower  shafts  ;  similarly  at  the  same  season  it  pours  into  the 
lowest  tunnel  and,  meeting  a  shaft  in  its  course,  turns  aside  to  a  higher  tunnel 
and  passes  out  therefrom  ;  but  in  autumn  and  winter,  on  the  other  hand,  it 
enters  the  upper  tunnel  or  shaft  and  comes  out  at  the  deeper  ones.  This 
change  in  the  flow  of  air  currents  occurs  in  temperate  regions  at  the  beginning 
of  spring  and  the  end  of  autumn,  but  in  cold  regions  at  the  end  of  spring 
and  the  beginning  of  autumn.  But  at  each  period,  before  the  air  regularly 
assumes  its  own  accustomed  course,  generally  for  a  space  of  fourteen  days 
it  undergoes  frequent  variations,  now  blowing  into  an  upper  shaft  or 
tunnel,  now  into  a  lower  one.  But  enough  of  this,  let  us  now  proceed  to 
what  remains. 

There  are  two  kinds  of  shafts,  one  of  the  depth  already  described,  of 
which  kind  there  are  usually  several  in  one  mine  ;  especially  if  the  mine  is 
entered  by  a  tunnel  and  is  metal-bearing.  For  when  the  first  tunnel  is 
connected  with  the  first  shaft,  two  new  shafts  are  sunk  ;  or  if  the  inrush  of 
water  hinders  sinking,  sometimes  three  are  sunk  ;  so  that  one  may  take 
the  place  of  a  sump  and  the  work  of  sinking  which  has  been  begun  may  be 
continued  by  means  of  the  remaining  two  shafts  ;  the  same  is  done  in  the 
case  of  the  second  tunnel  and  the  third,  or  even  the  fourth,  if  so  many  are 
driven  into  a  mountain.  The  second  kind  of  shaft  is  very  deep,  sometimes 
as  much  as  sixty,  eighty,  or  one  hundred  fathoms.  These  shafts  continue 
vertically  toward  the  depths  of  the  earth,  and  by  means  of  a  hauling-rope 
the  broken  rock  and  metalliferous  ores  are  drawn  out  of  the  mine  ;  for  which 
reason  miners  call  them  vertical  shafts.  Over  these  shafts  are  erected 
machines  by  which  water  is  extracted ;  when  they  are  above  ground  the 
machines  are  usually  worked  by  horses,  but  when  they  are  in  tunnels,  other 
kinds  are  used  which  are  turned  by  water-power.  Such  are  the  shafts  which 
are  sunk  when  a  vein  is  rich  in  metal. 

Now  shafts,  of  whatever  kind  they  may  be,  are  supported  in  various 
ways.  If  the  vein  is  hard,  and  also  the  hanging  and  footwall  rock,  the  shaft 
does  not  require  much  timbering,  but  timbers  are  placed  at  intervals,  one  end 
of  each  of  which  is  fixed  in  a  hitch  cut  into  the  rock  of  the  hangingwall  and 
the  other  fixed  into  a  hitch  cut  in  the  footwall.  To  these  timbers  are  fixed 
small  timbers  along  the  footwall,  to  which  are  fastened  the  lagging  and 
ladders.  The  lagging  is  also  fixed  to  the  timbers,  both  to  those  which  screen 
off  the  shaft  on  the  ends  from  the  vein,  and  to  those  which  screen  off  the 
rest  of  the  shaft  from  that  part  in  which  the  ladders  are  placed.  The  lagging 
on  the  sides  of  the  shaft  confine  the  vein,  so  as  to  prevent  fragments  of  it 
which  have  become  loosened  by  water  from  dropping  into  the  shaft  and 
terrifying,  or  injuring,  or  knocking  off  the  miners  and  other  workmen  who 
are  going  up  or  down  the  ladders  from  one  part  of  the  mine  to  another.  For 
the  same  reason,  the  lagging  between  the  ladders  and  the  haulage-way  on 
the  other  hand,  confine  and  shut  off  from  the  ladders  the  fragments  of  rock 
which  fall  from  the  buckets  or  baskets  while  they  are  being  drawn  up  ; 
moreover,  they  make  the  arduous  and  difficult  descent  and  ascent  to  appear 
less  terrible,  and  in  fact  to  be  less  dangerous. 


BOOK    V. 


123 


If  a  vein  is  soft  and  the  rock  of  the  hanging  and  footwalls  is  weak, 
a  closer  structure  is  necessary  ;  for  this  purpose  timbers  are  joined  together 
in  rectangular  shapes  and  placed  one  after  the  other  without  a  break.  These 


A — WALL  PLATES.    B — DIVIDERS.    C — LONG  END  POSTS.    D — END  PLATES. 


124  BOOK    V. 

are  arranged  on  two  different  systems  ;  for  either  the  square  ends  of  the 
timbers,  which  reach  from  the  hangingwall  to  the  f ootwall,  are  fixed  into  corres- 
ponding square  holes  in  the  timbers  which  lie  along  the  hanging  or  footwall, 
or  the  upper  part  of  the  end  of  one  and  the  lower  part  of  the  end  of  the  other 
are  cut  out  and  one  laid  on  the  other.  The  great  weight  of  these  joined 
timbers  is  sustained  by  stout  beams  placed  at  intervals,  which  are  deeply  set 
into  hitches  in  the  footwall  and  hangingwall,  but  are  inclined.  In  order  that 
these  joined  timbers  may  remain  stationary,  wooden  wedges  or  poles  cut 
from  trees  are  driven  in  between  the  timbers  and  the  vein  and  the  hanging 
wall  and  the  footwall ;  and  the  space  which  remains  empty  is  filled  with  loose 
dirt.  If  the  hanging  and  footwall  rock  is  sometimes  hard  and  sometimes  soft, 
and  the  vein  likewise,  solid  joined  timbers  are  not  used,  but  timbers  are 
placed  at  intervals ;  and  where  the  rock  is  soft  and  the  vein  crumbling, 
carpenters  put  in  lagging  between  them  and  the  wall  rocks,  and  behind  these 
they  fill  with  loose  dirt ;  by  this  means  they  fill  up  the  void. 

When  a  very  deep  shaft,  whether  vertical  or  inclined,  is  supported  by 
joined  timbers,  then,  since  they  are  sometimes  of  bad  material  and  a  fall  is 
threatened,  for  the  sake  of  greater  firmness  three  or  four  pairs  of  strong  end 
posts  are  placed  between  these,  one  pair  on  the  hangingwall  side,  the  other 
on  the  footwall  side.  To  prevent  them  from  falling  out  of  position  and  to 
make  them  firm  and  substantial,  they  are  supported  by  frequent  end  plates, 
and  in  order  that  these  may  be  more  securely  fixed  they  are  mortised  into 
the  posts.  Further,  in  whatever  way  the  shaft  may  be  timbered,  dividers 
are  placed  upon  the  wall  plates,  and  to  these  is  fixed  lagging,  and  this 
marks  off  and  separates  the  ladder-way  from  the  remaining  part  of  the  shaft. 
If  a  vertical  shaft  is  a  very  deep  one,  planks  are  laid  upon  the  timbers  by  the 
side  of  the  ladders  and  fixed  on  to  the  timbers,  in  order  that  the  men  who  are 
going  up  or  down  may  sit  or  stand  upon  them  and  rest  when  they  are  tired. 
To  prevent  danger  to  the  shovellers  from  rocks  which,  after  being  drawn  up 
from  so  deep  a  shaft  fall  down  again,  a  little  above  the  bottom  of  the  shaft 
small  rough  sticks  are  placed  close  together  on  the  timbers,  in  such  a  way  as 
to  cover  the  whole  space  of  the  shaft  except  the  ladder-way.  A  hole, 
however,  is  left  in  this  structure  near  the  footwall,  which  is  kept  open  so  that 
there  may  be  one  opening  to  the  shaft  from  the  bottom,  that  the  buckets 
full  of  the  materials  which  have  been  dug  out  may  be  drawn  from  the 
shaft  through  it  by  machines,  and  may  be  returned  to  the  same  place  again 
empty  ;  and  so  the  shovellers  and  other  workmen,  as  it  were  hiding  beneath 
this  structure,  remain  perfectly  safe  in  the  shaft. 

In  mines  on  one  vein  there  are  driven  one,  two,  or  sometimes  three 
or  more  tunnels,  always  one  above  the  other.  If  the  vein  is  solid  and 
hard,  and  likewise  the  hanging  and  footwall  rock,  no  part  of  the  tunnel 
needs  support,  beyond  that  which  is  required  at  the  mouth,  because  at  that 
spot  there  is  not  yet  solid  rock  ;  if  the  vein  is  soft,  and  the  hanging  and 
footwall  rock  are  likewise  soft,  the  tunnel  requires  frequent  strong  timbering, 
which  is  provided  in  the  following  way.  First,  two  dressed  posts  are  erected 
and  set  into  the  tunnel  floor,  which  is  dug  out  a  little  ;  these  are  of  medium 


BOOK    V. 


125 


thickness,  and  high  enough  that  their  ends,  which  are  cut  square,  almost 
touch  the  top  of  the  tunnel ;  then  upon  them  is  placed  a  smaller  dressed  cap, 
which  is  mortised  into  the  heads  of  the  posts  ;  at  the  bottom,  other  small 
timbers,  whose  ends  are  similarly  squared,  are  mortised  into  the  posts.  At 
each  interval  of  one  and  a  half  fathoms,  one  of  these  sets  is  erected  ;  each  one 
of  these  the  miners  call  a  "  little  doorway,"  because  it  opens  a  certain  amount 
of  passage  way  ;  and  indeed,  when  necessity  requires  it,  doors  are  fixed  to  the 
timbers  of  each  little  doorway  so  that  it  can  be  closed.  Then  lagging  of 
planks  or  of  poles  is  placed  upon  the  caps  lengthwise,  so  as  to  reach  from  one 
set  of  timbers  to  another,  and  is  laid  along  the  sides,  in  case  some  portion  of 
the  body  of  the  mountain  may  fall,  and  by  its  bulk  impede  passage  or  crush 
persons  coming  in  or  out.  Moreover,  to  make  the  timbers  remain  stationary, 
wooden  pegs  are  driven  between  them  and  the  sides  of  the  tunnel.  Lastly, 
if  rock  or  earth  are  carried  out  in  wheelbarrows,  planks  joined  together  are 
laid  upon  the  sills  ;  if  the  rock  is  hauled  out  in  trucks,  then  two  timbers 
three-quarters  of  a  foot  thick  and  wide  are  laid  on  the  sills,  and,  where  they 
join,  these  are  usually  hollowed  out  so  that  in  the  hollow,  as  in  a  road,  the  iron 
pin  of  the  truck  may  be  pushed  along ;  indeed,  because  of  this  pin  in  the 
groove,  the  truck  does  not  leave  the  worn  track  to  the  left  or  right.  Beneath 
the  sills  are  the  drains  through  which  the  water  flows  away. 


A — POSTS.     B— CAPS.    C — SILLS.     D— DOORS.     E — LAGGING.    F — DRAINS. 

Miners  timber  drifts  in  the  same  way  as  tunnels.  These  do  not,  however, 
require  sill-pieces,  or  drains  ;  for  the  broken  rock  is  not  hauled  very  far,  nor  does 
the  water  have  far  to  flow.  If  the  vein  above  is  metal-bearing,  as  it  sometimes  is 


1 1 


i26  BOOK    V. 

for  a  distance  of  several  fathoms,  then  from  the  upper  part  of  tunnels  or  even 
drifts  that  have  already  been  driven,  other  drifts  are  driven  again 
and  again  until  that  part  of  the  vein  is  reached  which  does  not  yield  metal. 
The  timbering  of  these  openings  is  done  as  follows  :  stulls  are  set  at 
intervals  into  hitches  in  the  hanging  and  footwall,  and  upon  them 
smooth  poles  are  laid  continuously  ;  and  that  they  may  be  able  to 
bear  the  weight,  the  stulls  are  generally  a  foot  and  a  half  thick.  After  the 
ore  has  been  taken  out  and  the  mining  of  the  vein  is  being  done  elsewhere, 
the  rock  then  broken,  especially  if  it  cannot  be  taken  away  without  great 
difficulty,  is  thrown  into  these  openings  among  the  timber,  and  the  carriers 
of  the  ore  are  saved  toil,  and  the  owners  save  half  the  expense.  This  then, 
generally  speaking,  is  the  method  by  which  everything  relating  to  the 
timbering  of  shafts,  tunnels,  and  drifts  is  carried  out. 

All  that  I  have  hitherto  written  is  in  part  peculiar  to  venae  profundae, 

and  in  part  common  to  all  kinds  of  veins  ;    of  what  follows,  part  is  specially 

applicable   to   venae   dilatatae,   part   to   venae   cumulatae.     But   first   I   will 

describe  how  venae  dilatatae  should  be  mined.     Where  torrents,    rivers,   or 

streams  have  by  inundations  washed  away  part  of  the  slope  of  a  mountain  or 

a  hill,  and  have  disclosed  a  vena  dilatata,  a  tunnel  should  be  driven  first  straight 

and  narrow,  and  then  wider,  for  nearly  all  the  vein  should  be  hewn  away  ;  and 

when  this  tunnel  has  been  driven  further,  a  shaft  which  supplies  air  should  be 

sunk  in  the  mountain  or  hill,  and  through  it  from  time  to  time  the  ore,  earth, 

and  rock  can  be  drawn  up  at  less  expense  than  if  they  be  drawn  out  through  the 

very  great  length  of  the  tunnel ;  and  even  in  those  places  to  which  the  tunnel 

does  not  yet  reach,  miners  dig  shafts  in  order  to  open  a  vena  dilatata  which 

they  conjecture  must  lie  beneath  the  soil.     In  this  way,  when  the  upper 

layers  are  removed,  they  dig  through  rock  sometimes  of  one  kind  and  colour, 

sometimes  of  one  kind  but  different  colours,  sometimes  of  different  kinds  but 

of  one  colour,  and,  lastly,  of  different  kinds  and  different  colours.    The  thickness 

of  rock,  both  of  each  single  stratum  and  of  all  combined,  is  uncertain,  for 

the  whole  of  the  strata  are  in  some  places  twenty  fathoms  deep,  in  others 

more  than  fifty  ;  individual  strata  are  in  some  places  half  a  foot  thick  ;  in  others, 

one,  two,  or  more  feet  ;    in  others,  one,  two,  three,  or  more  fathoms.     For 

example,  in   those  districts  which   lie  at  the  foot  of  the  Harz  mountains, 

there  are  many  different  coloured  strata,  covering  a  copper  vena  dilatata. 

When  the  soil  has  been  stripped,  first  of  all  is  disclosed  a  stratum  which 

is  red,  but  of  a  dull  shade  and  of  a  thickness  of  twenty,  thirty,  or  five  and 

thirty  fathoms.      Then  there  is  another  stratum,  also  red,  but  of  a  light 

shade,  which  has  usually  a  thickness  of  about  two  fathoms.     Beneath  this  is  a 

stratum  of  ash-coloured  clay  nearly  a  fathom  thick,  which,  although  it  is 

not   metalliferous,    is    reckoned    a   vein.      Then   follows  a    third    stratum, 

which  is  ashy,  and  about  three  fathoms  thick.      Beneath   this   lies   a  vein 

of  ashes  to  the  thickness  of  five  fathoms,  and  these  ashes  are  mixed  with 

rock   of  the  same   colour.      Joined   to  the  last,  and  underneath,  comes   a 

stratum,  the  fourth  in  number,  dark  in  colour  and  a  foot  thick.     Under  this 

comes  the  fifth  stratum,  of  a  pale  or  yellowish  colour,  two  feet  thick  ;  under- 


BOOK    V. 


127 


neath  which  is  the  sixth  stratum,  likewise  dark,  but  rough  and  three  feet 
thick.  Afterward  occurs  the  seventh  stratum,  likewise  of  dark  colour,  but 
still  darker  than  the  last,  and  two  feet  thick.  This  is  followed  by  an  eighth 
stratum,  ashy,  rough,  and  a  foot  thick.  This  kind,  as  also  the  others, 
is  sometimes  distinguished  by  stringers  of  the  stone  which  easily  melts  in 
fire  of  the  second  order.  Beneath  this  is  another  ashy  rock,  light  in 
weight,  and  five  feet  thick.  Next  to  this  comes  a  lighter  ash-coloured 
one,  a  foot  thick  ;  beneath  this  lies  the  eleventh  stratum,  which  is  dark  and 
very  much  like  the  seventh,  and  two  feet  thick.  Below  the  last  is 
a  twelfth  stratum  of  a  whitish  colour  arid  soft,  also  two  feet  thick  ;  the 
weight  of  this  rests  on  a  thirteenth  stratum,  ashy  and  one  foot  thick,  whose 
weight  is  in  turn  supported  by  a  fourteenth  stratum,  which  is  blackish  and 
half  a  foot  thick.  There  follows  this,  another  stratum  of  black  colour, 
likewise  half  a  foot  thick,  which  is  again  followed  by  a  sixteenth  stratum 
still  blacker  in  colour,  whose  thickness  is  also  the  same.  Beneath  this,  and 
last  of  all,  lies  the  cupriferous  stratum,  black  coloured  and  schistose,  in  which 
there  sometimes  glitter  scales  of  gold-coloured  pyrites  in  the  very  thin  sheets, 
which,  as  I  said  elsewhere,  often  take  the  forms  of  various  living  things.15 

The  miners  mine  out  a  vena  dilatata  laterally  and  longitudinally  by 
driving  a  low  tunnel  in  it,  and  if  the  nature  of  the  work  and  place  permit,  they 
sink  also  a  shaft  in  order  to  discover  whether  there  is  a  second  vein  beneath 
the  first  one  ;  for  sometimes  beneath  it  there  are  two,  three,  or  more  similar 
metal-bearing  veins,  and  these  are  excavated  in  the  same  way  laterally  and 
longitudinally.  They  generally  mine  vena  dilatatce  lying  down ;  and  to 

15The  strata  here  enumerated  are  given  in  the  Glossary  of  De  Re  Metallica  as  follows  :— 

Corium  terrae             ..  . .  . .  Die  erd  oder  leim. 

Saxum  rubrum           . .  . .  . .  Rot  gebirge. 

Alterum  item  rubrum  . .  . .  Roterkle. 

Argilla  cinerea           . .  . .  . .  Thone. 

Tertium  saxum          ..  . .  . .  Gerhulle. 

Cineris  vena   ..          ..  ..  ,.  Asche. 

Quartum  saxum         . .  . .  . .  Gniest. 

Quintum  saxum         ..  . .  . .  Schwehlen. 

Sextum  saxum           . .  . .  . .  Oberrauchstein. 

Septimum  saxum       . .  . .  . .  Zechstein. 

Octavum  saxum          . .  . .  ..  Under rauchstein. 

Nonum  saxum           . .  . .  . .  Blitterstein. 

Decimum  saxum        . .  . .  . .  Oberschuelen. 

Undecimum  saxum    . .  . .  . .  Mittelstein. 

Duodecimum  saxum  . .  . .  . .  Under schuelen. 

Decimumtertium  saxum  . .  . .  Dach. 

Decimumquartum  saxum  . .  . .  Norweg. 

Decimumquintum  saxum  . .  . .  Lotwerg. 

Decimumsextum  saxum  . .  . .  Kamme. 

Lapis  aerosus  fissilis  . .  . .  Schifer 

The  description  is  no  doubt  that  of  the  Mannsfeld  cupriferous  slates.  It  is  of  some 
additional  interest  as  the  first  attempt  at  stratigraphic  distinctions,  although  this  must  not 
be  taken  too  literally,  for  we  have  rendered  the  different  numbered  "  saxum  "  in  this  connection 
as  "  stratum."  The  German  terms  given  by  Agricola  above,  can  many  of  them  be  identified 
in  the  miners'  terms  to-day  for  the  various  strata  at  Mannsfeld.  Over  the  kupferschiefer  the 
names  to-day  are  kammschale,  dach,  faule,  zechstein,  rauchwacke,  rauchstein,  asche.  The 
relative  thickness  of  these  beds  is  much  the  same  as  given  by  Agricola.  The  stringers  in 
the  8th  stratum  of  stone,  which  fuse  in  the  fire  of  the  second  order,  were  possibly  calcite. 
The  rauchstein  of  the  modern  section  is  distinguished  by  stringers  of  calcite,  which  give  it  at 
times  a  brecciated  appearance. 


128  BOOK    V. 

avoid  wearing  away  their  clothes  and  injuring  their  left  shoulders  they 
usually  bind  on  themselves  small  wooden  cradles.  For  this  reason,  this 
particular  class  of  miners,  in  order  to  use  their  iron  tools,  are  obliged  to  bend 
their  necks  to  the  left,  not  infrequently  having  them  twisted.  Now  these 
veins  also  sometimes  divide,  and  where  these  parts  re-unite,  ore  of  a  richer  and 
a  better  quality  is  generally  found  ;  the  same  thing  occurs  where  the  stringers, 
of  which  they  are  not  altogether  devoid,  join  with  them,  or  cut  them  cross- 
wise, or  divide  them  obliquely.  To  prevent  a  mountain  or  hill,  which  has  in 
this  way  been  undermined,  from  subsiding  by  its  weight,  either  some  natural 
pillars  and  arches  are  left,  on  which  the  pressure  rests  as  on  a  foundation,  or 
timbering  is  done  for  support.  Moreover,  the  materials  which  are  dug  out 
and  which  are  devoid  of  metal  are  removed  in  bowls,  and  are  thrown  back, 
thus  once  more  filling  the  caverns. 

Next,  as  to  vence  cumulate.  These  are  dug  by  a  somewhat  different 
method,  for  when  one  of  these  shows  some  metal  at  the  top  of  the  ground, 
first  of  all  one  shaft  is  sunk  ;  then,  if  it  is  worth  while,  around  this  one  many 
shafts  are  sunk  and  tunnels  are  driven  into  the  mountain.  If  a  torrent  or 
spring  has  torn  fragments  of  metal  from  such  a  vein,  a  tunnel  is  first  driven 
into  the  mountain  or  hill  for  the  purpose  of  searching  for  the  ore  ;  then 
when  it  is  found,  a  vertical  shaft  is  sunk  in  it.  Since  the  whole  mountain,  or 
more  especially  the  whole  hill,  is  undermined,  seeing  that  the  whole  of  it  is 
composed  of  ore,  it  is  necessary  to  leave  the  natural  pillars  and  arches,  or  the 
place  is  timbered.  But  sometimes  when  a  vein  is  very  hard  it  is  broken  by 
fire,  whereby  it  happens  that  the  soft  pillars  break  up,  or  the  timbers  are 
burnt  away,  and  the  mountain  by  its  great  weight  sinks  into  itself,  and  then 
the  shaft  buildings  are  swallowed  up  in  the  great  subsidence.  Therefore, 
about  a  vena  cumulata  it  is  advisable  to  sink  some  shafts  which  are  not  sub- 
ject to  this  kind  of  ruin,  through  which  the  materials  that  are  excavated  may 
be  carried  out,  not  only  while  the  pillars  and  underpinnings  still  remain  whole 
and  solid,  but  also  after  the  supports  have  been  destroyed  by  fire  and  have 
fallen.  Since  ore  which  has  thus  fallen  must  necessarily  be  broken  by  fire, 
new  shafts  through  which  the  smoke  can  escape  must  be  sunk  in  the  abyss. 
At  those  places  where  stringers  intersect,  richer  ore  is  generally  obtained 
from  the  mine  ;  these  stringers,  in  the  case  of  tin  mines,  sometimes  have  in 
them  black  stones  the  size  of  a  walnut.  If  such  a  vein  is  found  in  a  plain, 
as  not  infrequently  happens  in  the  case  of  iron,  many  shafts  are  sunk,  because 
they  cannot  be  sunk  very  deep.  The  work  is  carried  on  by  this  method 
because  the  miners  cannot  drive  a  tunnel  into  a  level  plain  of  this  kind. 

There  remain  the  stringers  in  which  gold  alone  is  sometimes  found, 
in  the  vicinity  of  rivers  and  streams,  or  in  swamps.  If  upon  the  soil  being 
removed,  many  of  these  are  found,  composed  of  earth  somewhat  baked  and 
burnt,  as  may  sometimes  be  seen  in  clay  pits,  there  is  some  hope  that  gold 
may  be  obtained  from  them,  especially  if  several  join  together.  But  the 
very  point  of  junction  must  be  pierced,  and  the  length  and  width  searched 
for  ore,  and  in  these  places  very  deep  shafts  cannot  be  sunk. 

I  have  completed  one  part  of  this  book,  and  now  come  to  the  other,  in 
which  I  will  deal  with  the  art  of  surveying.  Miners  measure  the  solid 


BOOK    V. 


129 


mass  of  the  mountains  in  order  that  the  owners  may  lay  out  their  plans,  and 
that  their  workmen  may  not  encroach  on  other  people's  possessions.  The 
surveyor  either  measures  the  interval  not  yet  wholly  dug  through,  which 
lies  between  the  mouth  of  a  tunnel  and  a  shaft  to  be  sunk  to  that  depth,  or 
between  the  mouth  of  a  shaft  and  the  tunnel  to  be  driven  to  that  spot  which 
lies  under  the  shaft,  or  between  both,  if  the  tunnel  is  neither  so  long  as  to 
reach  to  the  shaft,  nor  the  shaft  so  deep  as  to  reach  to  the  tunnel ;  and  thus 
on  both  sides  work  is  still  to  be  done.  Or  in  some  cases,  within  the  tunnels 
and  drifts,  are  to  be  fixed  the  boundaries  of  the  meers,  just  as  the  Bergmeister 
has  determined  the  boundaries  of  the  same  meers  above  ground.18 

Each  method  of  surveying  depends  on  the  measuring  of  triangles.  A 
small  triangle  should  be  laid  out,  and  from  it  calculations  must  be  made 
regarding  a  larger  one.  Most  particular  care  must  be  taken  that  we  do  not 
deviate  at  all  from  a  correct  measuring ;  for  if,  at  the  beginning,  we  are  drawn 

16The  history  of  surveying  and  surveying  instruments,  and  in  a  subsidiary  way  their 
application  to  mine  work,  is  a  subject  upon  which  there  exists  a  most  extensive  literature. 
However,  that  portion  of  such  history  which  relates  to  the  period  prior  to  Agricola  represents 
a  much  less  proportion  of  the  whole  than  do  the  citations  to  this  chapter  in  De  Re  Metallica, 
which  is  the  first  comprehensive  discussion  of  the  mining  application.  The  history  of  such 
instruments  is  too  extensive  to  be  entered  upon  in  a  footnote,  but  there  are  some  fundamental 
considerations  which,  if  they  had  been  present  in  the  minds  of  historical  students  of  this  subject, 
would  have  considerably  abridged  the  literature  on  it.  First,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
measuring  cords  or  rods  and  boundary  stones  existed  almost  from  the  first  division  of  land.  There 
is,  therefore,  no  need  to  try  to  discover  their  origins.  Second,  the  history  of  surveying  and 
surveying  instruments  really  begins  with  the  invention  of  instruments  for  taking  levels,  or 
for  the  determination  of  angles  with  a  view  to  geometrical  calculation.  The  meagre  facts 
bearing  upon  this  subject  do  not  warrant  the  endless  expansion  they  have  received  by 
argument  as  to  what  was  probable,  in  order  to  accomplish  assumed  methods  of  construction 
among  the  Ancients.  For  instance,  the  argument  that  in  carrying  the  Grand  Canal  over 
watersheds  with  necessary  reservoir  supply,  the  Chinese  must  have  had  accurate  levelling 
and  surveying  instruments  before  the  Christian  Era,  and  must  have  conceived  in  advance  a 
completed  work,  does  not  hold  water  when  any  investigation  will  demonstrate  that  the  canal 
grew  by  slow  accretion  from  the  lateral  river  systems,  until  it  joined  almost  by  accident. 
Much  the  same  may  be  said  about  the  preconception  of  engineering  results  in  several 
other  ancient  works.  There  can  be  no  certainty  as  to  who  first  invented  instruments  of 
the  order  mentioned  above ;  for  instance,  the  invention  of  the  dioptra  has  been  ascribed  to 
Hero,  vide  his  work  on  the  Dioptra.  He  has  been  assumed  to  have  lived  in  the  ist  or  2nd 
Century  B.C.  Recent  investigations,  however,  have  shown  that  he  lived  about  100  A.D.  (Sir 
Thomas  Heath,  Encyc.  Brit,  nth  Ed.,  xm,  378).  As  this  instrument  is  mentioned 
by  Vitruvius  (50  -  o  B.C.)  the  myth  that  Hero  was  the  inventor  must  also  disappear.  In- 
cidentally Vitruvius  (vm,  5)  describes  a  levelling  instrument  called  a  chorobales,  which  was  a 
frame  levelled  either  by  a  groove  of  water  or  by  plumb  strings.  Be  the  inventor  of  the 
dioptra  who  he  may,  Hero's  work  on  that  subject  contains  the  first  suggestion  of  mine 
surveys  in  the  problems  (xm,  xiv,  xv,  xvi),  where  geometrical  methods  are  elucidated 
for  determining  the  depths  required  for  the  connection  of  shafts  and  tunnels.  On  the  com- 
pass we  give  further  notes  on  p.  56.  It  was  probably  an  evolution  of  the  I3th  Century.  As 
to  the  application  of  angle-  and  level-determining  instruments  to  underground  surveys, 
so  far  as  we  know  there  is  no  reference  prior  to  Agricola,  except  that  of  Hero.  Mr. 
Bennett  Brough  (Cantor  Lecture,  London,  1892)  points  outthat  the  Nutzliche  Bergbuchlin  (see 
Appendix)  describes  a  mine  compass,  but  there  is  not  the  slightest  reference  to  its  use 
for  anything  but  surface  direction  of  veins. 

Although  map-making  of  a  primitive  sort  requires  no  instruments,  except  legs,  the  oldest 
map  in  the  world  possesses  unusual  interest  because  it  happens  to  be  a  map  of  a  mining 
region.  This  well-known  Turin  papyrus  dates  from  Seti  I.  (about  1300  B.C.),  and  it 
represents  certain  gold  mines  between  the  Nile  and  the  Red  Sea.  The  best  discussion  is 
by  Chabas  (Inscriptions  des  Mines  d'Or,  Chalons-sur-Saone,  Paris,  1862,  p.  30-36). 
Fragments  of  another  papyrus,  in  the  Turin  Museum,  are  considered  by  Lieblein  (Deux 
Papyras  Hieratiques,  Christiania,  1868)  also  to  represent  a  mine  of  the  time  of  Rameses  I.  If 
so,  this  one  dates  from  about  1400  B.C.  As  to  an  actual  map  of  underground  workings  (disre- 
garding illustrations)  we  know  of  none  until  after  Agricola's  time.  At  his  time  maps  were 
not  made,  as  will  be  gathered  from  the  text. 


130  BOOK    V. 

by  carelessness  into  a  slight  error,  this  at  the  end  will  produce  great  errors. 
Now  these  triangles  are  of  many  shapes,  since  shafts  differ  among  themselves 
and  are  not  all  sunk  by  one  and  the  same  method  into  the  depths  of  the 
earth,  nor  do  the  slopes  of  all  mountains  come  down  to  the  valley  or  plain  in 
the  same  manner.  For  if  a  shaft  is  vertical,  there  is  a  triangle  with  a  right 
angle,  which  the  Greeks  call  opVoyumon  and  this,  according  to  the 
inequalities  of  the  mountain  slope,  has  either  two  equal  sides  or  three  unequal 
sides.  The  Greeks  call  the  former  -rpLjwvov  iaoaKiXtQ  the  latter  <rKa\nv6v  for 
a  right  angle  triangle  cannot  have  three  equal  sides.  If  a  shaft  is  inclined 
and  sunk  in  the  same  vein  in  which  the  tunnel  is  driven,  a  triangle  is  likewise 
made  with  a  right  angle,  and  this  again,  according  to  the  various  inequalities 
of  the  mountain  slope,  has  either  two  equal  or  three  unequal  sides.  But  if 
a  shaft  is  inclined  and  is  sunk  in  one  vein,  and  a  tunnel  is  driven  in 
another  vein,  then  a  triangle  comes  into  existence  which  has  either  an  obtuse 
angle  or  all  acute  angles.  The  former  the  Greeks  call  a^/3Xuy<iviov,  the  latter 
o£uyoiviov.  That  triangle  which  has  an  obtuse  angle  cannot  have  three 
equal  sides,  but  in  accordance  with  the  different  mountain  slopes  has  either 
two  equal  sides  or  three  unequal  sides.  That  triangle  which  has  all  acute 
angles  in  accordance  with  the  different  mountain  slopes  has  either  three  equal 
sides,  which  the  Greeks  call  rpiywvov  laoirXtvpov  or  two  equal  sides  or  three 
unequal  sides. 

The  surveyor,  as  I  said,  employs  his  art  when  the  owners  of  the  mines 
desire  to  know  how  many  fathoms  of  the  intervening  ground  require  to  be 
dug  ;  when  a  tunnel  is  being  driven  toward  a  shaft  and  does  not  yet  reach 
it ;  or  when  the  shaft  has  not  yet  been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  the  bottom  of  the 
tunnel  which  is  under  it ;  or  when  neither  the  tunnel  reaches  to  that  point, 
nor  has  the  shaft  been  sunk  to  it.  It  is  of  importance  that  miners  should 
know  how  many  fathoms  remain  from  the  tunnel  to  the  shaft,  or  from  the 
shaft  to  the  tunnel,  in  order  to  calculate  the  expenditure  ;  and  in  order  that 
the  owners  of  a  metal-bearing  mine  may  hasten  the  sinking  of  a  shaft  and 
the  excavation  of  the  metal,  before  the  tunnel  reaches  that  point  and  the 
tunnel  owners  excavate  part  of  the  metal  by  any  right  of  their  own ;  and  on 
the  other  hand,  it  is  important  that  the  owners  of  a  tunnel  may  similarly 
hasten  their  driving  before  a  shaft  can  be  sunk  to  the  depth  of  a  tunnel,  so 
that  they  may  excavate  the  metal  to  which  they  will  have  a  right. 

The  surveyor,  first  of  all,  if  the  beams  of  the  shaft-house  do  not  give  him 
the  opportunity,  sets  a  pair  of  forked  posts  by  the  sides  of  the  shaft  in  such 
a  manner  that  a  pole  may  be  laid  across  them.  Next,  from  the  pole  he  lets 
down  into  the  shaft  a  cord  with  a  weight  attached  to  it.  Then  he  stretches  a 
second  cord,  attached  to  the  upper  end  of  the  first  cord,  right  down  along  the 
slope  of  the  mountain  to  the  bottom  of  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  and  fixes  it  to 
the  ground.  Next,  from  the  same  pole  not  far  from  the  first  cord,  he  lets 
down  a  third  cord,  similarly  weighted,  so  that  it  may  intersect  the  second 
cord,  which  descends  obliquely.  Then,  starting  from  that  point  where  the 
third  cord  cuts  the  second  cord  which  descends  obliquely  to  the  mouth  of  the 
tunnel,  he  measures  the  second  cord  upward  to  where  it  reaches  the  end  of 


BOOK    V 


A — UPRIGHT  FORKED  POSTS.    B — POLE  OVER  THE  POSTS.    C — SHAFT.    D — FIRST  CORD. 
E — WEIGHT  OF  FIRST  CORD.     F — SECOND  CORD.    G — SAME  FIXED  GROUND.    H — HEAD 

OF  FIRST  CORD.       I — MOUTH  OF  TUNNEL.       K — THIRD  CORD.       L — WEIGHT  OF  THIRD  CORD. 

M — FIRST  SIDE  MINOR  TRIANGLE.    N — SECOND  SIDE  MINOR  TRIANGLE.    O — THIRD  SIDE 

MINOR   TRIANGLE.       P — THE    MINOR    TRIANGLE. 


i32  BOOK    V. 

the  first  cord,  and  makes  a  note  of  this  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle17. 
Afterward,  starting  again  from  that  point  where  the  third  cord  intersects  the 
second  cord,  he  measures  the  straight  space  which  lies  between  that  point 
and  the  opposite  point  on  the  first  cord,  and  hi  that  way  forms  the  minor 
triangle,  and  he  notes  this  second  side  of  the  minor  triangle  in  the  same  way  as 
before.  Then,  if  it  is  necessary,  from  the  angle  formed  by  the  first  cord  and 
the  second  side  of  the  minor  triangle,  he  measures  upward  to  the  end  of  the 
first  cord  and  also  makes  a  note  of  this  third  side  of  the  minor  triangle.  The 
third  side  of  the  minor  triangle,  if  the  shaft  is  vertical  or  inclined  and  is  sunk 
on  the  same  vein  in  which  the  tunnel  is  driven,  will  necessarily  be  the  same 
length  as  the  third  cord  above  the  point  where  it  intersects  the  second  cord ; 
and  so,  as  often  as  the  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  contained  in  the 
length  of  the  whole  cord  which  descends  obliquely,  so  many  times  the  length 
of  the  second  side  of  the  minor  triangle  indicates  the  distance  between  the 
mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the  point  to  which  the  shaft  must  be  sunk  ;  and 
similarly,  so  many  times  the  length  of  the  third  side  of  the  minor  triangle 
gives  the  distance  between  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  and  the  bottom  of  the 
tunnel. 

When  there  is  a  level  bench  on  the  mountain  slope,  the  surveyor  first 
measures  across  this  with  a  measuring-rod  ;  then  at  the  edges  of  this  bench 
he  sets  up  forked  posts,  and  applies  the  principle  of  the  triangle  to  the  two 
sloping  parts  of  the  mountain  ;  and  to  the  fathoms  which  are  the  length  of 
that  part  of  the  tunnel  determined  by  the  triangles,  he  adds  the  number 
of  fathoms  which  are  the  width  of  the  bench.  But  if  sometimes  the 
mountain  side  stands  up,  so  that  a  cord  cannot  run  down  from  the  shaft  to 
the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  cannot  run  up  from  the 
mouth  of  the  tunnel  to  the  shaft,  and,  therefore,  one  cannot  connect  them  in 
a  straight  line,  the  surveyor,  in  order  to  fix  an  accurate  triangle,  measures  the 
mountain  ;  and  going  downward  he  substitutes  for  the  first  part  of  the  cord 
a  pole  one  fathom  long,  and  for  the  second  part  a  pole  half  a  fathom 
long.  Going  upward,  on  the  contrary,  for  the  first  part  of  the  cord  he  sub- 
stitutes a  pole  half  a  fathom  long,  and  for  the  next  part,  one  a  whole  fathom 
long  ;  then  where  he  requires  to  fix  his  triangle  he  adds  a  straight  line  to 
these  angles. 

To  make  this  system  of  measuring  clear  and  more  explicit,  I  will  proceed 
by  describing  each  separate  kind  of  triangle.  When  a  shaft  is  vertical  or 
inclined,  and  is  sunk  in  the  same  vein  on  which  the  tunnel  is  driven,  there 
is  created,  as  I  said,  a  triangle  containing  a  right  angle.  Now  if  the  minor 
triangle  has  the  two  sides  equal,  which,  in  accordance  with  the  numbering 
used  by  surveyors,  are  the  second  and  third  sides,  then  the  second  and  third 
sides  of  the  major  triangle  will  be  equal ;  and  so  also  the  intervening 
distances  will  be  equal  which  lie  between  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the 
bottom  of  the  shaft,  and  which  lie  between  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  and  the 
bottom  of  the  tunnel.  For  example,  if  the  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is 
seven  feet  long  and  the  second  and  likewise  the  third  sides  are  five  feet,  and 

17For  greater  clarity  we  have  in  a  few  places  interpolated  the  terms  "  major  "  and 
"  minor  "  triangles. 


BOOK     V. 


133 


the  length  shown  by  the  cord  for  the  side  of  the  major  triangle  is  101  times 
seven  feet,  that  is  117  fathoms  and  five  feet,  then  the  intervening  space,  of 
course,  whether  the  whole  of  it  has  been  already  driven  through  or  has  yet 
to  be  driven,  will  be  one  hundred  times  five  feet,  which  makes  eighty-three 
fathoms  and  two  feet.  Anyone  with  this  example  of  proportions  will  be 
able  to  construct  the  major  and  minor  triangles  in  the  same  way  as  I  have 
done,  if  there  be  the  necessary  upright  posts  and  cross-beams.  When  a  shaft  is 
vertical  the  triangle  is  absolutely  upright ;  when  it  is  inclined  and  is  sunk  on 
the  same  vein  in  which  the  tunnel  is  driven,  it  is  inclined  toward  one  side. 


B 


A   TRIANGLE    HAVING    A    RIGHT    ANGLE    AND    TWO    EQUAL    SIDES. 

Therefore,  if  a  tunnel  has  been  driven  into  the  mountain  for  sixty  fathoms, 
there  remains  a  space  of  ground  to  be  penetrated  twenty-three  fathoms  and 
two  feet  long ;  for  five  feet  of  the  second  side  of  the  major  triangle,  which 
lies  above  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  and  corresponds  with  the  first  side  of  the 
minor  triangle,  must  not  be  added.  Therefore,  if  the  shaft  has  been  sunk 
in  the  middle  of  the  head  meer,  a  tunnel  sixty  fathoms  long  will  reach 
to  the  boundary  of  the  meer  only  when  the  tunnel  has  been  extended  a 
further  two  fathoms  and  two  feet ;  but  if  the  shaft  is  located  in  the  middle  of 
an  ordinary  meer,  then  the  boundary  will  be  reached  when  the  tunnel  has  been 
driven  a  further  length  of  nine  fathoms  and  two  feet.  Since  a  tunnel,  for 
every  one  hundred  fathoms  of  length,  rises  in  grade  one  fathom,  or  at  all 
events,  ought  to  rise  as  it  proceeds  toward  the  shaft,  one  more  fathom  must 
always  be  taken  from  the  depth  allowed  to  the  shaft,  and  one  added  to  the 
length  allowed  to  the  tunnel.  Proportionately,  because  a  tunnel  fifty 
fathoms  long  is  raised  half  a  fathom,  this  amount  must  be  taken  from  the 
depth  of  the  shaft  and  added  to  the  length  of  the  tunnel.  In  the  same  way 
if  a  tunnel  is  one  hundred  or  fifty  fathoms  shorter  or  longer,  the  same  propor- 
tion also  must  be  taken  from  the  depth  of  the  one  and  added  to  the  length 
of  the  other.  For  this  reason,  in  the  case  mentioned  above,  half  a  fathom 
and  a  little  more  must  be  added  to  the  distance  to  be  driven  through,  so 
that  there  remain  twenty-three  fathoms,  five  feet,  two  palms,  one  and  a  half 
digits  and  a  fifth  of  a  digit ;  that  is,  if  even  the  minutest  proportions  are 
carried  out ;  and  surveyors  do  not  neglect  these  without  good  cause. 
Similarly,  if  the  shaft  is  seventy  fathoms  deep,  in  order  that  it  may  reach  to 
the  bottom  of  the  tunnel,  it  still  must  be  sunk  a  further  depth  of  thirteen 
fathoms  and  two  feet,  or  rather  twelve  fathoms  and  a  half,  one  foot,  two 
digits,  and  four-fifths  of  half  a  digit.  And  in  this  instance  five  feet  must  be 
deducted  from  the  reckoning,  because  these  five  feet  complete  the  third  side 
of  the  minor  triangle,  which  is  above  the  mouth  of  the  shaft,  and  from  its 


134 


BOOK    V. 


depth  there  must  be  deducted  half  a  fathom,  two  palms,  one  and  a  half  digits 
and  the  fifth  part  of  half  a  digit.  But  if  the  tunnel  has  been  driven  to  a 
point  where  it  is  under  the  shaft,  then  to  reach  the  roof  of  the  tunnel  the 
shaft  must  still  be  sunk  a  depth  of  eleven  fathoms,  two  and  a  half  feet,  one 
palm,  two  digits,  and  four-fifths  of  half  a  digit. 

If  a  minor  triangle  is  produced  of  the  kind  having  three  unequal  sides, 
then  the  sides  of  the  greater  triangle  cannot  be  equal ;  that  is,  if  the  first 
side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  eight  feet  long,  the  second  six  feet  long,  and  the 
third  five  feet  long,  and  the  cord  along  the  side  of  the  greater  triangle,  not 
to  go  too  far  from  the  example  just  given,  is  one  hundred  and  one  times 
eight  feet,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  fathoms  and  four  feet,  the 
distance  which  lies  between  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the  bottom  of  the 
shaft  will  occupy  one  hundred  times  six  feet  in  length,  that  is,  one  hundred 
fathoms.  The  distance  between  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  and  the  bottom  of  the 
tunnel  is  one  hundred  times  five  feet,  that  is,  eighty-three  fathoms  and  two  feet. 
And  so,  if  the  tunnel  is  eighty-five  fathoms  long,  the  remainder  to  be  driven 
into  the  mountain  is  fifteen  fathoms  long,  and  here,  too,  a  correction  in 
measurement  must  be  taken  from  the  depth  of  the  shaft  and  added  to  the 
length  of  the  tunnel ;  what  this  is  precisely,  I  will  pursue  no  further,  since 
everyone  having  a  small  knowledge  of  arithmetic  can  work  it  out.  If  the 
shaft  is  sixty-seven  fathoms  deep,  in  order  that  it  may  reach  the  bottom  of 
the  tunnel,  the  further  distance  required  to  be  sunk  amounts  to  sixteen 
fathoms  and  two  feet. 


A   TRIANGLE    HAVING    A    RIGHT    ANGLE    AND   THREE    UNEQUAL    SIDES. 

The  surveyor  employs  this  same  method  in  measuring  the  mountain, 
whether  the  shaft  and  tunnel  are  on  one  and  the  same  vein,  whether  the  vein 
is  vertical  or  inclined,  or  whether  the  shaft  is  on  the  principal  vein  and  the  tunnel 
on  a  transverse  vein  descending  vertically  to  the  depths  of  the  earth  ;  in  the 
latter  case  the  excavation  is  to  be  made  where  the  transverse  vein  cuts  the 
vertical  vein.  If  the  principal  vein  descends  on  an  incline  and  the  cross-vein 
descends  vertically,  then  a  minor  triangle  is  created  having  one  obtuse  angle  or 
all  three  angles  acute.  If  the  minor  triangle  has  one  angle  obtuse  and  the  two 
sides  which  are  the  second  and  third  are  equal,  then  the  second  and  third 
sides  of  the  major  triangle  will  be  equal,  so  that  if  the  first  side  of  the  minor 
triangle  is  nine  feet,  the  second,  and  likewise  the  third,  will  be  five  feet.  Then 
the  first  side  of  the  major  triangle  will  be  one  hundred  and  one  times  nine 
feet,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  and  one-half  fathoms,  and  each  of  the 
other  sides  of  the  major  triangle  will  be  one  hundred  times  five  feet,  that  is, 
eighty-three  fathoms  and  two  feet.  But  when  the  first  shaft  is  inclined, 


BOOK    V. 


135 


generally  speaking,  it  is  not  deep  ;  but  there  are  usually  several,  all 
inclined,  and  one  always  following  the  other.  Therefore,  if  a  tunnel  is  seventy- 
seven  fathoms  long,  it  will  reach  to  the  middle  of  the  bottom  of  a  shaft  when 
six  fathoms  and  two  feet  further  have  been  sunk.  But  if  all  such  inclined 
shafts  are  seventy-six  fathoms  deep,  in  order  that  the  last  one  may  reach 
the  bottom  of  the  tunnel,  a  depth  of  seven  fathoms  and  two  feet  remains  to 
be  sunk. 


TRIANGLE  HAVING  AN  OBTUSE  ANGLE  AND  TWO  EQUAL  SIDES. 


If  a  minor  triangle  is  made  which  has  an  obtuse  angle  and  three  unequal 
sides,  then  again  the  sides  of  the  large  triangle  cannot  be  equal.  For 
example,  if  the  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  six  feet  long,  the  second 
three  feet,  and  the  third  four  feet,  and  the  cord  along  the  side  of  the  greater 
triangle  one  hundred  and  one  times  six  feet,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  one 
fathoms,  the  distance  between  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the  bottom  of 
the  last  shaft  will  be  a  length  one  hundred  times  three  feet,  or  fifty  fathoms ; 
but  the  depth  that  lies  between  the  mouth  of  the  first  shaft  and  the  bottom  of 
the  tunnel  is  one  hundred  times  four  feet,  or  sixty-six  fathoms  and  four  feet. 
Therefore,  if  a  tunnel  is  forty-four  fathoms  long,  the  remaining  distance  to 
be  driven  is  six  fathoms.  If  the  shafts  are  fifty-eight  fathoms  deep,  the 
newest  will  touch  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  when  eight  fathoms  and  four 
feet  have  been  sunk. 


TRIANGLE  HAVING  AN  OBTUSE  ANGLE  AND  THREE  UNEQUAL  SIDES. 

If  a  minor  triangle  is  produced  which  has  all  its  angles  acute  and  its 
three  sides  equal,  then  necessarily  the  second  and  third  sides  of  the  minor 
triangle  will  be  equal,  and  likewise  the  sides  of  the  major  triangle  frequently 
referred  to  will  be  equal.  Thus  if  each  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  six  feet 
long,  and  the  cord  measurement  for  the  side  of  the  major  triangle  is  one 
hundred  and  one  times  six  feet,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  one  fathoms,  then 
both  the  distances  to  be  dug  will  be  one  hundred  fathoms.  And  thus  if  the 
tunnel  is  ninety  fathoms  long,  it  will  reach  the  middle  of  the  bottom  of  the 
last  shaft  when  ten  fathoms  further  have  been  driven.  If  the  shafts  are 


136 


BOOK    V. 


ninety-five  fathoms  deep,  the  last  will  reach  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  when 
it  is  sunk  a  further  depth  of  five  fathoms. 


A    TRIANGLE    HAVING    ALL    ITS    ANGLES    ACUTE    AND    ITS   THREE    SIDES    EQUAL. 

If  a  triangle  is  made  which  has  all  its  angles  acute,  but  only  two  sides 
equal,  namely,  the  first  and  third,  then  the  second  and  third  sides  are  not 
equal ;  therefore  the  distances  to  be  dug  cannot  be  equal.  For  example,  if 
the  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  six  feet  long,  and  the  second  is  four  feet, 
and  the  third  is  six  feet,  and  the  cord  measurement  for  the  side  of  the  major 
triangle  is  one  hundred  and  one  times  six  feet,  that  is,  one  hundred  and  one 
fathoms,  then  the  distance  between  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the  bottom  of 
the  last  shaft  will  be  sixty-six  fathoms  and  four  feet.  But  the  distance  from  the 
mouth  of  the  first  shaft  to  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  is  one  hundred  fathoms. 
So  if  the  tunnel  is  sixty  fathoms  long,  the  remaining  distance  to  be  driven 
into  the  mountain  is  six  fathoms  and  four  feet.  If  the  shaft  is  ninety-seven 
fathoms  deep,  the  last  one  will  reach  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  when  a  further 
depth  of  three  fathoms  has  been  sunk. 


B 


TRIANGLE  HAVING  ALL  ITS  ANGLES  ACUTE  AND  TWO  SIDES  EQUAL,  A,  B,  UNEQUAL  SIDE  C. 

If  a  minor  triangle  is  produced  which  has  all  its  angles  acute,  but  its 
three  sides  unequal,  then  again  the  distances  to  be  dug  cannot  be  equal. 
For  example,  if  the  first  side  of  the  minor  triangle  is  seven  feet  long,  the 
second  side  is  four  feet,  and  the  third  side  is  six  feet,  and  the  cord  measure- 
ment for  the  side  of  the  major  triangle  is  one  hundred  and  one  times  seven 
feet  or  one  hundred  and  seventeen  fathoms  and  four  feet,  the  distance 
between  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  the  bottom  of  the  last  shaft  will  be 
four  hundred  feet  or  sixty-six  fathoms,  and  the  depth  between  the  mouth  of 
the  first  shaft  and  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  will  be  one  hundred  fathoms. 
Therefore,  if  a  tunnel  is  fifty  fathoms  long,  it  will  reach  the  middle  of  the 
bottom  of  the  newest  shaft  when  it  has  been  driven  sixteen  fathoms  and  four 
feet  further.  But  if  the  shafts  are  then  ninety-two  fathoms  deep,  the  last 


BOOK     V. 


137 


shaft  will  reach  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel  when  it  has  been  sunk  a  further 
eight  fathoms. 


A  TRIANGLE  HAVING  ALL  ITS  ANGLES  ACUTE  AND  ITS  THREE  SIDES  UNEQUAL. 


This  is  the  method  of  the  surveyor  in  measuring  the  mountain,  if  the 
principal  vein  descends  inclined  into  the  depths  of  the  earth  or  the  transverse 
vein  is  vertical.  But  if  they  are  both  inclined,  the  surveyor  uses  the  same 
method,  or  he  measures  the  slope  of  the  mountain  separately  from  the  slope 
of  the  shaft.  Next,  if  a  transverse  vein  in  which  a  tunnel  is  driven  does  not 
cut  the  principal  vein  in  that  spot  where  the  shaft  is  sunk,  then  it  is  necessary 
for  the  starting  point  of  the  survey  to  be  in  the  other  shaft  in  which  the 
transverse  vein  cuts  the  principal  vein.  But  if  there  be  no  shaft  on  that  spot 
where  the  outcrop  of  the  transverse  vein  cuts  the  outcrop  of  the  principal 
vein,  then  the  surface  of  the  ground  which  lies  between  the  shafts  must 
be  measured,  or  that  between  the  shaft  and  the  place  where  the  outcrop  of 
the  one  vein  intersects  the  outcrop  of  the  other. 

Some  surveyors,  although  they  use  three  cords,  nevertheless  ascertain 
only  the  length  of  a  tunnel  by  that  method  of  measuring,  and  determine 
the  depth  of  a  shaft  by  another  method  ;  that  is,  by  the  method  by 
which  cords  are  re-stretched  on  a  level  part  of  the  mountain  or  in 
a  valley,  or  in  flat  fields,  and  are  measured  again.  Some,  however,  do 
not  employ  this  method  in  surveying  the  depth  of  a  shaft  and  the 
length  of  a  tunnel,  but  use  only  two  cords,  a  graduated  hemicycle18  and  a 
rod  half  a  fathom  long.  They  suspend  in  the  shaft  one  cord,  fastened 
from  the  upper  pole  and  weighted,  just  as  the  others  do.  Fastened  to  the 
upper  end  of  this  cord,  they  stretch  another  right  down  the  slope  of  the  mountain 
to  the  bottom  of  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  and  fix  it  to  the  ground.  Then  to 
the  upper  part  of  this  second  cord  they  apply  on  its  lower  side  the  broad  part 
of  a  hemicycle.  This  consists  of  half  a  circle,  the  outer  margin  of  which  is 
covered  with  wax,  and  within  this  are  six  semi-circular  lines.  From  the 

"The  names  of  the  instruments  here  described  in  the  original  text,  their  German 
equivalents  in  the  Glossary,  and  the  terms  adopted  in  translation  are  given  below  : — 

TERMS  ADOPTED. 
Cord 
Rod 

Hemicycle 
Tripod 
Compass 
Orbis 

Standing  plummet  level 
Suspended  plummet  level 
Swiss  compass 


LATIN  TEXT. 
Funiculus 
Pertica 
Hemicyclium 
Trip  us 

Instrumentum  cui  index 
Orbis 

Libra  stativa 
Libra  pensilis 


GLOSSARY. 

Stab 

Donlege  bretlein 

Stul 

Compass 

Scheube 

Auffsatz 

Wage 


Instrumenlum  cui  index  Alpinum  . .     Der  schiner  compass 


138 


BOOK    V. 


waxed  margin  through  the  first  semi-circular  line,  and  reaching  to  the  second, 
there  proceed  straight  lines  converging  toward  the  centre  of  the  hemicycle ; 
these  mark  the  middles  of  intervening  spaces  lying  between  other  straight  lines 
which  extend  to  the  fourth  semi-circular  line.  But  all  lines  whatsoever,  from 
the  waxed  margin  up  to  the  fourth  line,  whether  they  go  beyond  it  or  not, 
correspond  with  the  graduated  lines  which  mark  the  minor  spaces  of  a  rod. 
Those  which  go  beyond  the  fourth  line  correspond  with  the  lines  marking 


A — WAXED  SEMICIRCLE  OF  THE  HEMICYCLE.     B — SEMICIRCULAR  LINES.     C — STRAIGHT 

LINES.       D — LINE  MEASURING  THE  HALF.       E — LlNE  MEASURING  THE  WHOLE.       F — TONGUE. 


BOOK    V. 


139 


the  major  spaces  on  the  rod,  and  those  which  proceed  further,  mark  the 
middle  of  the  intervening  space  which  lies  between  the  others.  The 
straight  lines,  which  run  from  the  fifth  to  the  sixth  semi-circular  line,  show 
nothing  further.  Nor  does  the  line  which  measures  the  half,  show  anything 
when  it  has  already  passed  from  the  sixth  straight  line  to  the  base  of  the 
hemicycle.  When  the  hemicycle  is  applied  to  the  cord,  if  its  tongue  indicates 
the  sixth  straight  line  which  lies  between  the  second  and  third  semi-circular 
lines,  the  surveyor  counts  on  the  rod  six  lines  which  separate  the  minor 
spaces,  and  if  the  length  of  this  portion  of  the  rod  be  taken  from  the  second 
cord,  as  many  times  as  the  cord  itself  is  half-fathoms  long,  the  remaining 
length  of  cord  shows  the  distance  the  tunnel  must  be  driven  to  reach  under 
the  shaft.  But  if  he  sees  that  the  tongue  has  gone  so  far  that  it  marks  the 
sixth  line  between  the  fourth  and  fifth  semi-circular  lines,  he  counts  six  lines 
which  separate  the  major  spaces  on  the  rod  ;  and  this  entire  space  is  deducted 
from  the  length  of  the  second  cord,  as  many  times  as  the  number  of  whole 
fathoms  which  the  cord  contains  ;  and  then,  in  like  manner,  the  remaining 
length  of  cord  shows  us  the  distance  the  tunnel  must  be  driven  to  reach 
under  the  shaft.19 


STRETCHED  CORDS  :  A — FIRST  CORD.     B— SECOND  CORD. 

D — TRIANGLE. 


C — THIRD  CORD. 


19It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  ratio  of  any  length  so  obtained,  to  the  whole  length 
of  the  staff,  is  practically  equal  to  the  cosine  of  the  angle  represented  by  the  corresponding 
gradation  on  the  hemicycle  ;  the  gradations  on  the  rod  forming  a  fairly  accurate  table  of 
cosines. 


140 


BOOK    V. 


Both  these  surveyors,  as  well  as  the  others,  in  the  first  place  make  use 
of  the  haulage  rope.  These  they  measure  by  means  of  others  made  of  linden 
bark,  because  the  latter  do  not  stretch  at  all,  while  the  former  become  very 
slack.  These  cords  they  stretch  on  the  surveyor's  field,  the  first  one  to 
represent  the  parts  of  mountain  slopes  which  descend  obliquely.  Then  the 
second  cord,  which  represents  the  length  of  the  tunnel  to  be  driven  to  reach 
the  shaft,  they  place  straight,  in  such  a  direction  that  one  end  of  it  can  touch 
the  lower  end  of  the  first  cord  ;  then  they  similarly  lay  the  third  cord  straight, 
and  in  such  a  direction  that  its  upper  end  may  touch  the  upper  end  of 
the  first  cord,  and  its  lower  end  the  other  extremity  of  the  second  cord,  and 
thus  a  triangle  is  formed.  This  third  cord  is  measured  by  the  instrument 
with  the  index,  to  determine  its  relation  to  the  perpendicular  ;  and  the  length 
of  this  cord  shows  the  depth  of  the  shaft. 

Some  surveyors,  to  make  their  system  of  measuring  the  depth  of  a  shaft 
more  certain,  use  five  stretched  cords  :  the  first  one  descending  obliquely  ; 
two,  that  is  to  say  the  second  and  third,  for  ascertaining  the  length  of  the 
tunnel ;  two  for  the  depth  of  the  shaft  ;  in  which  way  they  form  a  quadrangle 
divided  into  two  equal  triangles,  and  this  tends  to  greater  accuracy. 


STRETCHED   CORDS  :     A — FIRST.     B — SECOND.     B — THIRD.     C— FOURTH.     C — FIFTH. 

D — QUADRANGLE. 

These  systems  of  measuring  the  depth  of  a  shaft  and  the  length  of  a 
tunnel,  are  accurate  when  the  vein  and  also  the  shaft  or  shafts  go  down  to  the 


BOOK    V. 


141 


tunnel  vertically  or  inclined,  in  an  uninterrupted  course.     The  same  is  true 
when  a  tunnel  runs  straight  on  to  a  shaft.     But  when  each  of  them  bends 
now  in  this,  now  in  that  direction,  if  they  have  not  been  completely  driven 
and  sunk,  no  living  man  is  clever  enough  to  judge  how  far  they  are  deflected 
from  a  straight  course.     But  if  the  whole  of  either  one  of  the  two  has  been  ex- 
cavated its  full  distance,  then  we  can  estimate  more  easily  the  length  of  one, 
or  the  depth  of  the  other ;  and  so  the  location  of  the  tunnel,  which  is  below 
a  newly-started  shaft,  is  determined  by  a  method  of  surveying  which  I  will 
describe.    First  of  all  a  tripod  is  fixed  at  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel,  and  likewise  at 
the  mouth  of  the  shaft  which  has  been  started,  or  at  the  place  where  the  shaft  will 
be  started.     The  tripod  is  made  of  three  stakes  fixed  to  the  ground,  a  small 
rectangular  board  being  placed  upon  the  stakes  and  fixed  to  them,  and  on 
this  is  set  a  compass.     Then  from  the  lower  tripod  a  weighted  cord  is  let 
down  perpendicularly  to  the  earth,  close  to  which  cord  a  stake  is  fixed  in  the 
ground.     To  this  stake  another  cord  is  tied  and  drawn  straight  into  the  tunnel 
to  a  point  as  far  as  it  can  go  without  being  bent  by  the  hangingwall  or  the 
footwall  of  the  vein.     Next,  from  the  cord  which  hangs  from  the  lower  tripod, 
a  -third  cord  likewise  fixed  is  brought  straight  up  the  sloping  side  of  the 
mountain  to  the  stake  of  the  upper  tripod,  and  fastened  to  it.    In  order  that 
the  measuring  of  the  depth  of  the  shaft  may  be  more  certain,  the  third  cord 
should  touch  one  and  the  same  side  of  the  cord  hanging  from  the  lower  tripod 
which  is  touched  by  the  second  cord — the  one  which  is  drawn  into  the  tunnel. 
All   this  having  been  correctly  carried  out,  the  surveyor,  when  at  length 
the  cord  which  has  been  drawn  straight  into  the  tunnel  is  about  to  be  bent 
by  the  hangingwall  or  footwall,  places  a  plank  in  the  bottom  of  the  tunnel 
and  on  it  sets  the  orbis,  an  instrument  which  has    an  indicator  peculiar 
to  itself.     This  instrument,  although  it  also  has  waxed  circles,  differs  from  the 
other,  which   I  have   described   in  the   third  book.      But   by   both  these 
instruments,  as  well  as  by  a  rule  and  a  square,  he  determines  whether  the 
stretched  cords  reach  straight  to  the  extreme  end  of  the  tunnel,  or  whether 
they  sometimes  reach  straight,  and  are  sometimes  bent  by  the  footwall  or 
hangingwall.     Each  instrument  is  divided  into  parts,  but  the  compass  into 
twenty-four  parts,  the  orbis  into  sixteen  parts  ;   for  first  of  all  it  is  divided 
into  four  principal  parts,  and  then  each  of  these  is  again  divided  into  four. 
Both  have  waxed  circles,  but  the  compass  has  seven  circles,  and  the  orbis 
only  five  circles.     These  waxed  circles  the  surveyor  marks,  whichever  instru- 
ment he  uses,  and  by  the  succession  of  these  same  marks  he  notes  any 
change  in  the  direction  in  which  the  cord  extends.     The  orbis  has  an  open- 
ing running  from  its  outer  edge  as  far  as  the  centre,  into  which  opening  he 
puts  an  iron  screw,  to  which  he  binds  the  second  cord,  and  by  screwing  it  into 
the  plank,  fixes  it  so  that  the  orbis  may  be  immovable.      He  takes  care 
to  prevent  the  second  cord,  and  afterward  the  others  which  are  put  up, 
from  being  pulled  off  the  screw,  by  employing  a  heavy  iron,  into  an  opening 
of  which  he  fixes  the  head  of  the  screw.     In  the  case  of  the  compass,  since 
it  has  no  opening,  he  merely  places  it  by  the  side  of  the  screw.     That  the 
instrument  does  not  incline  forward  or  backward,   and  in  that  way   the 
12 


142 


BOOK    V. 


measurement  become  a  greater  length  than  it  should  be,  he  sets  upon  the 
instrument  a  standing  plummet  level,  the  tongue  of  which,  if  the  instrument 
is  level,  indicates  no  numbers,  but  the  point  from  which  the  numbers  start. 


COMPASS.    A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G  ARE  THE  SEVEN  WAXED  CIRCLES. 

When  the  surveyor  has  carefully  observed  each  separate  angle  of  the 
tunnel  and  has  measured  such  parts  as  he  ought  to  measure,  then  he  lays 
them  out  in  the  same  way  on  the  surveyor's  field20  in  the  open  air,  and  again 
no  less  carefully  observes  each  separate  angle  and  measures  them.  First  of 
all,  to  each  angle,  according  as  the  calculation  of  his  triangle  and  his  art 
require  it,  he  lays  out  a  straight  cord  as  a  line.  Then  he  stretches  a  cord  at 

20It  must  be  understood  that  instead  of  "  plotting  "  a  survey  on  a  reduced  scale  on 
paper,  as  modern  surveyors  do,  the  whole  survey  was  reproduced  in  full  scale  on  the 
"  surveyor's  field." 


A,  B,  C,  D,  E— FIVE  WAXED  CIRCLES  OF  THE  orbis.     F — OPENING  OF  SAME.     G— SCREW.    H— PERFORATED  IRON. 


V 


ft. 

cn 


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w 

H 


ft. 

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t/i 


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Ul 


BOOK    V. 


143 


such  an  angle  as  represents  the  slope  of  the  mountain,  so  that  its  lower  end 
may  reach  the  end  of  the  straight  cord ;    then  he  stretches  a  third  cord 


A — STANDING   PLUMMET   LEVEL.    B — TONGUE.    C — LEVEL   AND  TONGUE. 


144  BOOK    V. 

similarly  straight  and  at  such  an  angle,  that  with  its  upper  end  it  may  reach 
the  upper  end  of  the  second  cord,  and  with  its  lower  end  the  last  end  of  the 
first  cord.  The  length  of  the  third  cord  shows  the  depth  of  the  shaft,  as  I 
said  before,  and  at  the  same  time  that  point  on  the  tunnel  to  which  the  shaft 
will  reach  when  it  has  been  sunk. 

If  one  or  more  shafts  reach  the  tunnel  through  intermediate  drifts  and 
shafts,  the  surveyor,  starting  from  the  nearest  which  is  open  to  the  air, 
measures  in  a  shorter  time  the  depth  of  the  shaft  which  requires  to  be  sunk, 
than  if  he  starts  from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel.  First  of  all  he  measures 
that  space  on  the  surface  which  lies  between  the  shaft  which  has  been  sunk 
and  the  one  which  requires  to  be  sunk.  Then  he  measures  the  incline  of  all 
the  shafts  which  it  is  necessary  to  measure,  and  the  length  of  all  the  drifts 
with  which  they  are  in  any  way  connected  to  the  tunnel.  Lastly,  he 
measures  part  of  the  tunnel ;  and  when  all  this  is  properly  done,  he  demon- 
strates the  depth  of  the  shaft  and  the  point  in  the  tunnel  to  which  the  shaft 
will  reach.  But  sometimes  a  very  deep  straight  shaft  requires  to  be  sunk 
at  the  same  place  where  there  is  a  previous  inclined  shaft,  and  to  the  same 
depth,  in  order  that  loads  may  be  raised  and  drawn  straight  up  by  machines. 
Those  machines  on  the  surface  are  turned  by  horses  ;  those  inside  the  earth, 
by  the  same  means,  and  also  by  water-power.  And  so,  if  it  becomes 
necessary  to  sink  such  a  shaft,  the  surveyor  first  of  all  fixes  an  iron  screw 
in  the  upper  part  of  the  old  shaft,  and  from  the  screw  he  lets  down  a  cord 
as  far  as  the  first  angle,  where  again  he  fixes  a  screw,  and  again  lets  down  the 
cord  as  far  as  the  second  angle  ;  this  he  repeats  again  and  again  until  the 
cord  reaches  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  Then  to  each  angle  of  the  cord  he 
applies  a  hemicycle,  and  marks  the  waxed  semi-circle  according  to  the  lines 
which  the  tongue  indicates,  and  designates  it  by  a  number,  in  case  it  should  be 
moved  ;  then  he  measures  the  separate  parts  of  the  cord  with  another  cord 
made  of  linden  bark.  Afterward,  when  he  has  come  back  out  of  the  shaft, 
he  goes  away  and  transfers  the  markings  from  the  waxed  semi-circle  of  the 
hemicycle  to  an  orbis  similarly  waxed.  Lastly,  the  cords  are  stretched  on  the 
surveyor's  field,  and  he  measures  the  angles,  as  the  system  of  measuring  by 
triangles  requires,  and  ascertains  which  part  of  the  footwall  and  which 
part  of  the  hangingwall  rock  must  be  cut  away  in  order  that  the  shaft  may 
descend  straight.  But  if  the  surveyor  is  required  to  show  the  owners  of  the 
mine,  the  spot  in  a  drift  or  a  tunnel  in  which  a  shaft  needs  to  be  raised 
from  the  bottom  upward,  that  it  should  cut  through  more  quickly,  he 
begins  measuring  from  the  bottom  of  the  drift  or  tunnel,  at  a  point 
beyond  the  spot  at  which  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  will  arrive,  when  it  has  been 
sunk.  When  he  has  measured  the  part  of  the  drift  or  tunnel  up  to  the  first 
shaft  which  connects  with  an  upper  drift,  he  measures  the  incline  of  this 
shaft  by  applying  a  hemicycle  or  orbis  to  the  cord.  Then  in  a  like  manner 
he  measures  the  upper  drift  and  the  incline  shaft  which  is  sunk  therein 
toward  which  a  raise  is  being  dug,  then  again  all  the  cords  are  stretched  in 
the  surveyor's  field,  the  last  cord  in  such  a  way  that  it  reaches  the  first,  and 
then  he  measures  them.  From  this  measurement  is  known  in  what  part 


BOOK    V.  145 

of  the  drift  or  tunnel  the  raise  should  be  made,  and  how  many  fathoms  of 
vein  remain  to  be  broken  through  in  order  that  the  shaft  may  be  connected. 

I  have  described  the  first  reason  for  surveying  ;  I  will  now  describe 
another.  When  one  vein  conies  near  another,  and  their  owners  are  different 
persons  who  have  late  come  into  possession,  whether  they  drive  a  tunnel 
or  a  drift,  or  sink  a  shaft,  they  may  encroach,  or  seem  to  encroach,  without 
any  lawful  right,  upon  the  boundaries  of  the  older  owners,  for  which  reason 
the  latter  very  often  seek  redress,  or  take  legal  proceedings.  The  surveyor 
either  himself  settles  the  dispute  between  the  owners,  or  by  his  art  gives 
evidence  to  the  judges  for  making  their  decision,  that  one  shall  not  encroach 
on  the  mine  of  the  other.  Thus,  first  of  all  he  measures  the  mines  of  each 
party  with  a  basket  rope  and  cords  of  linden  bark  ;  and  having  applied  to  the 
cords  an  orbis  or  a  compass,  he  notes  the  directions  in  which  they  extend. 
Then  he  stretches  the  cords  on  the  surveyor's  field  ;  and  starting  from  that 
point  whose  owners  are  in  possession  of  the  old  meer  toward  the  other, 
whether  it  is  in  the  hanging  or  footwall  of  the  vein,  he  stretches  a  cross- 
cord  in  a  straight  line,  according  to  the  sixth  division  of  the  compass, 
that  is,  at  a  right  angle  to  the  vein,  for  a  distance  of  three  and  a 
half  fathoms,  and  assigns  to  the  older  owners  that  which  belongs  to 
them.  But  if  both  ends  of  one  vein  are  being  dug  out  in  two  tunnels,  or 
drifts  from  opposite  directions,  the  surveyor  first  of  all  considers  the  lower 
tunnel  or  drift  and  afterward  the  upper  one,  and  judges  how  much  each  of 
them  has  risen  little  by  little.  On  each  side  strong  men  take  in  their  hands 
a  stretched  cord  and  hold  it  so  that  there  is  no  point  where  it  is  not  strained 
tight ;  on  each  side  the  surveyor  supports  the  cord  with  a  rod  half  a  fathom 
long,  and  stays  the  rod  at  the  end  with  a  short  stick  as  often  as  he  thinks 
it  necessary.  But  some  fasten  cords  to  the  rods  to  make  them  steadier. 
The  surveyor  attaches  a  suspended  plummet  level  to  the  middle  of  the  cord  to 
enable  him  to  calculate  more  accurately  on  both  sides,  and  from  this  he  ascer- 
tains whether  one  tunnel  has  risen  more  than  another,  or  in  like  manner  one 
drift  more  than  another.  Afterward  he  measures  the  incline  of  the  shafts 
on  both  sides,  so  that  he  can  estimate  their  position  on  each  side.  Then  he 
easily  sees  how  many  fathoms  remain  in  the  space  which  must  be  broken 
through.  But  the  grade  of  each  tunnel,  as  I  said,  should  rise  one  fathom  in 
the  distance  of  one  hundred  fathoms. 

The  Swiss  surveyors,  when  they  wish  to  measure  tunnels  driven  into 
the  highest  mountains,  also  use  a  rod  half  a  fathom  long,  but  composed  of 
three  parts,  which  screw  together,  so  that  they  may  be  shortened.  They 
use  a  cord  made  of  linden  bark  to  which  are  fastened  slips  of  paper  showing 
the  number  of  fathoms.  They  also  employ  an  instrument  peculiar  to  them, 
which  has  a  needle ;  but  in  place  of  the  waxed  circles  they  carry  in  their 
hands  a  chart  on  which  they  inscribe  the  readings  of  the  instrument.  The 
instrument  is  placed  on  the  back  part  of  the  rod  so  that  the  tongue,  and  the 
extended  cord  which  runs  through  the  three  holes  in  the  tongue,  demonstrates 
the  direction,  and  they  note  the  number  of  fathoms.  The  tongue  shows 
whether  the  cord  inclines  forward  or  backward.  The  tongue  does  not  hang, 


146 


BOOK    V. 


as  in  the  case  of  the  suspended  plummet  level,  but  is  fixed  to  the  instrument  in 
a  half-lying  position.  They  measure  the  tunnels  for  the  purpose  of  knowing 
how  many  fathoms  they  have  been  increased  in  elevation  ;  how  many  fathoms 
the  lower  is  distant  from  the  upper  one  ;  how  many  fathoms  of  interval  is 


INDICATOR  OF  A  SUSPENDED  PLUMMET  LEVEL 


BOOK    V. 


147 


not  yet  pierced  between  the  miners  who  on  opposite  sides  are  digging  on 
the  same  vein,  or  cross-stringers,  or  two  veins  which  are  approaching  one 
another. 

But  I  return  to  our  mines.  If  the  surveyor  desires  to  fix  the  boundaries 
of  the  meer  within  the  tunnels  or  drifts,  and  mark  to  them  with  a  sign  cut  in  the 
rock,  in  the  same  way  that  the  Bergmeister  has  marked  these  boundaries 
above  ground,  he  first  of  all  ascertains,  by  measuring  in  the  manner 
which  I  have  explained  above,  which  part  of  the  tunnel  or  drift  lies 
beneath  the  surface  boundary  mark,  stretching  the  cords  along  the  drifts  to 
a  point  beyond  that  spot  in  the  rock  where  he  judges  the  mark  should  be 
cut.  Then,  after  the  same  cords  have  been  laid  out  on  the  surveyor's  field, 
he  starts  from  that  upper  cord  at  a  point  which  shows  the  boundary  mark, 
and  stretches  another  cross-cord  straight  downward  according  to  the  sixth 


A — NEEDLE  OF  THE  INSTRUMENT.    B — ITS  TONGUE.    C,  D,  E — HOLES  IN  THE  TONGUE. 


i48  BOOK    V. 

division  of  the  compass — that  is  at  a  right  angle.  Then  that  part 
of  the  lowest  cord  which  lies  beyond  the  part  to  which  the  cross-cord 
runs  being  removed,  it  shows  at  what  point  the  boundary  mark  should 
be  cut  into  the  rock  of  the  tunnel  or  drift.  The  cutting  is  made  in  the 
presence  of  the  two  Jurors  and  the  manager  and  the  foreman  of  each 
mine.  For  as  the  Bergmeister  in  the  presence  of  these  same  persons  sets 
the  boundary  stones  on  the  surface,  so  the  surveyor  cuts  in  the  rock  a  sign 
which  for  this  reason  is  called  the  boundary  rock.  If  he  fixes  the  boundary 
mark  of  a  meer  in  which  a  shaft  has  recently  begun  to  be  sunk  on  a  vein, 
first  of  all  he  measures  and  notes  the  incline  of  that  shaft  by  the  com- 
pass or  by  another  way  with  the  applied  cords  ;  then  he  measures  all 
the  drifts  up  to  that  one  in  whose  rock  the  boundary  mark  has  to 
be  cut.  Of  these  drifts  he  measures  each  angle  ;  then  the  cords,  being 
laid  out  on  the  surveyor's  field,  in  a  similar  way  he  stretches  a  cross- 
cord,  as  I  said,  and  cuts  the  sign  on  the  rock.  But  if  the  underground 
boundary  rock  has  to  be  cut  in  a  drift  which  lies  beneath  the  first  drift,  the 
surveyor  starts  from  the  mark  in  the  first  drift,  notes  the  different  angles, 
one  by  one,  takes  his  measurements,  and  in  the  lower  drift  stretches  a  cord 
beyond  that  place  where  he  judges  the  mark  ought  to  be  cut ;  and  then, 
as  I  said  before,  lays  out  the  cords  on  the  surveyor's  field.  Even  if  a  vein 
runs  differently  in  the  lower  drift  from  the  upper  one,  in  which  the  first 
boundary  mark  has  been  cut  in  the  rock,  still,  in  the  lower  drift  the  mark 
must  be  cut  in  the  rock  vertically  beneath.  For  if  he  cuts  the  lower  mark 
obliquely  from  the  upper  one  some  part  of  the  possession  of  one  mine  is 
taken  away  to  its  detriment,  and  given  to  the  other.  Moreover,  if  it 
happens  that  the  underground  boundary  mark  requires  to  be  cut  in  an 
angle,  the  surveyor,  starting  from  that  angle,  measures  one  fathom  toward 
the  front  of  the  mine  and  another  fathom  toward  the  back,  and  from  these 
measurements  forms  a  triangle,  and  dividing  its  middle  by  a  cross-cord, 
makes  his  cutting  for  the  boundary  mark. 

Lastly,  the  surveyor  sometimes,  in  order  to  make  more  certain,  finds  the 
boundary  of  the  meers  in  those  places  where  many  old  boundary  marks 
are  cut  in  the  rock.  Then,  starting  from  a  stake  fixed  on  the  surface, 
he  first  of  all  measures  to  the  nearest  mine  ;  then  he  measures  one  shaft 
after  another  ;  then  he  fixes  a  stake  on  the  surveyors'  field,  and  making 
a  beginning  from  it  stretches  the  same  cords  in  the  same  way  and  measures 
them,  and  again  fixes  in  the  ground  a  stake  which  for  him  will  signify  the  end 
of  his  measuring.  Afterward  he  again  measures  underground  from  that 
spot  at  which  he  left  off,  as  many  shafts  and  drifts  as  he  can  remember.  Then 
he  returns  to  the  surveyor's  field,  and  starting  again  from  the  second  stake, 
makes  his  measurements  ;  and  he  does  this  as  far  as  the  drift  in  which  the 
boundary  mark  must  be  cut  in  the  rock.  Finally,  commencing  from  the 
stake  first  fixed  in  the  ground,  he  stretches  a  cross-cord  in  a  straight  line  to 
the  last  stake,  and  this  shows  the  length  of  the  lowest  drift.  The  point 
where  they  touch,  he  judges  to  be  the  place  where  the  underground  boundary 
mark  should  be  cut. 

END    OF    BOOK    V. 


BOOK   VI. 


IGGING  of  veins  I  have  written  of,  and  the  timbering 
of  shafts,  tunnels,  drifts,  and  other  excavations, 
and  the  art  of  surveying.  I  will  now  speak  first  of 
all,  of  the  iron  tools  with  which  veins  and  rocks  are 
broken,  then  of  the  buckets  into  which  the  lumps 
of  earth,  rock,  metal,  and  other  excavated  materials 
are  thrown,  in  order  that  they  may  be  drawn,  con- 
veyed, or  carried  out.  Also,  I  will  speak  of  the 
water  vessels  and  drains,  then  of  the  machines  of 
different  kinds,1  and  lastly  of  the  maladies  of  miners.  And  while  all  these 
matters  are  being  described  accurately,  many  methods  of  work  will  be 
explained. 

There  are  certain  iron  tools  which  the  miners  designate  by  names  of  their 
own,  and  besides  these,  there  are  wedges,  iron  blocks,  iron  plates,  hammers, 
crowbars,  pikes,  picks,  hoes,  and  shovels.  Of  those  which  are  especially 
referred  to  as  "  iron  tools  "  there  are  four  varieties,  which  are  different 
from  one  another  in  length  or  thickness,  but  not  in  shape,  for  the 
upper  end  of  all  of  them  is  broad  and  square,  so  that  it  can  be  struck  by  the 


Book  is  devoted  in  the  main  to  winding,  ventilating,  and  pumping  machinery. 
Their  mechanical  principles  are  very  old.      The  block  and  pulley,  the  windlass,  the  use  of 
water-wheels,    the  transmission  of  power  through   shafts    and  gear-wheels,    chain-pumps, 
piston-pumps  with  valves,  were  all  known  to  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  and  possibly  earlier. 
Machines  involving  these  principles  were  described  by  Ctesibius,  an  Alexandrian  of  250  B.C., 
by  Archimedes  (287-212  B.C.),  and  by  Vitruvius  (ist  Century  B.C.)    As  to  how  far  these  machines 
were  applied  to  mining  by  the  Ancients  we  have  but  little  evidence,  and  this  largely  in  con- 
nection with  handling  water.      Diodorus  Siculus  (ist  Century  B.C.)  referring  to  the  Spanish 
mines,  says  (Book  V.)  :  "  Sometimes  at  great  depths  they  meet  great  rivers  underground, 
but  by  art  give  check  to  the  violence  of  the  streams,  for  by  cutting  trenches  they  divert  the 
current,  and  being  sure  to  gain  what  they  aim  at  when  they  have  begun,  they  never  leave 
off  till  they  have  finished  it.     And  they  admirably  pump  out  the  water  with  those  instru- 
ments called  Egyptian  pumps,  invented  by  Archimedes,  the  Syracusan,  when   he  was  in 
Egypt.    By  these,  with  constant  pumping  by  turns  they  throw  up  the  water  to  the  mouth  of 
the  pit  and  thus  drain  the  mine  ;    for  this  engine  is  so  ingeniously  contrived  that  a  vast 
quantity  of  water  is  strangely  and  with  little  labour  cast  out." 

Strabo  (63  B.C.  —  24  A.D.,  in.,  2,  9),  also  referring  to  Spanish  mines,  quoting  from 
Posidonius  (about  100  B.C.),  says  :  "  He  compares  with  these  (the  Athenians)  the  activity 
"  and  diligence  of  the  Turdetani,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  cutting  tortuous  and  deep  tunnels, 
"  and  draining  the  streams  which  they  frequently  encounter  by  means  of  Egyptian  screws." 
(Hamilton's  Tran.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  221).  The  "  Egyptian  screw  "  was  Archimedes'  screw,  and 
was  thus  called  because  much  used  by  the  Egyptians  for  irrigation.  Pliny  (xxxin.,  31)  also 
says,  in  speaking  of  the  Spanish  silver-lead  mines  :  "  The  mountain  has  been  excavated  for  a 
distance  of  1,500  paces,  and  along  this  distance  there  are  water-carriers  standing  by  torch- 
light night  and  day  steadily  baling  the  water  (thus)  making  quite  a  river."  The  re-opening 
of  the  mines  at  Rio  Tinto  in  the  middle  of  the  i8th  Century  disclosed  old  Roman  stopes,  in 
which  were  found  several  water-wheels.  These  were  about  15  feet  in  diameter,  lifting  the 
water  by  the  reverse  arrangement  to  an  overshot  water-wheel.  A  wooden  Archimedian 
screw  was  also  found  in  the  neighbourhood.  (Nash,  The  Rio  Tinto  Mine,  its  History  and 
Romance,  London,  1904). 

Until  early  in  the  i8th  Century,  water  formed  the  limiting  factor  in  the  depth  of  mines. 
To  the  great  devotion  to  this  water  problem  we  owe  the  invention  of  the  steam  engine. 
In  1705  Newcomen  —  no  doubt  inspired  by  Savery's  unsuccessful  attempt  —  invented  his 
engine,  and  installed  the  first  one  on  a  colliery  at  Wolverhampton,  in  Staffordshire.  With  its 
success,  a  new  era  was  opened  to  the  miner,  to  be  yet  further  extended  by  Watts's  improve- 
ments sixty  years  later.  It  should  be  a  matter  of  satisfaction  to  mining  engineers  that 
not  only  was  the  steam  engine  the  handiwork  of  their  profession,  but  that  another  mining 
engineer,  Stephenson,  in  his  effort  to  further  the  advance  of  his  calling,  invented  the 
locomotive. 


BOOK    VI. 

hammer.  The  lower  end  is  pointed  so  as  to  split  the  hard  rocks  and  veins 
with  its  point.  All  of  these  have  eyes  except  the  fourth.  The  first, 
which  is  in  daily  use  among  miners,  is  three-quarters  of  a  foot  long,  a  digit 
and  a  half  wide,  and  a  digit  thick.  The  second  is  of  the  same  width  as  the 
first,  and  the  same  thickness,  but  one  and  one  half  feet  long,  and  is  used  to 
shatter  the  hardest  veins  in  such  a  way  that  they  crack  open.  The  third 
is  the  same  length  as  the  second,  but  is  a  little  wider  and  thicker  ;  with 
this  one  they  dig  the  bottoms  of  those  shafts  which  slowly  accumulate  water. 
The  fourth  is  nearly  three  palms  and  one  digit  long,  two  digits  thick,  and  in 
the  upper  end  it  is  three  digits  wide,  in  the  middle  it  is  one  palm  wide,  and 
at  the  lower  end  it  is  pointed  like  the  others  ;  with  this  they  cut  out  the 
harder  veins.  The  eye  in  the  first  tool  is  one  palm  distant  from  the  upper 
end,  in  the  second  and  third  it  is  seven  digits  distant  ;  each  swells  out 
around  the  eye  on  both  sides,  and  into  it  they  fit  a  wooden  handle,  which 
they  hold  with  one  hand,  while  they  strike  the  iron  tool  with  a  hammer,  after 
placing  it  against  the  rock.  These  tools  are  made  larger  or  smaller  as 
necessary.  The  smiths,  as  far  as  possible,  sharpen  again  all  that  become  dull. 


A— FIRST  "  IRON  TOOL."     B— SECOND.    C— THIRD.    D— FOURTH. 2    E— WEDGE.    F— IRON 
BLOCK.    G — IRON  PLATE.    H — WOODEN  HANDLE.     I — HANDLE  INSERTED  IN  FIRST  TOOL. 

A  wedge  is  usually  three  palms  and  two  digits  long  and  six  digits  wide  ; 
at  the  upper  end,  for  a  distance  of  a  palm,  it  is  three  digits  thick,  and 
beyond  that  point  it  becomes  thinner  by  degrees,  until  finally  it  is  quite 
sharp. 

"While  these  particular  tools  serve  the  same  purpose  as  the  "gad"  and  the  "moil," 
the  latter  are  not  fitted  with  handles,  and  we  have,  therefore,  not  felt  justified  in  adopting 
these  terms,  but  have  given  a  literal  rendering  of  the  Latin. 


BOOK    VI. 


The  iron  block  is  six  digits  in  length  and  width  ;  at  the  upper  end  it  is 
two  digits  thick,  and  at  the  bottom  a  digit  and  a  half.  The  iron  plate  is 
the  same  length  and  width  as  the  iron  block,  but  it  is  very  thin.  All  of  these, 
as  I  explained  in  the  last  book,  are  used  when  the  hardest  kind  of  veins  are 
hewn  out.  Wedges,  locks,  and  plates,  are  likewise  made  larger  or  smaller. 


A — SMALLEST  OF  THE  SMALLER  HAMMERS.     B — INTERMEDIATE.    C — LARGEST.    D — SMALL 

KIND   OF  THE   LARGER   HAMMER.       E — LARGE   KIND.       F — WOODEN   HANDLE.       G — HANDLE 
FIXED    IN   THE    SMALLEST    HAMMER. 

Hammers  are  of  two  kinds,  the  smaller  ones  the  miners  hold  in 
one  hand,  and  the  larger  ones  they  hold  with  both  hands.  The  former, 
because  of  their  size  and  use,  are  of  three  sorts.  With  the  smallest, 
that  is  to  say,  the  lightest,  they  strike  the  second  "  iron  tool ;  "  with  the 
intermediate  one  the  first  "  iron  tool ;  "  and  with  the  largest  the  third  "  iron 
tool "  ;  this  one  is  two  digits  wide  and  thick.  Of  the  larger  sort  of  hammers 
there  are  two  kinds  ;  with  the  smaller  they  strike  the  fourth  "  iron  tool ;  " 
with  the  larger  they  drive  the  wedges  into  the  cracks  ;  the  former  are  three, 
and  the  latter  five  digits  wide  and  thick,  and  a  foot  long.  All  swell  out  in 
their  middle,  in  which  there  is  an  eye  for  a  handle,  but  in  most  cases  the 
handles  are  somewhat  light,  in  order  that  the  workmen  may  be  able  to  strike 
more  powerful  blows  by  the  hammer's  full  weight  being  thus  concentrated. 

2(Continued) — The  Latin  and  old  German  terms  for  these  tools  were  : — 


First  Iron  tool     = 

Second      ,, 

Third 

Fourth      ,, 

Wedge 

Iron  block 

Iron  plate 


Ferramentum  primwm 
„  secundum 

„  tertium 

„  quartum 

Cuneus 

Lamina 

Bractea 


Bergeisen. 

Rutzeisen. 

Sumpffeisen. 

Fimmel. 

Keil. 

Pldtz. 

Feder. 


The  German  words  obviously  had  local  value  and  do  not  bear  translation  literally. 


152 


BOOK    VI. 


The  iron  crowbars  are  likewise  of  two  kinds,  and  each  kind  is  pointed  at 
one  end.  One  is  rounded,  and  with  this  they  pierce  to  a  shaft  full  of  water 
when  a  tunnel  reaches  to  it ;  the  other  is  flat,  and  with  this  they  knock  out 
of  the  stopes  on  to  the  floor,  the  rocks  which  have  been  softened  by  the  fire, 
and  which  cannot  be  dislodged  by  the  pike.  A  miner's  pike,  like  a  sailor's, 
is  a  long  rod  having  an  iron  head. 


B 


A — ROUND  CROWBAR.     B — FLAT  CROWBAR.    C — PIKE. 


A— PICK.     B— HOE.     C— SHOVEL. 


BOOK    VI.  153 

The  miner's  pick  differs  from  a  peasant's  pick  in  that  the  latter  is  wide 
at  the  bottom  and  sharp,  but  the  former  is  pointed.  It  is  used  to  dig  out 
ore  which  is  not  hard,  such  as  earth.  Likewise  a  hoe  and  shovel  are  in  no 
way  different  from  the  common  articles,  with  the  one  they  scrape  up  earth 
and  sand,  with  the  other  they  throw  it  into  vessels. 

Now  earth,  rock,  mineral  substances  and  other  things  dug  out  with 
the  pick  or  hewn  out  with  the  "  iron  tools  "  are  hauled  out  of  the  shaft 
in  buckets,  or  baskets,  or  hide  buckets  ;  they  are  drawn  out  of  tunnels  in 
wheelbarrows  or  open  trucks,  and  from  both  they  are  sometimes  carried  in 
trays. 

Buckets  are  of  two  kinds,  which  differ  in  size,  but  not  in  material  or 
shape.  The  smaller  for  the  most  part  hold  only  about  one  metreta  ;  the 
larger  are  generally  capable  of  carrying  one-sixth  of  a  congius  ;  neither  is 
of  unchangeable  capacity,  but  they  often  vary.3  Each  is  made  of  staves  circled 
with  hoops,  one  of  which  binds  the  top  and  the  other  the  bottom. 
The  hoops  are  sometimes  made  of  hazel  and  oak,  but  these  are  easily 
broken  by  dashing  against  the  shaft,  while  those  made  of  iron  are  more 
durable.  In  the  larger  buckets  the  staves  are  thicker  and  wider,  as  also  are 
both  hoops,  and  in  order  that  the  buckets  may  be  more  firm  and  strong, 
they  have  eight  iron  straps,  somewhat  broad,  four  of  which  run  from  the 
upper  hoop  downwards,  and  four  from  the  lower  hoop  upwards,  as  if  to  meet 
each  other.  The  bottom  of  each  bucket,  both  inside  and  outside,  is  furnished 
with  two  or  three  straps  of  iron,  which  run  from  one  side  of  the  lower  hoop 
to  the  other,  but  the  straps  which  are  on  the  outside  are  fixed  crosswise. 
Each  bucket  has  two  iron  hafts  which  project  above  the  edge,  and  it  has  an 
iron  semi-circular  bail  whose  lower  ends  are  fixed  directly  into  the  hafts, 
that  the  bucket  may  be  handled  more  easily.  Each  kind  of  bucket  is  much 
deeper  than  it  is  wide,  and  each  is  wider  at  the  top,  in  order  that  the  material 
which  is  dug  out  may  be  the  more  easily  poured  in  and  poured  out  again. 
Into  the  smaller  buckets  strong  boys,  and  into  larger  ones  men,  fill  earth 
from  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  with  hoes  ;  or  the  other  material  dug  up  is 
shovelled  into  them  or  filled  in  with  their  hands,  for  which  reason  these  men 
are  called  "  shovellers.4  "  Afterward  they  fix  the  hook  of  the  drawing-rope 
into  the  bale  ;  then  the  buckets  are  drawn  up  by  machines — the  smaller  ones, 
because  of  their  lighter  weight,  by  machines  turned  by  men,  and  the  larger 
ones,  being  heavier,  by  the  machines  turned  by  horses.  Some,  in  place 
of  these  buckets,  substitute  baskets  which  hold  just  as  much,  or  even  more, 
since  they  are  lighter  than  the  buckets  ;  some  use  sacks  made  of  ox-hide 
instead  of  buckets,  and  the  drawing-rope  hook  is  fastened  to  their  iron  bale, 
usually  three  of  these  filled  with  excavated  material  are  drawn  up  at  the 
same  time  as  three  are  being  lowered  and  three  are  being  filled  by  boys.  The 
latter  are  generally  used  at  Schneeberg  and  the  former  at  Freiberg. 

8One  metreta,  a  Greek  measure,  equalled  about  nine  English  gallons,  and  a  congius 
contained  about  six  pints. 

*Ingestores.  This  is  a  case  of  Agricola  coining  a  name  for  workmen  from  the  work, 
the  term  being  derived  from  ingero,  to  pour  or  to  throw  in,  used  in  the  previous  clause — hence 
the  "  reason."  See  p.  xxxi. 


154 


BOOK    VI. 


A — SMALL  BUCKET.      B — LARGE  BUCKET.      C — STAVES.      D — IRON  HOOPS.      E — IRON 
STRAPS.     F — IRON  STRAPS  ON  THE  BOTTOM.    G — HAFTS.     H — IRON  BALE.     I — HOOK  OF 

DRAWING-ROPE.      K — BASKET.      L — HlDE    BUCKET   OR   SACK. 

That  which  we  call  a  cisium5  is  a  vehicle  with  one  wheel,  not  with 
two,  such  as  horses  draw.    When  filled  with  excavated  material  it  is  pushed 

6Cisium.     A  two-wheeled  cart.    In  the  preface  Agricola  gives  this  as  an  example  of 
his  intended  adaptations.     See  p.  xxxi. 


BOOK    VI. 


155 


by  a  workman  out  of  tunnels  or  sheds.  It  is  made  as  follows  :  two  planks 
are  chosen  about  five  feet  long,  one  foot  wide,  and  two  digits  thick  ;  of 
each  of  these  the  lower  side  is  cut  away  at  the  front  for  a  length  of  one 
foot,  and  at  the  back  for  a  length  of  two  feet,  while  the  middle  is  left  whole. 
Then  in  the  front  parts  are  bored  circular  holes,  in  order  that  the  ends  of  an 
axle  may  revolve  in  them.  The  intermediate  parts  of  the  planks  are 
perforated  twice  near  the  bottom,  so  as  to  receive  the  heads  of  two  little 
cleats  on  which  the  planks  are  fixed ;  and  they  are  also  perforated  in  the 
middle,  so  as  to  receive  the  heads  of  two  end-boards,  while  keys  fixed  in 
these  projecting  heads  strengthen  the  whole  structure.  The  handles  are 
made  out  of  the  extreme  ends  of  the  long  planks,  and  they  turn  downward 
at  the  ends  that  they  may  be  grasped  more  firmly  in  the  hands.  The  small 
wheel,  of  which  there  is  only  one,  neither  has  a  nave  nor  does  it  revolve 
around  the  axle,  but  turns  around  with  it.  From  the  felloe,  which  the 
Greeks  called  d^iSec,  two  transverse  spokes  fixed  into  it  pass  through  the 
middle  of  the  axle  toward  the  opposite  felloe  ;  the  axle  is  square,  with 
the  exception  of  the  ends,  each  of  which  is  rounded  so  as  to  turn  in  the 
opening.  A  workman  draws  out  this  barrow  full  of  earth  and  rock  and  draws 
it  back  empty.  Miners  also  have  another  wheelbarrow,  larger  than  this 
one,  which  they  use  when  they  wash  earth  mixed  with  tin-stone  on  to  which 
a  stream  has  been  turned.  The  front  end-board  of  this  one  is  deeper,  in 
order  that  the  earth  which  has  been  thrown  into  it  may  not  fall  out. 


A — SMALL  WHEELBARROW.     B— LONG  PLANKS  THEREOF.     C — END-BOARDS.     D- 
WHEEL.    E — LARGER  BARROW.     F — FRONT  END-BOARD  THEREOF. 


-SMALL 


156 


BOOK    VI. 


A — RECTANGULAR  IRON  BANDS  ON  TRUCK.        B — ITS  IRON   STRAPS.        C — IRON  AXLE. 
D — WOODEN   ROLLERS.        E — SMALL     IRON     KEYS.        F — LARGE     BLUNT    IRON    PIN. 

G — SAME  TRUCK  UPSIDE  DOWN. 


The  open  truck  has  a  capacity  half  as  large  again  as  a  wheelbarrow ;  it  is 
about  four  feet  long  and  about  two  and  a  half  feet  wide  and  deep  ;  and  since 
its  shape  is  rectangular,  it  is  bound  together  with  three  rectangular  iron 
bands,  and  besides  these  there  are  iron  straps  on  all  sides.  Two  small  iron 
axles  are  fixed  to  the  bottom,  around  the  ends  of  which  wooden  rollers  revolve 
on  either  side  ;  in  order  that  the  rollers  shall  not  fall  off  the  immovable 
axles,  there  are  small  iron  keys.  A  large  blunt  pin  fixed  to  the  bottom  of  the 
truck  runs  in  a  groove  of  a  plank  in  such  a  way  that  the  truck  does  not 
leave  the  beaten  track.  Holding  the  back  part  with  his  hands,  the  carrier 
pushes  out  the  truck  laden  with  excavated  material,  and  pushes  it  back 
again  empty.  Some  people  call  it  a  "  dog  "6,  because  when  it  moves  it 
makes  a  noise  which  seems  to  them  not  unlike  the  bark  of  a  dog.  This  truck 
is  used  when  they  draw  loads  out  of  the  longest  tunnels,  both  because  it  is 
moved  more  easily  and  because  a  heavier  load  can  be  placed  in  it. 

Bateas7  are  hollowed  out  of  a  single  block  of  wood  ;  the  smaller  kind 
are  generally  two  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide.  When  they  have  been 
filled  with  ore,  especially  when  but  little  is  dug  from  the  shafts  and  tunnels, 
men  either  carry  them  out  on  their  shoulders,  or  bear  them  away  hung  from 

•Cam's.     The  Germans  in  Agricola's  time  called  a  truck  a  hundt — a  hound. 
7Alveus, —  "Tray."     The  Spanish   term    batea  has  been  so  generally  adopted   into  the 
mining  vocabulary  for  a  wooden  bowl  for  these  purposes,  that  we  introduce  it  here. 


BOOK    VI. 


157 


A — SMALL  BATEA.     B — ROPE.    C— LARGE  BATEA. 

their  necks.  Pliny8  is  our  authority  that  among  the  ancients  everything 
which  was  mined  was  carried  out  on  men's  shoulders,  but  hi  truth  this 
method  of  carrying  forth  burdens  is  onerous,  since  it  causes  great  fatigue 
to  a  great  number  of  men,  and  involves  a  large  expenditure  for  labour  ;  for 
this  reason  it  has  been  rejected  and  abandoned  in  our  day.  The  length  of 
the  larger  batea  is  as  much  as  three  feet,  the  width  up  to  a  foot  and  a  palm. 
In  these  bateas  the  metallic  earth  is  washed  for  the  purpose  of  testing  it. 

Water-vessels  differ  both  in  the  use  to  which  they  are  put  and  in  the 
material  of  which  they  are  made ;  some  draw  the  water  from  the  shafts  and 
pour  it  into  other  things,  as  dippers  ;  while  some  of  the  vessels  filled  with 
water  are  drawn  out  by  machines,  as  buckets  and  bags  ;  some  are  made  of 
wood,  as  the  dippers  and  buckets,  and  others  of  hides,  as  the  bags.  The 
water-buckets,  just  like  the  buckets  which  are  filled  with  dry  material,  are  of 
two  kinds,  the  smaller  and  the  larger  ,  but  these  are  unlike  the  other  buckets  at 
the  top,  as  in  this  case  they  are  narrower,  in  order  that  the  water  may  not  be 
spilled  by  being  bumped  against  the  timbers  when  they  are  being  drawn  out 
of  the  shafts,  especially  those  considerably  inclined.  The  water  is  poured 
into  these  buckets  by  dippers,  which  are  small  wooden  buckets,  but  unlike  the 
water-buckets,  they  are  neither  narrow  at  the  top  nor  bound  with  iron  hoops, 
but  with  hazel, — because  there  is  no  necessity  for  either.  The  smaller  buckets 
are  drawn  up  by  machines  turned  by  men,  the  larger  ones  by  those  turned  by 
horses. 

8Pliny  (xxxin.,  21).     "  The  fragments  are    carried   on   workmen's  shoulders  ;    night 
"  and  day  each  passes  the  material  to  his  neighbour,  only  the  last  of  them  seeing  the  daylight." 

13 


158 


BOOK    VI. 


A — SMALLER  WATER-BUCKET.     B — LARGER  WATER-BUCKET.    C — DIPPER 


A — WATER-BAG  WHICH  TAKES  IN  WATER  BY  ITSELF.     B — WATER-BAG  INTO  WHICH  WATER 

POURS  WHEN  IT  IS  PUSHED  WITH  A  SHOVEL. 


BOOK     VI. 


159 


Our  people  give  the  name  of  water-bags  to  those  very  large  skins  for 
carrying  water  which  are  made  of  two,  or  two  and  a  half,  ox-hides.  When 
these  water-bags  have  undergone  much  wear  and  use,  first  the  hair  comes 
off  them  and  they  become  bald  and  shining  ;  after  this  they  become 
torn.  If  the  tear  is  but  a  small  one,  a  piece  of  smooth  notched  stick  is  put 
into  the  broken  part,  and  the  broken  bag  is  bound  into  its  notches  on  either 
side  and  sewn  together  ;  but  if  it  is  a  large  one,  they  mend  it  with  a  piece  of 
ox-hide.  The  water-bags  are  fixed  to  the  hook  of  a  drawing-chain  and  let 
down  and  dipped  into  the  water,  and  as  soon  as  they  are  filled  they  are  drawn 
up  by  the  largest  machine.  They  are  of  two  kinds  ;  the  one  kind  take  in  the 
water  by  themselves  ;  the  water  pours  into  the  other  kind  when  it  is  pushed 
in  a  certain  way  by  a  wooden  shovel. 

When  the  water  has  been  drawn  out  from  the  shafts,  it  is  run  off  in 
troughs,  or  into  a  hopper,  through  which  it  runs  into  the  trough.  Likewise 
the  water  which  flows  along  the  sides  of  the  tunnels  is  carried  off  in  drains. 
These  are  composed  of  two  hollowed  beams  joined  firmly  together,  so  as  to 
hold  the  water  which  flows  through  them,  and  they  are  covered  by  planks 
all  along  their  course,  from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  right  up  to  the  extreme 
end  of  it,  to  prevent  earth  or  rock  falling  into  them  and  obstructing  the  flow 
of  the  water.  If  much  mud  gradually  settles  in  them  the  planks  are  raised 
and  the  drains  are  cleaned  out,  for  they  would  otherwise  become  stopped  up 
and  obstructed  by  this  accident.  With  regard  to  the  trough  lying  above 


A — TROUGH.     B— HOPPER. 


160  BOOK    VI. 

ground,  which  miners  place  under  the  hoppers  which  are  close  by  the  shaft 
houses,  these  are  usually  hollowed  out  of  single  trees.  Hoppers  are  generally 
made  of  four  planks,  so  cut  on  the  lower  side  and  joined  together  that  the 
top  part  of  the  hopper  is  broader  and  the  bottom  part  narrower. 

I  have  sufficiently  indicated  the  nature  of  the  miners'  iron  tools  and 
their  vessels.  I  will  now  explain  their  machines,  which  are  of  three  kinds, 
that  is,  hauling  machines,  ventilating  machines,  and  ladders.  By  means  of 
the  hauling  machines  loads  are  drawn  out  of  the  shafts  ;  the  ventilating 
machines  receive  the  air  through  their  mouths  and  blow  it  into  shafts  or 
tunnels,  for  if  this  is  not  done,  diggers  cannot  carry  on  their  labour  without 
great  difficulty  in  breathing  ;  by  the  steps  of  the  ladders  the  miners  go 
down  into  the  shafts  and  come  up  again. 

Hauling  machines  are  of  varied  and  diverse  forms,  some  of  them  being 
made  with  great  skill,  and  if  I  am  not  mistaken,  they  were  unknown  to  the 
Ancients.  They  have  been  invented  in  order  that  water  may  be  drawn  from 
the  depths  of  the  earth  to  which  no  tunnels  reach,  and  also  the  excavated 
material  from  shafts  which  are  likewise  not  connected  with  a  tunnel,  or  if 
so,  only  with  very  long  ones.  Since  shafts  are  not  all  of  the  same  depth,  there 
is  a  great  variety  among  these  hauling  machines.  Of  those  by  which  dry  loads 
are  drawn  out  of  the  shafts,  five  sorts  are  in  the  most  common  use,  of  which 
I  will  now  describe  the  first.  Two  timbers  a  little  longer  than  the  shaft  are 
placed  beside  it,  the  one  in  the  front  of  the  shaft,  the  other  at  the  back. 
Their  extreme  ends  have  holes  through  which  stakes,  pointed  at  the  bottom 
like  wedges,  are  driven  deeply  into  the  ground,  so  that  the  timbers  may  remain 
stationary.  Into  these  timbers  are  mortised  the  ends  of  two  cross-timbers, 
one  laid  on  the  right  end  of  the  shaft,  while  the  other  is  far  enough 
from  the  left  end  that  between  it  and  that  end  there  remains  suitable 
space  for  placing  the  ladders.  In  the  middle  of  the  cross-timbers,  posts  are 
fixed  and  secured  with  iron  keys.  In  hollows  at  the  top  of  these  posts 
thick  iron  sockets  hold  the  ends  of  the  barrel,  of  which  each  end  projects 
beyond  the  hollow  of  the  post,  and  is  mortised  into  the  end  of  another 
piece  of  wood  a  foot  and  a  half  long,  a  palm  wide  and  three  digits  thick  ; 
the  other  end  of  these  pieces  of  wood  is  seven  digits  wide,  and  into  each 
of  them  is  fixed  a  round  handle,  likewise  a  foot  and  a  half  long.  A 
winding-rope  is  wound  around  the  barrel  and  fastened  to  it  at  the 
middle  part.  The  loop  at  each  end  of  the  rope  has  an  iron  hook  which 
is  engaged  in  the  bale  of  a  bucket,  and  so  when  the  windlass  revolves  by 
being  turned  by  the  cranks,  a  loaded  bucket  is  always  being  drawn  out  of  the 
shaft  and  an  empty  one  is  being  sent  down  into  it.  Two  robust  men  turn 
the  windlass,  each  having  a  wheelbarrow  near  him,  into  which  he  unloads 
the  bucket  which  is  drawn  up  nearest  to  him  ;  two  buckets  generally  fill  a 
wheelbarrow  ;  therefore  when  four  buckets  have  been  drawn  up,  each  man 
runs  his  own  wheelbarrow  out  of  the  shed  and  empties  it.  Thus  it  happens 
that  if  shafts  are  dug  deep,  a  hillock  rises  around  the  shed  of  the  windlass. 
If  a  vein  is  not  metal-bearing,  they  pour  out  the  earth  and  rock  without 
discriminating ;  whereas  if  it  is  metal-bearing,  they  preserve  these  materials, 


BOOK    VI. 


161 


which  they  unload  separately  and  crush  and  wash.  When  they  draw  up 
buckets  of  water  they  empty  the  water  through  the  hopper  into  a  trough, 
through  which  it  flows  away. 


A — TIMBER  PLACED  IN  FRONT  OF  THE  SHAFT.  B — TIMBER  PLACED  AT  THE  BACK  OF  THE 
SHAFT.  C — POINTED  STAKES.  D — CROSS-TIMBERS.  E — POSTS  OR  THICK  PLANKS. 
F — IRON  SOCKETS.  G — BARREL.  H— ENDS  OF  BARREL.  I — PIECES  OF  WOOD. 
K — HANDLE.  L — DRAWING-ROPE.  M — ITS  HOOK.  N — BUCKET.  O — BALE  OF  THE 

BUCKET. 

The  next  kind  of  machine,  which  miners  employ  when  the  shaft  is 
deeper,  differs  from  the  first  in  that  it  possesses  a  wheel  as  well  as  cranks. 
This  windlass,  if  the  load  is  not  being  drawn  up  from  a  great  depth,  is  turned 
by  one  windlass  man,  the  wheel  taking  the  place  of  the  other  man.  But  if  the 
depth  is  greater,  then  the  windlass  is  turned  by  three  men,  the  wheel  being 
substituted  for  a  fourth,  because  the  barrel  having  been  once  set  in  motion, 
the  rapid  revolutions  of  the  wheel  help,  and  it  can  be  turned  more  easily. 
Sometimes  masses  of  lead  are  hung  on  to  this  wheel,  or  are  fastened  to  the 
spokes,  in  order  that  when  it  is  turned  they  depress  the  spokes  by  their  weight 
and  increase  the  motion  ;  some  persons  for  the  same  reason  fasten  into  the 
barrel  two,  three,  or  four  iron  rods,  and  weight  their  ends  with  lumps  of  lead. 
The  windlass  wheel  differs  from  the  wheel  of  a  carriage  and  from  the  one 


BOOK     VI. 


A — BARREL. 


B— STRAIGHT  LEVERS.        C — USUAL  CRANK. 

E — RlM    OF   THE    SAME    WHEEL. 


SPOKES  OF  WHEEL. 


which  is  turned  by  water  power,  for  it  lacks  the  buckets  of  a  water-wheel 
and  it  lacks  the  nave  of  a  carriage  wheel.  In  the  place  of  the  nave  it  has  a  thick 
barrel,  in  which  are  mortised  the  lower  ends  of  the  spokes,  just  as  their  upper 
ends  are  mortised  into  the  rim.  When  three  windlass  men  turn  this  machine, 
four  straight  levers  are  fixed  to  the  one  end  of  the  barrel,  and  to  the 
other  the  crank  which  is  usual  in  mines,  and  which  is  composed  of  two  limbs, 
of  which  the  rounded  horizontal  one  is  grasped  by  the  hands  ;  the  rect- 
angular limb,  which  is  at  right  angles  to  the  horizontal  one,  has  mortised  in  its 
lower  end  the  round  handle,  and  in  the  upper  end  the  end  of  the  barrel.  This 
crank  is  worked  by  one  man,  the  levers  by  two  men,  of  whom  one  pulls  while 
the  other  pushes  ;  all  windlass  workers,  whatsoever  kind  of  a  machine  they 
may  turn,  are  necessarily  robust  that  they  can  sustain  such  great  toil. 

The  third  kind  of  machine  is  less  fatiguing  for  the  workman,  while  it 
raises  larger  loads  ;  even  though  it  is  slower,  like  all  other  machines  which 
have  drums,  yet  it  reaches  greater  depths,  even  to  a  depth  of  180  feet.  It 
consists  of  an  upright  axle  with  iron  journals  at  its  extremities,  which 
turn  in  two  iron  sockets,  the  lower  of  which  is  fixed  in  a  block  set  in  the 
ground  and  the  upper  one  in  the  roof  beam.  This  axle  has  at  its  lower  end  a 


BOOK    VI. 


163 


"nWKVmtbifmrrlb^^ 


A — UPRIGHT   AXLE.     B — BLOCK.    C — ROOF   BEAM.     D — WHEEL.     E — TOOTHED-DRUM. 
F — HORIZONTAL  AXLE.    G — DRUM  COMPOSED  OF  RUNDLES.     H — DRAWING  ROPE. 
I — POLE.     K — UPRIGHT  POSTS.    L — CLEATS  ON  THE  WHEEL. 

wheel  made  of  thick  planks  joined  firmly  together,  and  at  its  upper  end  a 
toothed  drum  ;  this  toothed  drum  turns  another  drum  made  of  rundles,  which 
is  on  a  horizontal  axle.  A  winding-rope  is  wound  around  this  latter  axle, 
which  turns  in  iron  bearings  set  in  the  beams.  So  that  they  may  not  fall,  the 
two  workmen  grasp  with  their  hands  a  pole  fixed  to  two  upright  posts,  and 
then  pushing  the  cleats  of  the  lower  wheel  backward  with  their  feet,  they 
revolve  the  machine  ;  as  often  as  they  have  drawn  up  and  emptied  one 
bucket  full  of  excavated  material,  they  turn  the  machine  in  the  opposite 
direction  and  draw  out  another. 

The  fourth  machine  raises  burdens  once  and  a  half  as  large  again  as  the 
two  machines  first  explained.  When  it  is  made,  sixteen  beams  are  erected 
each  forty  feet  long,  one  foot  thick  and  one  foot  wide,  joined  at  the  top  with 
clamps  and  widely  separated  at  the  bottom.  The  lower  ends  of  all  of 
them  are  mortised  into  separate  sills  laid  flat  upon  the  ground  ;  these  sills 
are  five  feet  long,  a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  and  a  foot  thick.  Each  beam  is  also 
connected  with  its  sill  by  a  post,  whose  upper  end  is  mortised  into  the  beam 


164  BOOK    VI. 

and  its  lower  end  mortised  into  the  sill ;    these  posts  are  four  feet  long,  one 
foot  thick,  and  one  foot  wide.     Thus  a  circular  area  is  made,  the  diameter  of 
which  is  fifty  feet  ;    in  the  middle  of  this  area  a  hole  is  sunk  to  a  depth  of  ten 
feet,  and  rammed  down  tight,  and  in  order  to  give  it  sufficient  firmness,  it  is 
strengthened  with  contiguous  small  timbers,  through  which  pins  are  driven, 
for  by  them  the  earth  around  the  hole  is  held  so  that  it  cannot  fall  in.     In 
the  bottom  of  the  hole  is  planted  a  sill,  three  or  four  feet  long  and  a  foot  and  a 
half  thick  and  wide  ;  in  order  that  it  may  remain  fixed,  it  is  set  into  the  small 
timbers  ;  in  the  middle  of  it  is  a  steel  socket  in  which  the  pivot  of  the  axle  turns. 
In  like  manner  a  timber  is  mortised  into  two  of  the  large  beams,  at  the  top 
beneath  the  clamps ;  this  has  an  iron  bearing  in  which  the  other  iron  journal  of 
the  axle  revolves.     Every  axle  used  in  mining,  to  speak  of  them  once  for  all, 
has  two  iron  journals,  rounded  off  on  all  sides,  one  fixed  with  keys  in  the  centre 
of   each   end.      That    part    of    this   journal    which    is    fixed    to   the    end 
of  the  axle  is  as  broad  as  the  end  itself  and  a  digit  thick  ;     that   which 
projects  beyond  the  axle  is  round  and  a  palm  thick,  or  thicker  if  necessity 
requires  ;    the  ends  of  each  miner's  axle  are  encircled   and   bound    by    an 
iron  band  to  hold  the  journal  more  securely.     The  axle  of  this  machine, 
except  at  the  ends,  is  square,  and  is  forty  feet  long,  a  foot  and  a  half  thick 
and  wide.     Mortised  and  clamped  into  the  axle  above  the  lower  end  are  the 
ends  of  four  inclined  beams  ;    their  outer  ends  support  two  double  cross- 
beams similarly  mortised  into  them  ;    the  inclined  beams  are  eighteen  feet 
long,  three  palms  thick,  and  five  wide.     The  two  cross-beams  are  fixed  to 
the  axle  and  held  together  by  wooden  keys  so  that  they  will  not  separate, 
and  they  are  twenty-four  feet  long.     Next,  there  is  a  drum  which  is  made  of 
three  wheels,  of  which  the  middle  one  is  seven  feet  distant  from  the  upper 
one   and  from   the   lower   one  ;    the    wheels  have   four  spokes   whigh   are 
supported  by  the  same  number  of  inclined  braces,  the  lower  ends  of  which 
are  joined  together  round  the  axle  by  a  clamp  ;    one  end  of  each  spoke  is 
mortised  into  the  axle  and  the  other  into  the  rim.     There  are  rundles  all 
round  the  wheels,  reaching  from  the  rim  of  the  lowest  one  to  the  rim  of  the 
middle  one,  and  likewise  from  the  rim  of  the  middle  wheel  to  the  rim  of  the  top 
one  ;  around  these  rundles  are  wound  the  drawing-ropes,  one  between  the  lowest 
wheel  and  the  middle  one,  the  other  between  the  middle  and  top  wheels. 
The  whole  of  this  construction  is  shaped  like  a  cone,  and  is  covered  with  a 
shingle  roof,  with  the  exception  of  that  square  part  which  faces  the  shaft. 
Then  cross-beams,  mortised  at  both  ends,  connect  a  double  row  of  upright 
posts  ;    all  of  these  are  eighteen  feet  long,  but  the  posts  are  one  foot  thick 
and  one  foot  wide,  and  the  cross-beams  are  three  palms  thick  and  wide. 
There  are  sixteen  posts  and  eight  cross-beams,  and  upon  these  cross-beams 
are  laid  two  timbers  a  foot  wide  and  three  palms  thick,  hollowed  out  to  a 
width  of  half  a  foot  and  to  a  depth  of  five  digits  ;     the  one  is  laid  upon  the 
upper  cross-beams  and  the  other  upon  the  lower  ;     each  is  long  enough  to 
reach  nearly  from  the  drum  of  the  whim  to  the  shaft.     Near  the  same  drum 
each  timber  has  a  small  round  wooden  roller  six  digits  thick,  whose  ends  are 


BOOK     VI. 


165 


A — UPRIGHT  BEAMS.    B — SILLS  LAID  FLAT  UPON  THE  GROUND.    C — POSTS.     D — AREA. 

E — SlLL     SET     AT     THE     BOTTOM     OF     THE     HOLE.       F — AXLE.       G — DOUBLE     CROSS-BEAMS. 

H — DRUM.     I — WINDING-ROPES.      K— BUCKET.     L— SMALL  PIECES  OF  WOOD  HANGING 

FROM    DOUBLE    CROSS-BEAMS.        M — SHORT    WOODEN    BLOCK.       N — CHAIN.       O — POLE    BAR. 

P — GRAPPLING  HOOK.     (Some  members  mentioned  in  the  text  are  not  shown). 


166  BOOK    VI. 

covered  with  iron  bands  and  revolve  in  iron  rings.  Each  timber  also  has  a 
wooden  pulley,  which  together  with  its  iron  axle  revolves  in  holes  in  the 
timber.  These  pulleys  are  hollowed  out  all  round,  in  order  that  the  drawing- 
rope  may  not  slip  out  of  them,  and  thus  each  rope  is  drawn  tight  and  turns 
over  its  own  roller  and  its  own  pulley.  The  iron  hook  of  each  rope  is  engaged 
with  the  bale  of  the  bucket.  Further,  with  regard  to  the  double  cross- 
beams which  are  mortised  to  the  lower  part  of  the  main  axle,  to  each  end 
of  them  there  is  mortised  a  small  piece  of  wood  four  feet  long.  These  appear 
to  hang  from  the  double  cross-beams,  and  a  short  wooden  block  is  fixed  to  the 
lower  part  of  them,  on  which  a  driver  sits.  Each  of  these  blocks  has  an  iron 
clavis  which  holds  a  chain,  and  that  in  turn  a  pole-bar.  In  this  way  it  is 
possible  for  two  horses  to  draw  this  whim,  now  this  way  and  now  that  ;  turn 
by  turn  one  bucket  is  drawn  out  of  the  shaft  full  and  another  is  let  down 
into  it  empty ;  if,  indeed,  the  shaft  is  very  deep  four  horses  turn  the  whim. 
When  a  bucket  has  been  drawn  up,  whether  filled  with  dry  or  wet  materials, 
it  must  be  emptied,  and  a  workman  inserts  a  grappling  hook  and  overturns 
it ;  this  hook  hangs  on  a  chain  made  of  three  or  four  links,  fixed  to  a  timber. 
The  fifth  machine  is  partly  like  the  whim,  and  partly  like  the  third  rag 
and  chain  pump,  which  draws  water  by  balls  when  turned  by  horse  power, 
as  I  will  explain  a  little  later.  Like  this  pump,  it  is  turned  by  horse 
power  and  has  two  axles,  namely,  an  upright  one — about  whose  lower  end, 
which  decends  into  an  underground  chamber,  there  is  a  toothed  drum — and  a 
horizontal  one,  around  which  there  is  a  drum  made  of  rundles.  It  has  indeed 
two  drums  around  its  horizontal  axle,  similar  to  those  of  the  big  machine,  but 
smaller,  because  it  draws  buckets  from  a  shaft  almost  two  hundred  and  forty 
feet  deep.  One  drum  is  made  of  hubs  to  which  cleats  are  fixed,  and 
the  other  is  made  of  rundles ;  and  near  the  latter  is  a  wheel  two 
feet  deep,  measured  on  all  sides  around  the  axle,  and  one  foot  wide  ;  and 
against  this  impinges  a  brake,10  which  holds  the  whim  when  occasion  demands 
that  it  be  stopped.  This  is  necessary  when  the  hide  buckets  are  emptied 
after  being  drawn  up  full  of  rock  fragments  or  earth,  or  as  often  as  water 
is  poured  out  of  buckets  similarly  drawn  up  ;  for  this  machine  not  only 
raises  dry  loads,  but  also  wet  ones,  just  like  the  other  four  machines  which 
I  have  already  described.  By  this  also,  timbers  fastened  on  to  its  winding- 
chain  are  let  down  into  a  shaft.  The  brake  is  made  of  a  piece  of  wood  one 
foot  thick  and  half  a  foot  long,  projecting  from  a  timber  that  is  suspended 
by  a  chain  from  one  end  of  a  beam  which  oscillates  on  an  iron  pin,  this  in 
turn  being  supported  in  the  claws  of  an  upright  post ;  and  from  the  other  end 
of  this  oscillating  beam  a  long  timber  is  suspended  by  a  chain,  and  from  this 
long  timber  again  a  short  beam  is  suspended.  A  workman  sits  on  the  short 
beam  when  the  machine  needs  to  be  stopped,  and  lowers  it ;  he  then  inserts 
a  plank  or  small  stick  so  that  the  two  timbers  are  held  down  and  cannot  be 
raised.  In  this  way  the  brake  is  raised,  and  seizing  the  drum,  presses  it 
so  tightly  that  sparks  often  fly  from  it  ;  the  suspended  timber  to  which 
the  short  beam  is  attached,  has  several  holes  in  which  the  chain  is 
l°Harpago,—A  "grapple"  or  "hook." 


BOOK    VI. 


A — TOOTHED  DRUM  WHICH  is  ON  THE  UPRIGHT  AXLE.     B — HORIZONTAL  AXLE.    C — DRUM 

WHICH    IS    MADE    OF    RUNDLES.  D — WHEEL    NEAR    IT.  E — DRUM     MADE     OF     HUBS. 

F— BRAKE.    G — OSCILLATING  BEAM.     H— SHORT  BEAM.     I— HOOK. 


i68 


BOOK    VI. 


fixed,  so  that  it  may  be  raised  as  much  as  is  convenient.  Above  this  wheel 
there  are  boards  to  prevent  the  water  from  dripping  down  and  wetting  it,  for 
if  it  becomes  wet  the  brake  will  not  grip  the  machine  so  well.  Near  the 
other  drum  is  a  pin  from  which  hangs  a  chain,  in  the  last  link  of  which  there 
is  an  iron  hook  three  feet  long  ;  a  ring  is  fixed  to  the  bottom  of  the  bucket, 
and  this  hook,  being  inserted  into  it,  holds  the  bucket  back  so  that  the  water 
may  be  poured  out  or  the  fragments  of  rock  emptied. 

The  miners  either  carry,  draw,  or  roll  down  the  mountains  the  ore  which 
is  hauled  out  of  the  shafts  by  these  five  machines  or  taken  out  of  the 
tunnels.  In  the  winter  time  our  people  place  a  box  on  a  sledge  and  draw 
it  down  the  low  mountains  with  a  horse ;  and  in  this  season  they 
also  fill  sacks  made  of  hide  and  load  them  on  dogs,  or  place  two  or 
three  of  them  on  a  small  sledge  which  is  higher  in  the  fore  part  and  lower  at 
the  back.  Sitting  on  these  sacks,  not  without  risk  of  his  life,  the  bold 
driver  guides  the  sledge  as  it  rushes  down  the  mountain  into  the  valleys  with 
a  stick,  which  he  carries  in  his  hand  ;  when  it  is  rushing  down  too 
quickly  he  arrests  it  with  the  stick,  or  with  the  same  stick  brings  it  back  to 
the  track  when  it  is  turning  aside  from  its  proper  course.  Some  of  the 


A— SLEDGE  WITH  BOX  PLACED  ON  IT.     B — SLEDGE  WITH  SACKS  PLACED  ON  IT.    C— STICK. 

D— DOGS  WITH   PACK-SADDLES.       E— PlG-SKIN   SACKS  TIED  TO  A   ROPE. 


BOOK    VI.  169 

Noricians11  collect  ore  during  the  winter  into  sacks  made  of  bristly  pigskins, 
and  drag  them  down  from  the  highest  mountains,  which  neither  horses, 
mules  nor  asses  can  climb.  Strong  dogs,  that  are  trained  to  bear  pack 
saddles,  carry  these  sacks  when  empty  into  the  mountains.  When  they 
are  filled  with  ore,  bound  with  thongs,  and  fastened  to  a  rope,  a  man, 
winding  the  rope  round  his  arm  or  breast,  drags  them  down  through  the 
snow  to  a  place  where  horses,  mules,  or  asses  bearing  pack-saddles  can 
climb.  There  the  ore  is  removed  from  the  pigskin  sacks  and  put  into  other 
sacks  made  of  double  or  triple  twilled  linen  thread,  and  these  placed  on  the 
pack-saddles  of  the  beasts  are  borne  down  to  the  works  where  the  ores 
are  washed  or  smelted.  If,  indeed,  the  horses,  mules,  or  asses  are  able 
to  climb  the  mountains,  linen  sacks  filled  with  ore  are  placed  on  their  saddles, 
and  they  carry  these  down  the  narrow  mountain  paths,  which  are  passable 
neither  by  wagons  nor  sledges,  into  the  valleys  lying  below  the  steeper 
portions  of  the  mountains.  But  on  the  declivity  of  cliffs  which  beasts  cannot 
climb,  are  placed  long  open  boxes  made  of  planks,  with  transverse  cleats  to 
hold  them  together  ;  into  these  boxes  is  thrown  the  ore  which  has  been 
brought  in  wheelbarrows,  and  when  it  has  run  down  to  the  level  it  is  gathered 
into  sacks,  and  the  beasts  either  carry  it  away  on  their  backs  or  drag  it  away 
after  it  has  been  thrown  into  sledges  or  wagons.  When  the  drivers  bring 
ore  down  steep  mountain  slopes  they  use  two-wheeled  carts,  and  they  drag 
behind  them  on  the  ground  the  trunks  of  two  trees,  for  these  by  their  weight 
hold  back  the  heavily-laden  carts,  which  contain  ore  in  their  boxes,  and  check 
their  descent,  and  but  for  these  the  driver  would  often  be  obliged  to 
bind  chains  to  the  wheels.  When  these  men  bring  down  ore  from  mountains 
which  do  not  have  such  declivities,  they  use  wagons  whose  beds  are  twice 
as  long  as  those  of  the  carts.  The  planks  of  these  are  so  put  together  that, 
when  the  ore  is  unloaded  by  the  drivers,  they  can  be  raised  and  taken  apart, 
for  they  are  only  held  together  by  bars.  The  drivers  employed  by  the  owners 
of  the  ore  bring  down  thirty  or  sixty  wagon-loads,  and  the  master  of  the 
works  marks  on  a  stick  the  number  of  loads  for  each  driver.  But  some 
ore,  especially  tin,  after  being  taken  from  the  mines,  is  divided  into  eight 
parts,  or  into  nine,  if  the  owners  of  the  mine  give  "  ninth  parts  "  to  the 
owners  of  the  tunnel.  This  is  occasionally  done  by  measuring  with  a  bucket, 
but  more  frequently  planks  are  put  together  on  a  spot  where,  with  the 
addition  of  the  level  ground  as  a  base,  it  forms  a  hollow  box.  Each  owner 
provides  for  removing,  washing,  and  smelting  that  portion  which  has  fallen 
to  him.  (Illustration  p.  170). 

Into  the  buckets,  drawn  by  these  five  machines,  the  boys  or  men  throw 
the  earth  and  broken  rock  with  shovels,  or  they  fill  them  with  their  hands  ; 
hence  they  get  their  name  of  shovellers.  As  I  have  said,  the  same 
machines  raise  not  only  dry  loads,  but  also  wet  ones,  or  water  ;  but  before 
I  explain  the  varied  and  diverse  kinds  of  machines  by  which  miners  are  wont 

"Ancient    Noricum   covered   the    region    of   modern   Tyrol,    with   parts   of   Bavaria, 
Salzburg,  etc. 


BOOK    VI. 


A — HORSES  WITH  PACK-SADDLES.  B — LONG  BOX  PLACED  ON  THE  SLOPE  OF  THE  CLIFF. 
C — CLEATS  THEREOF.  D— WHEELBARROW.  E— TWO-WHEELED  CART.  F — TRUNKS  OF 
TREES.  G — WAGON.  H — ORE  BEING  UNLOADED  FROM  THE  WAGON.  I — BARS. 
K — MASTER  OF  THE  WORKS  MARKING  THE  NUMBER  OF  CARTS  ON  A  STICK.  L— BOXES 

INTO   WHICH    ARE    THROWN    THE    ORE    WHICH    HAS   TO    BE    DIVIDED. 


BOOK    VI. 


171 


to  draw  water  alone,  I  will  explain  how  heavy  bodies,  such  as  axles,  iron 
chains,  pipes,  and  heavy  timbers,  should  be  lowered  into  deep  vertical  shafts. 
A  windlass  is  erected  whose  barrel  has  on  each  end  four  straight  levers  ;  it 
is  fixed  into  upright  beams  and  around  it  is  wound  a  rope,  one  end  of  which 
is  fastened  to  the  barrel  and  the  other  to  those  heavy  bodies  which  are  slowly 
lowered  down  by  workmen  ;  and  if  these  halt  at  any  part  of  the  shaft  they 
are  drawn  up  a  little  way.  When  these  bodies  are  very  heavy,  then  behind 
this  windlass  another  is  erected  just  like  it,  that  their  combined  strength 
may  be  equal  to  the  load,  and  that  it  may  be  lowered  slowly.  Sometimes  for 
the  same  reason,  a  pulley  is  fastened  with  cords  to  the  roof-beam,  and  the  rope 
descends  and  ascends  over  it. 


A — WINDLASS.    B— STRAIGHT  LEVERS.    C — UPRIGHT  BEAMS. 

F — TIMBERS  TO  BE  LOWERED. 


D— ROPE.    E— PULLEY. 


Water  is  either  hoisted  or  pumped  out  of  shafts.  It  is  hoisted  up  after 
being  poured  into  buckets  or  water-bags  ;  the  water-bags  are  generally 
brought  up  by  a  machine  whose  water-wheels  have  double  paddles,  while  the 
buckets  are  brought  up  by  the  five  machines  already  described,  although  in 
certain  localities  the  fourth  machine  also  hauls  up  water-bags  of  moderate 
size.  Water  is  drawn  up  also  by  chains  of  dippers,  or  by  suction  pumps,  or 


BOOK    VI. 

by  "  rag  and  chain  "  pumps.12  When  there  is  but  a  small  quantity,  it  is 
either  brought  up  in  buckets  or  drawn  up  by  chains  of  dippers  or  suction 
pumps,  and  when  there  is  much  water  it  is  either  drawn  up  in  hide  bags  or 
by  rag  and  chain  pumps. 

First  of  all,  I  will  describe  the  machines  which  draw  water  by  chains 
of  dippers,  of  which  there  are  three  kinds.  For  the  first,  a  frame  is 
made  entirely  of  iron  bars ;  it  is  two  and  a  half  feet  high,  likewise  two  and 
a  half  feet  long,  and  in  addition  one-sixth  and  one-quarter  of  a  digit 
long,  one-fourth  and  one-twenty-fourth  of  a  foot  wide.  In  it  there  are  three 
little  horizontal  iron  axles,  which  revolve  in  bearings  or  wide  pillows  of  steel, 
and  also  four  iron  wheels,  of  which  two  are  made  with  randies  and  the  same 
number  are  toothed.  Outside  the  frame,  around  the  lowest  axle,  is  a 
wooden  fly-wheel,  so  that  it  can  be  more  readily  turned,  and  inside  the  frame 
is  a  smaller  drum  which  is  made  of  eight  randies,  one-sixth  and  one  twenty- 
fourth  of  a  foot  long.  Around  the  second  axle,  which  does  not  project 
beyond  the  frame,  and  is  therefore  only  two  and  a  half  feet  and  one-twelfth 
and  one-third  part  of  a  digit  long,  there  is  on  the  one  side,  a  smaller  toothed 
wheel,  which  has  forty-eight  teeth,  and  on  the  other  side  a  larger  dram, 
which  is  surrounded  by  twelve  rundles  one-quarter  of  a  foot  long.  Around  the 
third  axle,  which  is  one  inch  and  one-third  thick,  is  a  larger  toothed  wheel 
projecting  one  foot  from  the  axle  in  all  directions,  which  has  seventy- two 
teeth.  The  teeth  of  each  wheel  are  fixed  in  with  screws,  whose  threads  are 
screwed  into  threads  in  the  wheel,  so  that  those  teeth  which  are  broken  can  be 
replaced  by  others;  both  the  teeth  and  randies  are  steel.  The  upper  axle 
projects  beyond  the  frame,  and  is  so  skilfully  mortised  into  the  body  of 
another  axle  that  it  has  the  appearance  of  being  one  ;  this  axle  proceeds 
through  a  frame  made  of  beams  which  stands  around  the  shaft,  into  an  iron 
fork  set  in  a  stout  oak  timber,  and  turns  on  a  roller  made  of  pure  steel. 
Around  this  axle  is  a  drum  of  the  kind  possessed  by  those  machines  which 
draw  water  by  rag  and  chain ;  this  dram  has  triple  curved  iron  clamps, 
to  which  the  links  of  an  iron  chain  hook  themselves,  so  that  a  great  weight 
cannot  tear  them  away.  These  links  are  not  whole  like  the  links  of  other 
chains,  but  each  one  being  curved  in  the  upper  part  on  each  side  catches  the 
one  which  comes  next,  whereby  it  presents  the  appearance  of  a  double  chain. 
At  the  point  where  one  catches  the  other,  dippers  made  of  iron  or  brass  plates 
and  holding  half  a  congius13  are  bound  to  them  with  thongs  ;  thus,  if  there  are 
one  hundred  links  there  will  be  the  same  number  of  dippers  pouring  out  water. 
When  the  shafts  are  inclined,  the  mouths  of  the  dippers  project  and  are  covered 
on  the  top  that  they  may  not  spill  out  the  water,  but  when  the  shafts  are 
vertical  the  dippers  do  not  require  a  cover.  By  fitting  the  end  of  the  lowest 
small  axle  into  the  crank,  the  man  who  works  the  crank  turns  the  axle,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  dram  whose  rundles  turn  the  toothed  wheel  of  the  second 
axle  ;  by  this  wheel  is  driven  the  one  that  is  made  of  rundles,  which 

l2Machina  quae  pilis  aquas  haurit.  "  Machine  which  draws  water  with  balls."  This 
apparatus  is  identical  with  the  Cornish  "  rag  and  chain  pump  "  cf  the  same  period,  and  we 
have  therefore  adopted  that  term. 

13A  congius  contained  about  six.  pints. 


BOOK    VI. 


173 


A — IRON   FRAME.    B— LOWEST   AXLE.    C — FLY-WHEEL.    D — SMALLER   DRUM  MADE   OF 
RUNDLES.    E — SECOND  AXLE.    F — SMALLER  TOOTHED  WHEEL.    G — LARGER  DRUM  MADE 

OF     RUNDLES.  H — UPPER     AXLE.  I — LARGER     TOOTHED     WHEEL.  K — BEARINGS. 

I, — PILLOW.      M — FRAMEWORK.      N — OAK  TIMBER.      O — SUPPORT   OF  IRON   BEARING. 
P— ROLLER.      Q— UPPER  DRUM.      R— CLAMPS.      S— CHAIN.    T— LINKS.    V— DIPPERS. 
X — CRANK.     Y — LOWER  DRUM  OR  BALANCE  WEIGHT. 

H 


174 


BOOK    VI. 


again  turns  the  toothed  wheel  of  the  upper  small  axle  and  thus  the  drum  to 
which  the  clamps  are  fixed.  In  this  way  the  chain,  together  with  the  empty 
dippers,  is  slowly  let  down,  close  to  the  footwall  side  of  the  vein,  into  the  sump 
to  the  bottom  of  the  balance  drum,  which  turns  on  a  little  iron  axle,  both  ends 
of  which  are  set  in  a  thick  iron  bearing.  The  chain  is  rolled  round  the  drum 
and  the  dippers  fill  with  water ;  the  chain  being  drawn  up  close  to  the  hanging- 
wall  side,  carries  the  dippers  filled  with  water  above  the  drum  of  the  upper 
axle.  Thus  there  are  always  three  of  the  dippers  inverted  and  pouring 
water  into  a  lip,  from  which  it  flows  away  into  the  drain  of  the  tunnel.  This 
machine  is  less  useful,  because  it  cannot  be  constructed  without  great  expense, 
and  it  carries  off  but  little  water  and  is  somewhat  slow,  as  also  are  other 
machines  which  possess  a  great  number  of  drums. 


A — WHEEL  WHICH  is  TURNED  BY  TREADING.    B — AXLE.     C — DOUBLE  CHAIN.     D— LINK 

OF  DOUBLE  CHAIN.      E— DlPPERS.       F— SIMPLE  CLAMPS.       G— CLAMP  WITH  TRIPLE  CURVES. 

The  next  machine  of  this  kind,  described  in  a  few  words  by  Vitruvius,14 
more  rapidly  brings  up  dippers,  holding  a  congius  ;    for  this  reason,  it  is 

"Vitruvius  (x.,  9).  "  But  if  the  water  is  to  be  supplied  to  still  higher  places,  a  double 
"  chain  of  iron  is  made  to  revolve  on  the  axis  of  the  wheel,  long  enough  to  reach  to  the  lower 
"  level.  This  is  furnished  with  brazen  buckets,  each  holding  about  a  congius.  Then  by  turning 
"  the  wheel,  the  chain  also  turns  upon  the  axis  and  brings  the  buckets  to  the  top  thereof,  on 
"  passing  which  they  are  inverted  and  pour  into  the  conduits  the  water  they  have  raised." 


BOOK    VI. 


175 


more  useful  than  the  first  one  for  drawing  water  out  of  shafts,  into  which 
much  water  is  continually  flowing.  This  machine  has  no  iron  frame  nor 
drums,  but  has  around  its  axle  a  wooden  wheel  which  is  turned  by  treading ; 
the  axle,  since  it  has  no  drum,  does  not  last  very  long.  In  other  respects 
this  pump  resembles  the  first  kind,  except  that  it  differs  from  it  by  having 
a  double  chain.  Clamps  should  be  fixed  to  the  axle  of  this  machine,  just  as 
to  the  drum  of  the  other  one  ;  some  of  these  are  made  simple  and  others 
with  triple  curves,  but  each  kind  has  four  barbs. 

The  third  machine,  which  far  excels  the  two  just  described,  is  made 
when  a  running  stream  can  be  diverted  to  a  mine ;  the  impetus  of  the 
stream  striking  the  paddles  revolves  a  water-wheel  in  place  of  the  wheel 
turned  by  treading.  With  regard  to  the  axle,  it  is  like  the  second  machine, 


A — WHEEL  WHOSE  PADDLES  ARE  TURNED  BY  THE  FORCE  OF 
C — DRUM  OF  AXLE,  TO  WHICH  CLAMPS  ARE  FIXED.    D — CHAIN. 

G — BALANCE  DRUM. 

but  the  drum  which  is  round  the  axle,  the  chain,  and 
like  the  first  machine.     It  has  much  more  capacious 
second  machine,  but  since  the  dippers  are  frequently 
use  these  machines  ;   for  they  prefer  to  lift  out  small 
the  first  five  machines  or  to  draw   it  up  by  suction 


THE    STREAM.       B — AXLE. 

E — LINK.     F — DIPPERS. 

the  balance  drum,  are 
dippers  than  even  the 
broken,  miners  rarely 
quantities  of  water  by 
pumps,  or,  if  there  is 


176  BOOK     VI. 

much  water,  to  drain  it  by  the  rag  and  chain  pump  or  to  bring  it  up  in 
water-bags. 

Enough,  then,  of  the  first  sort  of  pumps.  I  will  now  explain  the  other, 
that  is  the  pump  which  draws,  by  means  of  pistons,  water  which  has  been 
raised  by  suction.  Of  these  there  are  seven  varieties,  which  though  they 
differ  from  one  another  in  structure,  nevertheless  confer  the  same  benefits 
upon  miners,  though  some  to  a  greater  degree  than  others.  The  first  pump 
is  made  as  follows.  Over  the  sump  is  placed  a  flooring,  through  which  a 
pipe — or  two  lengths  of  pipe,  one  of  which  is  joined  into  the  other — are  let 
down  to  the  bottom  of  the  sump ;  they  are  fastened  with  pointed  iron  clamps 
driven  in  straight  on  both  sides,  so  that  the  pipes  may  remain  fixed.  The 
lower  end  of  the  lower  pipe  is  enclosed  in  a  trunk  two  feet  deep  ;  this  trunk, 
hollow  like  the  pipe,  stands  at  the  bottom  of  the  sump,  but  the  lower  opening 
of  it  is  blocked  with  a  round  piece  of  wood  ;  the  trunk  has  perforations 
round  about,  through  which  water  flows  into  it.  If  there  is  one  length  of 
pipe,  then  in  the  upper  part  of  the  trunk  which  has  been  hollowed  out  there  is 
enclosed  a  box  of  iron,  copper,  or  brass,  one  palm  deep,  but  without  a  bottom, 
and  a  rounded  valve  so  tightly  closes  it  that  the  water,  which  has  been  drawn 
up  by  suction,  cannot  run  back  ;  but  if  there  are  two  lengths  of  pipe,  the 
box  is  enclosed  in  the  lower  pipe  at  the  point  of  junction.  An  opening  or  a 
spout  in  the  upper  pipe  reaches  to  the  drain  of  the  tunnel.  Thus  the  work- 
man, eager  at  his  labour,  standing  on  the  flooring  boards,  pushes  the  piston 
down  into  the  pipe  and  draws  it  out  again.  At  the  top  of  the  piston-rod  is  a 
hand-bar  and  the  bottom  is  fixed  in  a  shoe  ;  this  is  the  name  given  to  the 
leather  covering,  which  is  almost  cone-shaped,  for  it  is  so  stitched  that  it  is 
tight  at  the  lower  end,  where  it  is  fixed  to  the  piston-rod  which  it  surrounds, 
but  in  the  upper  end  where  it  draws  the  water  it  is  wide  open.  Or  else  an 
iron  disc  one  digit  thick  is  used,  or  one  of  wood  six  digits  thick,  each  of  which 
is  far  superior  to  the  shoe.  The  disc  is  fixed  by  an  iron  key  which  pene- 
trates through  the  bottom  of  the  piston-rod,  or  it  is  screwed  on  to  the 
rod  ;  it  is  round,  with  its  upper  part  protected  by  a  cover,  and  has  five  or 
six  openings,  either  round  or  oval,  which  taken  together  present  a  star-like 
appearance ;  the  disc  has  the  same  diameter  as  the  inside  of  the  pipe, 
so  that  it  can  be  just  drawn  up  and  down  in  it.  When  the  workman  draws 
the  piston  up,  the  water  which  has  passed  in  at  the  openings  of  the  disc, 
whose  cover  is  then  closed,  is  raised  to  the  hole  or  little  spout,  through  which 
it  flows  away  ;  then  the  valve  of  the  box  opens,  and  the  water  which  has 
passed  into  the  trunk  is  drawn  up  by  the  suction  and  rises  into  the  pipe  ; 
but  when  the  workman  pushes  down  the  piston,  the  valve  closes  and  allows 
the  disc  again  to  draw  in  the  water. 

The  piston  of  the  second  pump  is  more  easily  moved  up  and  down.  When 
this  pump  is  made,  two  beams  are  placed  over  the  sump,  one  near  the  right  side 
of  it,  and  the  other  near  the  left.  To  one  beam  a  pipe  is  fixed  with  iron  clamps  ; 
to  the  other  is  fixed  either  the  forked  branch  of  a  tree  or  a  timber  cut  out  at 
the  top  in  the  shape  of  a  fork,  and  through  the  prongs  of  the  fork  a  round 
hole  is  bored.  Through  a  wide  round  hole  in  the  middle  of  a  sweep  passes 


BOOK    VI. 


177 


A— SUMP.      B— PIPES.      C— FLOORING.      D— TRUNK.    E— PERFORATIONS    OF    TRUNK. 
F — VALVE.    G— SPOUT.    H— PISTON-ROD.  I— HAND-BAR  OF  PISTON.    K— SHOE.    L — Disc 

WITH  ROUND  OPENINGS.       M— DlSC  WITH  OVAL  OPENINGS.      N— COVER.       O— THIS  MAN  IS 
BORING  LOGS  AND  MAKING  THEM  INTO  PIPES.       P— BORER  WITH  AUGER.       Q — WlDER  BORER. 


I78 


BOOK    VI. 


A — ERECT  TIMBER.     B — AXLE.    C — SWEEP  WHICH  TURNS  ABOUT  THE  AXLE.     D — PISTON 
ROD.    E — CROSS-BAR.     F — RING  WITH  WHICH  TWO  PIPES  ARE  GENERALLY  JOINED. 

an  iron  axle,  so  fastened  in  the  holes  in  the  fork  that  it  remains  fixed,  and 
the  sweep  turns  on  this  axle.  In  one  end  of  the  sweep  the  upper  end  of  a 
piston-rod  is  fastened  with  an  iron  key  ;  at  the  other  end  a  cross-bar  is  also 
fixed,  to  the  extreme  ends  of  which  are  handles  to  enable  it  to  be  held  more 
firmly  in  the  hands.  And  so  when  the  workman  pulls  the  cross-bar  upward, 
he  forces  the  piston  into  the  pipe  ;  when  he  pushes  it  down  again  he  draws 
the  piston  out  of  the  pipe  ;  and  thus  the  piston  carries  up  the  water  which 
has  been  drawn  in  at  the  openings  of  the  disc,  and  the  water  flows  away  through 
the  spout  into  the  drains.  This  pump,  like  the  next  one,  is  identical  with 
the  first  in  all  that  relates  to  the  piston,  disc,  trunk,  box,  and  valve. 

The  third  pump  is  not  unlike  the  one  just  described,  but  in  place  of 
one  upright,  posts  are  erected  with  holes  at  the  top,  and  in  these  holes  the 
ends  of  an  axle  revolve.  To  the  middle  of  this  axle  are  fixed  two  wooden 
bars,  to  the  end  of  one  of  which  is  fixed  the  piston,  and  to  the  end  of  the 
other  a  heavy  piece  of  wood,  but  short,  so  that  it  can  pass  between  the  two 
posts  and  may  move  backward  and  forward.  When  the  workman  pushes 
this  piece  of  wood,  the  piston  is  drawn  out  of  the  pipe  ;  when  it  returns  by  its 


BOOK    VI. 


179 


A — POSTS.    B — AXLE.    C — WOODEN  BARS.    D — PISTON  ROD.    E — SHORT  PIECE  OF  WOOD. 
F — DRAIN.    G — THIS  MAN  is  DIVERTING  THE  WATER  WHICH  is  FLOWING  OUT  OF  THE  DRAIN, 

TO  PREVENT  IT  FROM  FLOWING  INTO  THE  TRENCHES  WHICH  ARE  BEING  DUG. 

own  weight,  the  piston  is  pushed  in.  In  this  way,  the  water  which  the  pipe 
contains  is  drawn  through  the  openings  in  the  disc  and  emptied  by  the  piston 
through  the  spout  into  the  drain.  There  are  some  who  place  a  hand-bar 
underneath  in  place  of  the  short  piece  of  wood.  This  pump,  as  also  the  last 
before  described,  is  less  generally  used  among  miners  than  the  others. 

The  fourth  kind  is  not  a  simple  pump  but  a  duplex  one.  It  is  made  as 
follows.  A  rectangular  block  of  beech  wood,  five  feet  long,  two  and  a  half 
feet  wide,  and  one  and  a  half  feet  thick,  is  cut  in  two  and  hollowed  out  wide 
and  deep  enough  so  that  an  iron  axle  with  cranks  can  revolve  in  it.  The  axle 
is  placed  between  the  two  halves  of  this  box,  and  the  first  part  of  the  axle, 
which  is  in  contact  with  the  wood,  is  round  and  the  straight  end  forms  a 
journal.  Then  the  axle  is  bent  down  the  depth  of  a  foot  and  again  bent  so 
as  to  continue  straight,  and  at  this  point  a  round  piston-rod  hangs  from  it ; 
next  it  is  bent  up  as  far  as  it  was  bent  down  ;  then  it  continues  a  little  way 
straight  again,  and  then  it  is  bent  up  a  foot  and  again  continues  straight, 
at  which  point  a  second  round  piston-rod  is  hung  from  it  ;  afterward  it 


i8o 


BOOK    VI. 


A — Box     B — LOWER  PART  OF  BOX.     C — UPPER  PART  OF  SAME.     D — CLAMPS.     E — PIPES 

BELOW  THE  BOX.       F — COLUMN  PIPE  FIXED  ABOVE  THE  BOX.      G — IRON  AXLE.      H — PlSTON- 

RODS.    I — WASHERS  TO  PROTECT  THE  BEARINGS.    K — LEATHERS.    L— EYES  IN  THE  AXLE. 

M — RODS  WHOSE   ENDS  ARE  WEIGHTED    WITH   LUMPS  OF  LEAD.       N — CRANK. 

(This  plate  is  unlettered  in  the  first  edition  but  corrected  in  those  later.) 


BOOK     VI.  181 

is  bent  down  the  same  distance  as  it  was  bent  up  the  last  time  ;  the  other 
end  of  it,  which  also  acts  as  a  journal,  is  straight.  This  part  which  protrudes 
through  the  wood  is  protected  by  two  iron  washers  in  the  shape  of  discs,  to 
which  are  fastened  two  leather  washers  of  the  same  shape  and  size,  in  order 
to  prevent  the  water  which  is  drawn  into  the  box  from  gushing  out.  These 
discs  are  around  the  axle  ;  one  of  them  is  inside  the  box  and  the  other 
outside.  Beyond  this,  the  end  of  the  axle  is  square  and  has  two  eyes,  in 
which  are  fixed  two  iron  rods,  and  to  their  ends  are  weighted  lumps  of  lead, 
so  that  the  axle  may  have  a  greater  propensity  to  revolve  ;  this  axle  can 
easily  be  turned  when  its  end  has  been  mortised  in  a  crank.  The  upper  part 
of  the  box  is  the  shallower  one,  and  the  lower  part  the  deeper  ;  the  upper 
part  is  bored  out  once  straight  down  through  the  middle,  the  diameter  of  the 
opening  being  the  same  as  the  outside  diameter  of  the  column  pipe  ;  the 
lower  box  has,  side  by  side,  two  apertures  also  bored  straight  down  ; 
these  are  for  two  pipes,  the  space  of  whose  openings  therefore  is  twice  as 
great  as  that  of  the  upper  part  ;  this  lower  part  of  the  box  is  placed 
upon  the  two  pipes,  which  are  fitted  into  it  at  their  upper  ends,  and  the 
lower  ends  of  these  pipes  penetrate  into  trunks  which  stand  in  the 
sump.  These  trunks  have  perforations  through  which  the  water  flows  into 
them.  The  iron  axle  is  placed  in  the  inside  of  the  box,  then  the  two  iron 
piston-rods  which  hang  from  it  are  let  down  through  the  two  pipes  to  the  depth 
of  a  foot.  Each  piston  has  a  screw  at  its  lower  end  which  holds  a  thick  iron 
plate,  shaped  like  a  disc  and  full  of  openings,  covered  with  a  leather,  and 
similarly  to  the  other  pump  it  has  a  round  valve  in  a  little  box.  Then  the 
upper  part  of  the  box  is  placed  upon  the  lower  one  and  properly  fitted  to  it  on 
every  side,  and  where  they  join  they  are  bound  by  wide  thick  iron  plates,  and 
held  with  small  wide  iron  wedges,  which  are  driven  in  and  are  fastened  with 
clamps.  The  first  length  of  column  pipe  is  fixed  into  the  upper  part  of  the 
box,  and  another  length  of  pipe  extends  it,  and  a  third  again  extends  this  one, 
and  so  on,  another  extending  on  another,  until  the  uppermost  one  reaches  the 
drain  of  the  tunnel.  When  the  crank  worker  turns  the  axle,  the  pistons  in 
turn  draw  the  water  through  their  discs  ;  since  this  is  done  quickly,  and 
since  the  area  of  openings  of  the  two  pipes  over  which  the  box  is  set,  is  twice 
as  large  as  the  opening  of  the  column  pipe  which  rises  from  the  box,  and  since 
the  pistons  do  not  lift  the  water  far  up,  the  impetus  of  the  water  from  the 
lower  pipes  forces  it  to  rise  and  flow  out  of  the  column  pipe  into  the  drain  of 
the  tunnel.  Since  a  wooden  box  frequently  cracks  open,  it  is  better  to 
make  it  of  lead  or  copper  or  brass. 

The  fifth  kind  of  pump  is  still  less  simple,  for  it  is  composed  of  two  or 
three  pumps  whose  pistons  are  raised  by  a  machine  turned  by  men,  for  each 
piston-rod  has  a  tappet  which  is  raised,  each  in  succession,  by  two  cams  on 
a  barrel  ;  two  or  four  strong  men  turn  it.  When  the  pistons  descend  into 
the  pipes  their  discs  draw  the  water  ;  when  they  are  raised  these  force  the 
water  out  through  the  pipes.  The  upper  part  of  each  of  these  piston-rods, 
which  is  half  a  foot  square,  is  held  in  a  slot  in  a  cross-beam  ;  the  lower  part, 
which  drops  down  into  the  pipes,  is  made  of  another  piece  of  wood  and  is 
round.  Each  of  these  three  pumps  is  composed  of  two  lengths  of  pipe  fixed 


l82 


BOOK    VI. 


A — TAPPETS  OF  PISTON-RODS.     B — CAMS  OF  THE  BARREL.      C — SQUARE  UPPER  PARTS 

OF     PISTON-RODS.        D — LOWER    ROUNDED     PARTS     OF    PISTON-RODS.         E — CROSS-BEAMS. 

F — PIPES.    G — APERTURES  OF  PIPES.    H — TROUGH.    (Fifth  kind  of  pump — see  p.  181). 


BOOK    VI. 


183 


A — WATER-WHEEL.    B — AXLE.    C — TRUNK  ON  WHICH  THE  LOWEST  PIPE  STANDS. 
D — BASKET  SURROUNDING  TRUNK.      (Sixth  kind  of  pump — see  p.  184.) 


184  BOOK     VI. 

to  the  shaft  timbers.  This  machine  draws  the  water  higher,  as  much  as 
twenty-four  feet.  If  the  diameter  of  the  pipes  is  large,  only  two  pumps  are 
made  ;  if  smaller,  three,  so  that  by  either  method  the  volume  of  water  is  the 
same.  This  also  must  be  understood  regarding  the  other  machines  and 
their  pipes.  Since  these  pumps  are  composed  of  two  lengths  of  pipe,  the 
little  iron  box  having  the  iron  valve  which  I  described  before,  is  not  enclosed 
in  a  trunk,  but  is  in  the  lower  length  of  pipe,  at  that  point  where  it  joins 
the  upper  one  ;  thus  the  rounded  part  of  the  piston-rod  is  only  as  long  as 
the  upper  length  of  pipe  ;  but  I  will  presently  explain  this  more  clearly. 

The  sixth  kind  of  pump  would  be  just  the  same  as  the  fifth  were  it  not 
that  it  has  an  axle  instead  of  a  barrel,  turned  not  by  men  but  by  a  water- 
wheel,  which  is  revolved  by  the  force  of  water  striking  its  buckets. 
Since  water-power  far  exceeds  human  strength,  this  machine  draws  water 
through  its  pipes  by  discs  out  of  a  shaft  more  than  one  hundred  feet  deep. 
The  bottom  of  the  lowest  pipe,  set  in  the  sump,  not  only  of  this  pump  but 
also  of  the  others,  is  generally  enclosed  in  a  basket  made  of  wicker-work,  to 
prevent  wood  shavings  and  other  things  being  sucked  in.  (See  p.  183.) 

The  seventh  kind  of  pump,  invented  ten  years  ago,  which  is  the  most 
ingenious,  durable,  and  useful  of  all,  can  be  made  without  much  expense.  It 
is  composed  of  several  pumps,  which  do  not,  like  those  last  described,  go  down 
into  the  shaft  together,  but  of  which  one  is  below  the  other,  for  if  there  are 
three,  as  is  generally  the  case,  the  lower  one  lifts  the  water  of  the  sump  and 
pours  it  out  into  the  first  tank  ;  the  second  pump  lifts  again  from  that  tank 
into  a  second  tank,  and  the  third  pump  lifts  it  into  the  drain  of  the  tunnel. 
A  wheel  fifteen  feet  high  raises  the  piston-rods  of  all  these  pumps  at  the  same 
time  and  causes  them  to  drop  together.  The  wheel  is  made  to  revolve  by 
paddles,  turned  by  the  force  of  a  stream  which  has  been  diverted  .to  the 
mountain.  The  spokes  of  the  water-wheel  are  mortised  in  an  axle  six  feet 
long  and  one  foot  thick,  each  end  of  which  is  surrounded  by  an  iron  band, 
but  in  one  end  there  is  fixed  an  iron  journal ;  to  the  other  end  is  attached  an 
iron  like  this  journal  in  its  posterior  part,  which  is  a  digit  thick  and  as  wide 
as  the  end  of  the  axle  itself.  Then  the  iron  extends  horizontally,  being 
rounded  and  about  three  digits  in  diameter,  for  the  length  of  a  foot,  and 
serves  as  a  journal ;  thence,  it  bends  to  a  height  of  a  foot  in  a  curve, 
like  the  horn  of  the  moon,  after  which  it  again  extends  straight  out  for 
one  foot  ;  thus  it  comes  about  that  this  last  straight  portion,  as  it 
revolves  in  an  orbit  becomes  alternately  a  foot  higher  and  a  foot  lower  than 
the  first  straight  part.  From  this  round  iron  crank  there  hangs  the  first  flat 
pump-rod,  for  the  crank  is  fixed  in  a  perforation  in  the  upper  end  of  this  flat 
pump-rod  just  as  the  iron  key  of  the  first  set  of  "  claws  "  is  fixed  into  the 
lower  end.  In  order  to  prevent  the  pump-rod  from  slipping  off  it,  as  it 
could  easily  do,  and  that  it  may  be  taken  off  when  necessary,  its  opening 
is  wider  than  the  corresponding  part  of  the  crank,  and  it  is  fastened  on 
both  sides  by  iron  keys.  To  prevent  friction,  the  ends  of  the  pump-rods  are 
protected  by  iron  plates  or  intervening  leathers.  This  first  pump-rod  is 
about  twelve  feet  long,  the  other  two  are  twenty-six  feet,  and  each  is  a  palm 


BOOK    VI. 


185 


A — SHAFT.    B — BOTTOM  PUMP.    C — FIRST  TANK.    D — SECOND  PUMP.    E — SECOND  TANK. 

F — THIRD  PUMP.    G — TROUGH.    H — THE  IRON  SET  IN  THE  AXLE.    I — FIRST  PUMP  ROD. 

K — SECOND  PUMP  ROD.     L — THIRD  PUMP  ROD.     M — FIRST  PISTON  ROD.    N — SECOND 

PISTON  ROD.    O — THIRD  PISTON  ROD.    P — LITTLE  AXLES.    Q — "CLAWS." 


i86  BOOK    VI. 

wide  and  three  digits  thick.     The  sides  of  each  pump-rod  are  covered  and 
protected  by  iron  plates,  which  are  held  on  by  iron  screws,  so  that  a  part 
which  has  received  damage  can  be  repaired.      In  the   "  claws  "  is  set    a 
small  round  axle,  a  foot  and  a  half  long  and  two  palms  thick.     The  ends  are 
encircled  by  iron  bands  to  prevent  the  iron  journals  which  revolve  in  the 
iron  bearings  of  the  wood  from  slipping  out  of  it.16     From  this  little  axle 
the  wooden  "  claws  "  extend  two  feet,  with  a  width  and  thickness  of  six 
digits  ;    they  are  three  palms  distant  from  each  other,  and  both  the  inner  and 
outer  sides  are  covered  with  iron  plates.     Two  rounded  iron  keys  two  digits 
thick  are  immovably  fixed  into  the  claws.       The  one   of    these  keys  per- 
forates the  lower  end  of  the  first  pump-rod,  and  the  upper  end  of  the  second 
pump-rod  which  is  held  fast.       The  other  key,  which  is  likewise  immovable, 
perforates  the  iron  end  of  the  first  piston-rod,  which  is  bent  in  a  curve   and 
is  immovable.     Each  such  piston-rod  is  thirteen  feet  long  and  three  digits 
thick,  and  descends  into  the  first  pipe  of  each  pump  to  such  depth  that  its 
disc  nearly  reaches  the  valve-box.     When  it  descends  into  the  pipe,   the 
water,  penetrating  through  the  openings  of  the  disc,  raises  the  leather,  and 
when  the  piston-rod  is  raised  the  water  presses  down  the  leather,  and  this 
supports  its  weight  ;     then  the  valve  closes  the  box  as  a  door  closes  an 
entrance.     The  pipes  are  joined  by  two  iron  bands,  one  palm  wide,  one 
outside    the   other,    but    the  inner  one  is  sharp   all    round   that   it   may 
fit  into  each  pipe  and  hold  them  together.       Although  at  the  present  time 
pipes  lack  the  inner  band,  still  they  have  nipples  by  which  they  are  joined 
together,  for  the  lower  end  of  the  upper  one  holds  the  upper  end  of  the  lower 
one,  each  being  hewn  away  for  a  length  of  seven  digits,  the  former  inside,  the 
latter  outside,  so  that  the  one  can  fit  into  the  other.     When  the  piston-rod 
descends  into  the  first  pipe,  that  valve  which  I  have  described  is  closed; 
when  the  piston-rod  is  raised,  the  valve  is  opened  so  that  the  water  can  run 
in  through  the  perforations.     Each  one  of  such  pumps  is  composed  of  two 
lengths  of  pipe,  each  of  which  is  twelve  feet  long,  and  the  inside  diameter  is 
seven  digits.     The  lower  one  is  placed  in  the  sump  of  the  shaft,  or  in  a  tank, 
and  its  lower  end  is  blocked  by  a  round  piece  of  wood,  above  which  there  are 
six  perforations  around  the  pipe  through  which  the  water  flows  into  it.     The 
upper  part  of  the  upper  pipe  has  a  notch  one  foot  deep  and  a  palm  wide, 
through  which  the  water  flows  away  into  a  tank  or  trough.     Each  tank  is 
two  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide  and  deep.     There  is  the  same  number  of 
axles,  "  claws,"  and  rods  of  each  kind  as  there  are  pumps  ;    if  there  are  three 
pumps,  there  are  only  two  tanks,  because  the  sump  of  the  shaft  and  the  drain 
of  the  tunnel  take  the  place  of  two.     The  following  is  the  way  this  machine 
draws  water  from  a  shaft.     The  wheel  being  turned  raises  the  first  pump- 
rod,  and  the  pump-rod  raises  the  first  "claw,"  and  thus  also  the  second 
pump-rod,  and  the  first  piston-rod  ;    then  the  second  pump-rod  raises  the 
second  "  claw,"  and  thus  the  third  pump-rod  and  the  second  piston-rod ; 
then  the  third  pump-rod  raises  the  third  "  claw  "    and  the  third  piston-rod, 

16This    description    certainly   does    not    correspond    in    every    particular    with    the 
illustration. 


BOOK    VI. 


187 


for  there  hangs  no  pump-rod  from  the  iron  key  of  these  claws,  for  it  can  be  of 
no  use  in  the  last  pump.  In  turn,  when  the  first  pump-rod  descends,  each 
set  of  "  claws  "  is  lowered,  each  pump-rod  and  each  piston-rod.  And  by  this 
system,  at  the  same  time  the  water  is  lifted  into  the  tanks  and  drained  out  of 
them  ;  from  the  sump  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft  it  is  drained  out,  and  it 
is  poured  into  the  trough  of  the  tunnel.  Further,  around  the  main  axle  there 
may  be  placed  two  water  wheels,  if  the  river  supplies  enough  water  to  turn 
them,  and  from  the  back  part  of  each  round  iron  crank,  one  or  two  pump-rods 
can  be  hung,  each  of  which  can  move  the  piston-rods  of  three  pumps. 
Lastly,  it  is  necessary  that  the  shafts  from  which  the  water  is  pumped  out  in 
pipes  should  be  vertical,  for  as  in  the  case  of  the  hauling  machines,  all  pumps 
which  have  pipes  do  not  draw  the  water  so  high  if  the  pipes  are  inclined  in 
inclined  shafts,  as  if  they  are  placed  vertically  in  vertical  shafts. 

If  the  river  does  not  supply  enough  water-power  to  turn  the  last- 
described  pump,  which  happens  because  of  the  nature  of  the  locality 
or  occurs  during  the  summer  season  when  there  are  daily  droughts,  a 
machine  is  built  with  a  wheel  so  low  and  light  that  the  water  of  ever  so  little  a 


A — WATER  WHEEL  OF  UPPER  MACHINE.    B — ITS  PUMP.    C — ITS  TROUGH.    D — WHEEL  OF 

LOWER    MACHINE.       E — ITS    PUMP.       F — RACE. 


i88  BOOK    VI. 

stream  can  turn  it.  This  water,  falling  into  a  race,  runs  therefrom  on  to  a 
second  high  and  heavy  wheel  of  a  lower  machine,  whose  pump  lifts  the  water 
out  of  a  deep  shaft.  Since,  however,  the  water  of  so  small  a  stream  cannot 
alone  revolve  the  lower  water-wheel,  the  axle  of  the  latter  is  turned  at  the  start 
with  a  crank  worked  by  two  men,  but  as  soon  as  it  has  poured  out  into  a  pool 
the  water  which  has  been  drawn  up  by  the  pumps,  the  upper  wheel  draws 
up  this  water  by  its  own  pump,  and  pours  it  into  the  race,  from  which  it 
flows  on  to  the  lower  water-wheel  and  strikes  its  buckets.  So  both  this 
water  from  the  mine,  as  well  as  the  water  of  the  stream,  being  turned  down 
the  races  on  to  that  subterranean  wheel  of  the  lower  machine,  turns  it,  and 
water  is  pumped  out  of  the  deeper  part  of  the  shaft  by  means  of  two  or 
three  pumps.16 

If  the  stream  supplies  enough  water  straightway  to  turn  a  higher  and 
heavier  water-wheel,  then  a  toothed  drum  is  fixed  to  the  other  end  of  the 
axle,  and  this  turns  the  drum  made  of  rundles  on  another  axle  set  below  it. 
To  each  end  of  this  lower  axle  there  is  fitted  a  crank  of  round  iron  curved 
like  the  horns  of  the  moon,  of  the  kind  employed  in  machines  of  this 
description.  This  machine,  since  it  has  rows  of  pumps  on  each  side, 
draws  great  quantities  of  water. 

Of  the  rag  and  chain  pumps  there  are  six  kinds  known  to  us,  of  which 
the  first  is  made  as  follows  :  A  cave  is  dug  under  the  surface  of  earth  or  in  a 
tunnel,  and  timbered  on  all  sides  by  stout  posts  and  planks,  to  prevent  either 
the  men  from  being  crushed  or  the  machine  from  being  broken  by  its  collapse. 
In  this  cave,  thus  timbered,  is  placed  a  water-wheel  fitted  to  an  angular  axle. 
The  iron  journals  of  the  axle  revolve  in  iron  pillows,  which  are  held  in  timbers 
of  sufficient  strength.  The  wheel  is  generally  twenty-four  feet  high, 
occasionally  thirty,  and  in  no  way  different  from  those  which  are  made  for 
grinding  corn,  except  that  it  is  a  little  narrower.  The  axle  has  on  one  side 
a  drum  with  a  groove  in  the  middle  of  its  circumference,  to  which  are  fixed 
many  four-curved  iron  clamps.  In  these  clamps  catch  the  links  of  the  chain, 
which  is  drawn  through  the  pipes  out  of  the  sump,  and  which  again  falls, 
through  a  timbered  opening,  right  down  to  the  bottom  into  the  sump  to  a 
balancing  drum.  There  is  an  iron  band  around  the  small  axle  of  the 
balancing  drum,  each  journal  of  which  revolves  in  an  iron  bearing  fixed  to  a 
timber.  The  chain  turning  about  this  drum  brings  up  the  water  by  the 
balls  through  the  pipes.  Each  length  of  pipe  is  encircled  and  protected  by 
five  iron  bands,  a  palm  wide  and  a  digit  thick,  placed  at  equal  distances  from 
each  other ;  the  first  band  on  the  pipe  is  shared  in  common  with  the 
preceding  length  of  pipe  into  which  it  is  fitted,  the  last  band  with  the  succeed- 
ing length  of  pipe  which  is  fitted  into  it.  Each  length  of  pipe,  except  the 
first,  is  bevelled  on  the  outer  circumference  of  the  upper  end  to  a  distance 
of  seven  digits  and  for  a  depth  of  three  digits,  in  order  that  it  may  be  inserted 
into  the  length  of  pipe  which  goes  before  it  ;  each,  except  the  last,  is  reamed 
out  on  the  inside  of  the  lower  end  to  a  like  distance,  but  to  the  depth 

"There  is  a  certain  deficiency  in  the  hydraulics  of  this  machine. 


BOOK    VI. 


189 


A — UPPER  AXLE.     B — WHEEL  WHOSE  BUCKETS  THE  FORCE  OF  THE  STREAM  STRIKES. 
C — TOOTHED  DRUM.    D — SECOND  AXLE.    E — DRUM  COMPOSED  OF  RUNDLES.    F — CURVED 

ROUND    IRONS.       G — ROWS   OF   PUMPS. 

15 


igo  BOOK     VI. 

of  a  palm,  that  it  may  be  able  to  take  the  end  of  the  pipe  which 
follows.  And  each  length  of  pipe  is  fixed  with  iron  clamps  to  the  timbers  of 
the  shaft,  that  it  may  remain  stationary.  Through  this  continuous  series 
of  pipes,  the  water  is  drawn  by  the  balls  of  the  chain  up  out  of  the  sump  as 
far  as  the  tunnel,  where  it  flows  out  into  the  drains  through  an  aperture  in 
the  highest  pipe.  The  balls  which  lift  the  water  are  connected  by  the  iron 
links  of  the  chain,  and  are  six  feet  distant  from  one  another  ;  they  are  made 
of  the  hair  of  a  horse's  tail  sewn  into  a  covering  to  prevent  it  from  being 
pulled  out  by  the  iron  clamps  on  the  drum  ;  the  balls  are  of  such  size  that 
one  can  be  held  in  each  hand.  If  this  machine  is  set  up  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  the  stream  which  turns  the  water-wheel  is  led  away  through  open- 
air  ditches  ;  if  in  a  tunnel,  the  water  is  led  away  through  the  subterranean 
drains.  The  buckets  of  the  water-wheel,  when  struck  by  the  impact  of  the 
stream,  move  forward  and  turn  the  wheel,  together  with  the  drum,  whereby 
the  chain  is  wound  up  and  the  balls  expel  the  water  through  the  pipes.  If 
the  wheel  of  this  machine  is  twenty-four  feet  in  diameter,  it  draws  water  from  a 
shaft  two  hundred  and  ten  feet  deep  ;  if  thirty  feet  in  diameter,  it  will  draw 
water  from  a  shaft  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  deep.  But  such  work  requires 
a  stream  with  greater  water-power. 

The  next  pump  has  two  drums,  two  rows  of  pipes  and  two  drawing- 
chains  whose  balls  lift  out  the  water  ;  otherwise  they  are  like  the  last  pump. 
This  pump  is  usually  built  when  an  excessive  amount  of  water  flows  into  the 
sump.  These  two  pumps  are  turned  by  water-power  ;  indeed,  water  draws 
water. 

The  following  is  the  way  of  indicating  the  increase  or  decrease  of  the 
water  in  an  underground  sump,  whether  it  is  pumped  by  this  rag  and  chain 
pump  or  by  the  first  pump,  or  the  third,  or  some  other.  From  a  beam  which 
is  as  high  above  the  shaft  as  the  sump  is  deep,  is  hung  a  cord,  to  one 
end  of  which  there  is  fastened  a  stone,  the  other  end  being  attached  to  a 
plank.  The  plank  is  lowered  down  by  an  iron  wire  fastened  to  the 
other  end  ;  when  the  stone  is  at  the  mouth  of  the  shaft  the  plank 
is  right  down  the  shaft  in  the  sump,  in  which  water  it  floats.  This 
plank  is  so  heavy  that  it  can  drag  down  the  wire  and  its  iron  clasp  and 
hook,  together  with  the  cord,  and  thus  pull  the  stone  upwards.  Thus,  as 
the  water  decreases,  the  plank  decends  and  the  stone  is  raised  ;  on  the 
contrary,  when  the  water  increases  the  plank  rises  and  the  stone  is  lowered. 
When  the  stone  nearly  touches  the  beam,  since  this  indicates  that  the  water 
has  been  exhausted  from  the  sump  by  the  pump,  the  overseer  in  charge  of  the 
machine  closes  the  water-race  and  stops  the  water-wheel  :  when  the  stone 
nearly  touches  the  ground  at  the  side  of  the  shaft,  this  indicates  that  the 
sump  is  full  of  water  which  has  again  collected  in  it,  because  the  water  raises 
the  plank  and  thus  the  stone  drags  back  both  the  rope  and  the  iron  wire; 
then  the  overseer  opens  the  water-race,  whereupon  the  water  of  the  stream 
again  strikes  the  buckets  of  the  water-wheel  and  turns  the  pump.  As 
workmen  generally  cease  from  their  labours  on  the  yearly  holidays,  and 


BOOK     VI. 


A — WHEEL.       B — AXLE.       C — JOURNALS.      D — PILLOWS.      E — DRUM.       F — CLAMPS. 
G — DRAWING-CHAIN.      H— TIMBERS.      I — BALLS.      K — PIPE.       L— RACE  OF  STREAM. 


I92  BOOK     VI. 

sometimes  on  working  days,  and  are  thus  not  always  near  the  pump,  and  as 
the  pump,  if  necessary,  must  continue  to  draw  water  all  the  time,  a  bell  rings 
aloud  continuously,  indicating  that  this  pump,  or  any  other  kind,  is  uninjured 
and  nothing  is  preventing  its  turning.  The  bell  is  hung  by  a  cord  from 
a  small  wooden  axle  held  in  the  timbers  which  stand  over  the  shaft,  and 
a  second  long  cord  whose  upper  end  is  fastened  to  the  small  axle  is  lowered 
into  the  shaft  ;  to  the  lower  end  of  this  cord  is  fastened  a  piece  of  wood  ; 
and  as  often  as  a  cam  on  the  main  axle  strikes  it,  so  often  does  the  bell  ring 
and  give  forth  a  sound. 

The  third  pump  of  this  kind  is  employed  by  miners  when  no  river  capable 
of  turning  a  water-wheel  can  be  diverted,  and  it  is  made  as  follows.  They 
first  dig  a  chamber  and  erect  strong  timbers  and  planks  to  prevent  the  sides 
from  falling  in,  which  would  overwhelm  the  pump  and  kill  the  men.  The 
roof  of  the  chamber  is  protected  with  contiguous  timbers,  so  arranged  that 
the  horses  which  pull  the  machine  can  travel  over  it.  Next  they  again  set  up 
sixteen  beams  forty  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide  and  thick,  joined  by  clamps 
at  the  top  and  spreading  apart  at  the  bottom,  and  they  fit  the  lower  end 
of  each  beam  into  a  separate  sill  laid  flat  on  the  ground,  and  join  these  by  a 
post  ;  thus  there  is  created  a  circular  area  of  which  the  diameter  is  fifty 
feet.  Through  an  opening  in  the  centre  of  this  area  there  descends  an 
upright  square  axle,  forty-five  feet  long  and  a  foot  and  a  half  wide  and  thick ; 
its  lower  pivot  revolves  in  a  socket  in  a  block  laid  flat  on  the  ground  in  the 
chamber,  and  the  upper  pivot  revolves  in  a  bearing  in  a  beam  which  is  mor- 
tised into  two  beams  at  the  summit  beneath  the  clamps  ;  the  lower  pivot  is 
seventeen  feet  distant  from  either  side  of  the  chamber,  i.e.,  from  its  front  and 
rear.  At  the  height  of  a  foot  above  its  Iqwer  end,  the  axle  has  a  toothed  wheel, 
the  diameter  of  which  is  twenty- two  feet.  This  wheel  is  composed  of  four 
spokes  and  eight  rim  pieces  ;  the  spokes  are  fifteen  feet  long  and  three- 
quarters  of  a  foot  wide  and  thick17 ;  one  end  of  them  is  mortised  in  the  axle, 
the  other  in  the  two  rims  where  they  are  joined  together.  These  rims  are  three- 
quarters  of  a  foot  thick  and  one  foot  wide,  and  from  them  there  rise  and 
project  upright  teeth  three-quarters  of  a  foot  high,  half  a  foot  wide,  and  six 
digits  thick.  These  teeth  turn  a  second  horizontal  axle  by  means  of  a  drum 
composed  of  twelve  rundles,  each  three  feet  long  and  six  digits  wide  and 
thick.  This  drum,  being  turned,  causes  the  axle  to  revolve,  and  around  this 
axle  there  is  a  drum  having  iron  clamps  with  four-fold  curves  in  which  catch 
the  links  of  a  chain,  which  draws  water  through  pipes  by  means  of  balls. 
The  iron  journals  of  this  horizontal  axle  revolve  on  pillows  which  are  set  in 
the  centre  of  timbers.  Above  the  roof  of  the  chamber  there  are  mortised 
into  the  upright  axle  the  ends  of  two  beams  which  rise  obliquely  ;  the  upper 
ends  of  these  beams  support  double  cross-beams,  likewise  mortised  to  the 
axle.  In  the  outer  end  of  each  cross-beam  there  is  mortised  a  small  wooden 
piece  which  appears  to  hang  down  ;  in  this  wooden  piece  there  is  similarly 


"The  dimensions  given  in  this  description  for  the  various  members  do  not  tally. 


I 


BOOK     VI. 


193 


[       ~  o^ 


A— UPRIGHT  AXLE.        B — TOOTHED   WHEEL.        C— TEETH.        D — HORIZONTAL  AXLE. 
E — DRUM   WHICH   is   MADE  OF  RUNDLES.       F — SECOND   DRUM.      G — DRAWING-CHAIN. 

H — THE  BALLS. 


194 


BOOK     VI. 


mortised  at  the  lower  end  a  short  board  ;  this  has  an  iron  key  which  engages 
a  chain,  and  this  chain  again  a  pole-bar.  This  machine,  which  draws  water 
from  a  shaft  two  hundred  and  forty  feet  deep,  is  worked  by  thirty -two  horses  ; 
eight  of  them  work  for  four  hours,  and  then  these  rest  for  twelve  hours,  and 
the  same  number  take  their  place.  This  kind  of  machine  is  employed  at  the 
foot  of  the  Harz18  mountains  and  in  the  neighbourhood.  Further,  if 
necessity  arises,  several  pumps  of  this  kind  are  often  built  for  the  purpose  of 
mining  one  vein,  but  arranged  differently  in  different  localities  varying 
according  to  the  depth.  At  Schemnitz,  in  the  Carpathian  mountains,  there 
are  three  pumps,  of  which  the  lowest  lifts  water  from  the  lowest  sump  to 
the  first  drains,  through  which  it  flows  into  the  second  sump  ;  the  intermediate 
one  lifts  from  the  second  sump  to  the  second  drain,  from  which  it  flows  into 
the  third  sump  ;  and  the  upper  one  lifts  it  to  the  drains  of  the  tunnel,  through 
which  it  flows  away.  This  system  of  three  machines  of  this  kind  is  turned 
by  ninety-six  horses  ;  these  horses  go  down  to  the  machines  by  an  inclined 


A— AXLE.    B— DRUM.    C— DRAWING-CHAIN.     D— BALLS.     E— CLAMPS. 
1BMelibocian, — the  Harz. 


BOOK     VI. 


195 


shaft,  which  slopes  and  twists  like  a  screw  and  gradually  descends.  The 
lowest  of  these  machines  is  set  in  a  deep  place,  which  is  distant  from  the 
surface  of  the  ground  660  feet. 

The  fourth  species  of  pump  belongs  to  the  same  genera,  and  is  made 
as  follows.  Two  timbers  are  erected,  and  in  openings  in  them,  the  ends  of  a 
barrel  revolve.  Two  or  four  strong  men  turn  the  barrel,  that  is  to  say,  one 
or  two  pull  the  cranks,  and  one  or  two  push  them,  and  in  this  way  help  the 
others  ;  alternately  another  two  or  four  men  take  their  place.  The  barrel 
of  this  machine,  just  like  the  horizontal  axle  of  the  other  machines,  has  a 
drum  whose  iron  clamps  catch  the  links  of  a  drawing-chain.  Thus  water 
is  drawn  through  the  pipes  by  the  balls  from  a  depth  of  forty-eight  feet. 
Human  strength  cannot  draw  water  higher  than  this,  because  such  very 
heavy  labour  exhausts  not  only  men,  but  even  horses  ;  only  water-power 
can  drive  continuously  a  drum  of  this  kind.  Several  pumps  of  this  kind,  as 
of  the  last,  are  often  built  for  the  purpose  of  mining  on  a  single  vein, 
but  they  are  arranged  differently  for  different  positions  and  depths. 


A — AXLES.       B — LEVERS.        C — TOOTHED    DRUM.        D — DRUM    MADE    OF    RUNDLES. 
E — DRUM  IN  WHICH  IRON  CLAMPS  ARE  FIXED. 


ig6 


BOOK     VI. 


The  fifth  pump  of  this  kind  is  partly  like  the  third  and  partly  like  the 
fourth,  because  it  is  turned  by  strong  men  like  the  last,  and  like  the  third 
it  has  two  axles  and  three  drums,  though  each  axle  is  horizontal.  The 
journals  of  each  axle  are  so  fitted  in  the  pillows  of  the  beams  that  they  cannot 
fly  out  ;  the  lower  axle  has  a  crank  at  one  end  and  a  toothed  drum  at  the 
other  end  ;  the  upper  axle  has  at  one  end  a  drum  made  of  rundles,  and  at 
the  other  end,  a  drum  to  which  are  fixed  iron  clamps,  in  which  the  links  of  a 
chain  catch  in  the  same  way  as  before,  and  from  the  same  depth,  draw  water 
through  pipes  by  means  of  balls.  This  revolving  machine  is  turned  by  two 
pairs  of  men  alternately,  for  one  pair  stands  working  while  the  other  sits 
taking  a  rest  ;  while  they  are  engaged  upon  the  task  of  turning,  one  pulls 
the  crank  and  the  other  pushes,  and  the  drums  help  to  make  the  pump  turn 
more  easily. 

The  sixth  pump  of  this  kind  likewise  has  two  axles.  At  one  end  of  the 
lower  axle  is  a  wheel  which  is  turned  by  two  men  treading,  this  is  twenty- 
three  feet  high  and  four  feet  wide,  so  that  one  man  may  stand  alongside 
the  other.  At  the  other  end  of  this  axle  is  a  toothed  wheel.  The  upper19 
axle  has  two  drums  and  one  wheel ;  the  first  drum  is  made  of  rundles,  and  to 
the  other  there  are  fixed  the  iron  clamps.  The  wheel  is  like  the  one  on  the 
second  machine  which  is  chiefly  used  for  drawing  earth  and  broken  rock 
out  of  shafts.  The  treaders,  to  prevent  themselves  from  falling,  grasp  in 
their  hands  poles  which  are  fixed  to  the  inner  sides  of  the  wheel.  When 
they  turn  this  wheel,  the  toothed  drum  being  made  to  revolve,  sets  in  motion 
the  other  drum  which  is  made  of  rundles,  by  which  means  again  the  links 
of  the  chain  catch  to  the  cleats  of  the  third  drum  and  draw  water  through 
pipes  by  means  of  balls, — from  a  depth  of  sixty-six  feet. 

But  the  largest  machine  of  all  those  which  draw  water  is  the  one  which 
follows.  First  of  all  a  reservoir  is  made  in  a  timbered  chamber  ;  this  reser- 
voir is  eighteen  feet  long  and  twelve  feet  wide  and  high.  Into  this  reservoir 
a  stream  is  diverted  through  a  water-race  or  through  the  tunnel ;  it  has  two 
entrances  and  the  same  number  of  gates.  Levers  are  fixed  to  the  upper  part 
of  these  gates,  by  which  they  can  be  raised  and  let  down  again,  so  that  by  one 
way  the  gates  are  opened  and  in  the  other  way  closed.  Beneath  the  openings 
axe  two  plank  troughs  which  carry  the  water  flowing  from  the  reservoir,  and 
pour  it  on  to  the  buckets  of  the  water-wheel,  the  impact  of  which  turns  the 
wheel.  The  shorter  trough  carries  the  water,  which  strikes  the  buckets 
that  turn  the  wheel  toward  the  reservoir,  and  the  longer  trough  carries 
the  water  which  strikes  those  buckets  that  turn  the  wheel  in  the  opposite 
direction.  The  casing  or  covering  of  the  wheel  is  made  of  joined  boards  to 
which  strips  are  affixed  on  the  inner  side.  The  wheel  itself  is  thirty-six  feet 
in  diameter,  and  is  mortised  to  an  axle,  and  it  has,  as  I  have  already  said, 
two  rows  of  buckets,  of  which  one  is  set  the  opposite  way  to  the  other,  so 
that  the  wheel  may  be  turned  toward  the  reservoir  or  in  the  opposite 


19In  the  original  text  this  is  given  as  "  lower,"  and  appears  to  be  an  erroi. 


BOOK     VI. 


197 


A — AXLES.        B — WHEEL  WHICH   is   TURNED    BY  TREADING.        C — TOOTHED   WHEEL. 

D — DRUM     MADE     OF     RUNDLES.  E — DRUM     TO     WHICH     ARE      FIXED      IRON     CLAMPS. 

F — SECOND  WHEEL.    G — BALLS. 


198 


BOOK     VI. 


direction.  The  axle  is  square  and  is  thirty-five  feet  long  and  two  feet  thick 
and  wide.  Beyond  the  wheel,  at  a  distance  of  six  feet,  the  axle  has  four  hubs, 
one  foot  wide  and  thick,  each  one  of  which  is  four  feet  distant  from  the  next ; 
to  these  hubs  are  fixed  by  iron  nails  as  many  pieces  of  wood  as  are  necessary 
to  cover  the  hubs,  and,  in  order  that  the  wood  pieces  may  fit  tight,  they  are 
broader  on  the  outside  and  narrower  on  the  inside  ;  in  this  way  a  drum  is 
made,  around  which  is  wound  a  chain  to  whose  ends  are  hooked  leather  bags. 
The  reason  why  a  drum  of  this  kind  is  made,  is  that  the  axle  may  be  kept  in 
good  condition,  because  this  drum  when  it  becomes  worn  away  by  use  can 
be  repaired  easily.  Further  along  the  axle,  not  far  from  the  end,  is  another 
drum  one  foot  broad,  projecting  two  feet  on  all  sides  around  the  axle.  And 
to  this,  when  occasion  demands,  a  brake  is  applied  forcibly  and  holds  back 
the  machine  ;  this  kind  of  brake  I  have  explained  before.  Near  the  axle, 
in  place  of  a  hopper,  there  is  a  floor  with  a  considerable  slope,  having  in 
front  of  the  shaft  a  width  of  fifteen  feet  and  the  same  at  the  back  ;  at  each 
side  of  it  there  is  a  stout  post  carrying  an  iron  chain  which  has  a  large  hook. 
Five  men  operate  this  machine  ;  one  lets  down  the  doors  which  close  the 
reservoir  gates,  or  by  drawing  down  the  levers,  opens  the  water-races ;  this 
man,  who  is  the  director  of  this  machine,  stands  in  a  hanging  cage  beside  the 
reservoir.  When  one  bag  has  been  drawn  out  nearly  as  far  as  the  sloping 
floor,  he  closes  the  water  gate  in  order  that  the  wheel  may  be  stopped  ;  when 
the  bag  has  been  emptied  he  opens  the  other  water  gate,  in  order  that  the 
other  set  of  buckets  may  receive  the  water  and  drive  the  wheel  in  the  opposite 
direction.  If  he  cannot  close  the  water-gate  quickly  enough,  and  the  water 
continues  to  flow,  he  calls  out  to  his  comrade  and  bids  him  raise  the  brake 
upon  the  drum  and  stop  the  wheel.  Two  men  alternately  empty  the  bags, 
one  standing  on  that  part  of  the  floor  which  is  in  front  of  the  shaft, 
and  the  other  on  that  part  which  is  at  the  back.  When  the  bag  has  been 
nearly  drawn  up — of  which  fact  a  certain  link  of  the  chain  gives  warning — the 
man  who  stands  on  the  one  part  of  the  floor,  catches  a  large  iron  hook  in  one 
link  of  the  chain,  and  pulls  out  all  the  subsequent  part  of  the  chain  toward 
the  floor,  where  the  bag  is  emptied  by  the  other  man.  The  object  of  this 
hook  is  to  prevent  the  chain,  by  its  own  weight,  from  pulling  down  the 
other  empty  bag,  and  thus  pulling  the  whole  chain  from  its  axle  and 
dropping  it  down  the  shaft.  His  comrade  in  the  work,  seeing  that  the  bag 
filled  with  water  has  been  nearly  drawn  out,  calls  to  the  director  of  the 
machine  and  bids  him  close  the  water  of  the  tower  so  that  there  will  be  time 
to  empty  the  bag  ;  this  being  emptied,  the  director  of  the  machine  first  of 
all  slightly  opens  the  other  water-gate  of  the  tower  to  allow  the  end  of  the 
chain,  together  with  the  empty  bag,  to  be  started  into  the  shaft  again,  and 
then  opens  entirely  the  water-gates.  When  that  part  of  the  chain  which 
has  been  pulled  on  to  the  floor  has  been  wound  up  again,  and  has  been  let 
down  over  the  shaft  from  the  drum,  he  takes  out  the  large  hook  which  was 
fastened  into  a  link  of  the  chain.  The  fifth  man  stands  in  a  sort  of  cross-cut 
beside  the  sump,  that  he  may  not  be  hurt,  if  it  should  happen  that  a  link 


BOOK    VI. 


199 


A — RESERVOIR.  B — RACE.  C,  D — LEVERS.  E,  F — TROUGHS  UNDER  THE  WATER  GATES. 
G,  H — DOUBLE  ROWS  OF  BUCKETS.  I — AXLE.  K — LARGER  DRUM.  L — DRAWING-CHAIN. 
M — BAG.  N — HANGING  CAGE.  O — MAN  WHO  DIRECTS  THE  MACHINE.  P,  Q — MEN 

EMPTYING    BAGS. 


200 


BOOK     VI. 


is  broken  and  part  of  the  chain  or  anything  else  should  fall  down  ;  he  guides 
the  bag  with  a  wooden  shovel,  and  fills  it  with  water  if  it  fails  to  take 
in  the  water  spontaneously.  In  these  days,  they  sew  an  iron  band  into  the 
top  of  each  bag  that  it  may  constantly  remain  open,  and  when  lowered  into 
the  sump  may  fill  itself  with  water,  and  there  is  no  need  for  a  man  to  act  as 
governor  of  the  bags.  Further,  in  these  days,  of  those  men  who  stand  on 
the  floor  the  one  empties  the  bags,  and  the  other  closes  the  gates  of  the 
reservoir  and  opens  them  again,  and  the  same  man  usually  fixes  the  large 
hook  in  the  link  of  the  chain.  In  this  way,  three  men  only  are  employed  in 
working  this  machine ;  or  even — since  sometimes  the  one  who  empties  the 
bag  presses  the  brake  which  is  raised  against  the  other  drum  and  thus  stops 
the  wheel — two  men  take  upon  themselves  the  whole  labour. 

But  enough  of  haulage  machines  ;  I  will  now  speak  of  ventilating 
machines.  If  a  shaft  is  very  deep  and  no  tunnel  reaches  to  it,  or  no  drift 
from  another  shaft  connects  with  it,  or  when  a  tunnel  is  of  great  length  and 
no  shaft  reaches  to  it,  then  the  air  does  not  replenish  itself.  In  such  a  case  it 
weighs  heavily  on  the  miners,  causing  them  to  breathe  with  difficulty,  and 
sometimes  they  are  even  suffocated,  and  burning  lamps  are  also  extinguished. 
There  is,  therefore,  a  necessity  for  machines  which  the  Greeks  call 
TTviu^aTt^ai  and  the  Latins  spiritales — though  they  do  not  give  forth  any 
sound — which  enable  the  miners  to  breathe  easily  and  carry  on  their  work. 

These  devices  are  of  three  genera.  The  first  receives  and  diverts  into 
the  shaft  the  blowing  of  the  wind,  and  this  genus  is  divided  into  three  species, 
of  which  the  first  is  as  follows.  Over  the  shaft — to  which  no  tunnel  connects — 
are  placed  three  sills  a  little  longer  than  the  shaft,  the  first  over  the  front, 
the  second  over  the  middle,  and  the  third  over  the  back  of  the  shaft.  Their 
ends  have  openings,  through  which  pegs,  sharpened  at  the  bottom,  are  driven 
deeply  into  the  ground  so  as  to  hold  them  immovable,  in  the  same  way  that 
the  sills  of  the  windlass  are  fixed.  Each  of  these  sills  is  mortised  into  each 
of  three  cross-beams,  of  which  one  is  at  the  right  side  of  the  shaft,  the  second 
at  the  left,  and  the  third  in  the  middle.  To  the  second  sill  and  the  second 
cross-beam — each  of  which  is  placed  over  the  middle  of  the  shaft — planks 
are  fixed  which  are  joined  in  such  a  manner  that  the  one  which  precedes 
always  fits  into  the  groove  of  the  one  which  follows.  In  this  way  four  angles 
and  the  same  number  of  intervening  hollows  are  created,  which  collect  the 
winds  that  blow  from  all  directions.  The  planks  are  roofed  above  with  a 
cover  made  in  a  circular  shape,  and  are  open  below,  in  order  that  the  wind  may 
not  be  diverted  upward  and  escape,  but  may  be  carried  downward  ;  and  there- 
by the  winds  of  necessity  blow  into  the  shafts  through  these  four  openings. 
However,  there  is  no  need  to  roof  this  kind  of  machine  in  those  localities  in 
which  it  can  be  so  placed  that  the  wind  can  blow  down  through  its  topmost 
part. 


BOOK     VI. 


2OI 


A— SILLS.     B — POINTED  STAKES.      C — CROSS-BEAMS.      D — UPRIGHT  PLANKS. 
E — HOLLOWS.     F — WINDS.     G — COVERING  DISC.      H — SHAFTS.      I — MACHINE 

WITHOUT    A    COVERING. 


The  second  machine  of  this  genus  turns  the  blowing  wind  into  a  shaft 
through  a  long  box-shaped  conduit,  which  is  made  of  as  many  lengths  of 
planks,  joined  together,  as  the  depth  of  the  shaft  requires  ;  the  joints  are 
smeared  with  fat,  glutinous  clay  moistened  with  water.  The  mouth  of  this  con- 
duit either  projects  out  of  the  shaft  to  a  height  of  three  or  four  feet,  or  it  does 
not  project ;  if  it  projects,  it  is  shaped  like  a  rectangular  funnel,  broader  and 
wider  at  the  top  than  the  conduit  itself,  that  it  may  the  more  easily  gather 
the  wind  ;  if  it  does  not  project,  it  is  not  broader  than  the  conduit,  but 
planks  are  fixed  to  it  away  from  the  direction  in  which  the  wind  is  blowing, 
which  catch  the  wind  and  force  it  into  the  conduit. 

The  third  of  this  genus  of  machine  is  made  of  a  pipe  or  pipes  and 
a  barrel.  Above  the  uppermost  pipe  there  is  erected  a  wooden  barrel,  four 


202 


BOOK     VI 


A— PROJECTING  MOUTH  OF  CONDUIT.     B- PLANKS  FIXED  TO  THE  MOUTH  OF  THE  CONDUIT 

WHICH    DOES    NOT    PROJECT. 


feet  high  and  three  feet  in  diameter,  bound  with  wooden  hoops  ;  it  has  a 
square  blow-hole  always  open,  which  catches  the  breezes  and  guides  them 
down  either  by  a  pipe  into  a  conduit  or  by  many  pipes  into  the  shaft.  To 
the  top  of  the  upper  pipe  is  attached  a  circular  table  as  thick  as 
the  bottom  of  the  barrel,  but  of  a  little  less  diameter,  so  that  the  barrel  may  be 
turned  around  on  it  ;  the  pipe  projects  out  of  the  table  and  is  fixed  in  a 
round  opening  in  the  centre  of  the  bottom  of  the  barrel.  To  the  end  of  the 
pipe  a  perpendicular  axle  is  fixed  which  runs  through  the  centre  of  the  barrel 
into  a  hole  in  the  cover,  in  which  it  is  fastened,  in  the  same  way  as  at  the 
bottom.  Around  this  fixed  axle  and  the  table  on  the  pipe,  the  movable 
barrel  is  easily  turned  by  a  zephyr,  or  much  more  by  a  wind,  which  govern 
the  wing  on  it.  This  wing  is  made  of  thin  boards  and  fixed  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  barrel  on  the  side  furthest  away  from  the  blow-hole  ;  this,  as  I 
have  said,  is  square  and  always  open.  The  wind,  from  whatever  quarter  of 


BOOK     VI. 


203 


the  world  it  blows,  drives  the  wing  straight  toward  the  opposite  direction,  in 
which  way  the  barrel  turns  the  blow-hole  towards  the  wind  itself  ;  the 
blow-hole  receives  the  wind,  and  it  is  guided  down  into  the  shaft  by  means 
of  the  conduit  or  pipes. 


A — WOODEN    BARRELS.         B — HOOPS.          C — BLOW-HOLES.         D — PIPE. 
E — TABLE.       F — AXLE.        G — OPENING  IN  THE  BOTTOM  OF  THE  BARREL. 

H— WING. 


The  second  genus  of  blowing  machine  is  made  with  fans,  and  is  likewise 
varied  and  of  many  forms,  for  the  fans  are  either  fitted  to  a  windlass  barrel 
or  to  an  axle.  If  to  an  axle,  they  are  either  contained  in  a  hollow  drum, 
which  is  made  of  two  wheels  and  a  number  of  boards  joining  them  together, 
or  else  in  a  box-shaped  casing.  The  drum  is  stationary  and  closed  on  the 
sides,  except  for  round  holes  of  such  size  that  the  axle  may  turn  in  them ; 
it  has  two  square  blow-holes,  of  which  the  upper  one  receives  the  air,  while 
the  lower  one  empties  into  the  conduit  through  which  the  air  is  led  down  the 
shaft.  The  ends  of  the  axle,  which  project  on  each  side  of  the  drum,  are 
supported  by  forked  posts  or  hollowed  beams  plated  with  thick  iron  ;  one 
end  of  the  axle  has  a  crank,  while  in  the  other  end  are  fixed  four  rods  with 
thick  heavy  ends,  so  that  they  weight  the  axle,  and  when  turned,  make  it 


204 


BOOK     VI. 


A— DRUM.          B— BOX-SHAPED    CASING.  C— BLOW-HOLE. 

E -CONDUIT.       F— AXLE.       G— LEVER  OF  AXLE. 


D — SECOND    HOLE, 
H— RODS. 


BOOK     VI. 


205 


prone  to  motion  as  it  revolves.  And  so,  when  the  workman  turns  the  axle 
by  the  crank,  the  fans,  the  description  of  which  I  will  give  a  little  later,  draw 
in  the  air  by  the  blow-hole,  and  force  it  through  the  other  blow-hole  which 
leads  to  the  conduit,  and  through  this  conduit  the  air  penetrates  into  the 
shaft. 

The  one  with  the  box-shaped  casing  is  furnished  with  just  the  same 
things  as  the  drum,  but  the  drum  is  far  superior  to  the  box  ;  for  the  fans  so 
fill  the  drum  that  they  almost  touch  it  on  every  side,  and  drive  into  the 
conduit  all  the  air  that  has  been  accumulated  ;  but  they  cannot  thus  fill 
the  box-shaped  casing,  on  account  of  its  angles,  into  which  the  air  partly 
retreats  ;  therefore  it  cannot  be  as  useful  as  the  drum.  The  kind  with  a 
box-shaped  casing  is  not  only  placed  on  the  ground,  but  is  also  set  up  on  timbers 
like  a  windmill,  and  its  axle,  in  place  of  a  crank,  has  four  sails  outside, 
like  the  sails  of  a  windmill.  When  these  are  struck  by  the  wind  they  turn 
the  axle,  and  in  this  way  its  fans — which  are  placed  within  the  casing — drive 


A— BOX-SHAPED  CASING  PLACED  ON  THE  GROUND.    B— ITS  BLOW- HOLE.    C— ITS  AXLE 

WITH  FANS.       D— CRANK  OF  THE  AXLE.       E — RODS  OF  SAME.       F— CASING  SET  ON  TIMBERS. 

G— SAILS  WHICH  THE  AXLE  HAS  OUTSIDE  THE  CASING. 


16 


206 


BOOK    VI. 


the  air  through  the  blow-hole  and  the  conduit  into  the  shaft.  Although 
this  machine  has  no  need  of  men  whom  it  is  necessary  to  pay  to  work  the 
crank,  still  when  the  sky  is  devoid  of  wind,  as  it  often  is,  the  machine  does 
not  turn,  and  it  is  therefore  less  suitable  than  the  others  for  ventilating  a  shaft. 

In  the  kind  where  the  fans  are  fixed  to  an  axle,  there  is  generally  a 
hollow  stationary  drum  at  one  end  of  the  axle,  and  on  the  other  end  is  fixed 
a  drum  made  of  rundles.  This  rundle  drum  is  turned  by  the  toothed  wheel 
of  a  lower  axle,  which  is  itself  turned  by  a  wheel  whose  buckets  receive  the 
impetus  of  water.  If  the  locality  supplies  an  abundance  of  water  this 
machine  is  most  useful,  because  to  turn  the  crank  does  not  need  men 
who  require  pay,  and  because  it  forces  air  without  cessation  through  the 
conduit  into  the  shaft. 


A — HOLLOW  DRUM.      B — ITS  BLOW-HOLE.     C — AXLE  WITH  FANS.     D— DRUM 

WHICH    IS   MADE   OF    RUNDLES.          E — LOWER   AXLE.         F — ITS   TOOTHED    WHEEL. 

G — WATER  WHEEL. 

Of  the  fans  which  are  fixed  on  to  an  axle  contained  in  a  drum  or  box, 
there  are  three  sorts.  The  first  sort  is  made  of  thin  boards  of  such  length 
and  width  as  the  height  and  width  of  the  drum  or  box  require  ;  the  second 


BOOK"TVI 


207 


sort  is  made  of  boards  of  the  same  width,  but  shorter,  to  which  are  bound 
long  thin  blades  of  poplar  or  some  other  flexible  wood  ;  the  third  sort  has 
boards  like  the  last,  to  which  are  bound  double  and  triple  rows  of  goose 
feathers.  This  last  is  less  used  than  the  second,  which  in  turn  is  less  used 
than  the  first.  The  boards  of  the  fan  are  mortised  into  the  quadrangular 
parts  of  the  barrel  axle. 


A — FIRST  KIND  OF  FAN.        B — SECOND  KIND  OF  FAN.       C — THIRD  KIND  OF 
FAN.         D — QUADRANGULAR   PART  OF  AXLE.        E — ROUND    PART  OF  SAME. 

F — CRANK. 


Blowing  machines  of  the  third  genus,  which  are  no  less  varied  and  of  no 
fewer  forms  than  those  of  the  second  genus,  are  made  with  bellows,  for  by  its 
blasts  the  shafts  and  tunnels  are  not  only  furnished  with  air  through  conduits 
or  pipes,  but  they  can  also  be  cleared  by  suction  of  their  heavy  and  pestilential 
vapours.  In  the  latter  case,  when  the  bellows  is  opened  it  draws  the 
vapours  from  the  conduits  through  its  blow-hole  and  sucks  these  vapours 
into  itself  ;  in  the  former  case,  when  it  is  compressed,  it  drives  the  air  through 
its  nozzle  into  the  conduits  or  pipes.  They  are  compressed  either  by  a  man, 


208 


BOOK    VI. 


or  by  a  horse  or  by  water-power ;  if  by  a  man,  the  lower  board  of  a  large  bellows  is 
fixed  to  the  timbers  above  the  conduit  which  projects  out  of  the  shaft,  and  so 
placed  that  when  the  blast  is  blown  through  the  conduit,  its  nozzle  is 
set  in  the  conduit.  When  it  is  desired  to  suck  out  heavy  or  pestilential 
vapours,  the  blow-hole  of  the  bellows  is  fitted  all  round  the  mouth  of  the 
conduit.  Fixed  to  the  upper  bellows  board  is  a  lever  which  couples 
with  another  running  downward  from  a  little  axle,  into  which  it  is 
mortised  so  that  it  may  remain  immovable  ;  the  iron  journals  of  this  little 
axle  revolve  in  openings  of  upright  posts  ;  and  so  when  the  workman  pulls 
down  the  lever  the  upper  board  of  the  bellows  is  raised,  and  at  the  same  time 
the  flap  of  the  blow-hole  is  dragged  open  by  the  force  of  the  wind.  If  the 
nozzle  of  the  bellows  is  enclosed  in  the  conduit  it  draws  pure  air  into  itself, 
but  if  its  blow-hole  is  fitted  all  round  the  mouth  of  the  conduit  it  exhausts 
the  heavy  and  pestilential  vapours  out  of  the  conduit  and  thus  from  the 
shaft,  even  if  it  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  deep.  A  stone  placed  on  the 
upper  board  of  the  bellows  depresses  it  and  then  the  flap  of  the  blow-hole  is 


A — SMALLER  PART  OF  SHAFT.     B — SQUARE  CONDUIT.     C — BELLOWS.     D — LARGER  PART 

OF   SHAFT. 


BOOK    VI. 


209 


closed.  The  bellows,  by  the  first  method,  blows  fresh  air  into  the  conduit 
through  its  nozzle,  and  by  the  second  method  blows  out  through  the  nozzle 
the  heavy  and  pestilential  vapours  which  have  been  collected.  In  this 
latter  case  fresh  air  enters  through  the  larger  part  of  the  shaft,  and  the  miners 
getting  the  benefit  of  it  can  sustain  their  toil.  A  certain  smaller  part  of  the 
shaft  which  forms  a  kind  of  estuary,  requires  to  be  partitioned  off  from  the 
other  larger  part  by  uninterrupted  lagging,  which  reaches  from  the  top  of  the 
shaft  to  the  bottom  ;  through  this  part  the  long  but  narrow  conduit  reaches 
down  nearly  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft. 

When  no  shaft  has  been  sunk  to  such  depth  as  to  meet  a  tunnel  driven 
far  into  a  mountain,  these  machines  should  be  built  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  workman  can  move  them  about.  Close  by  the  drains  of  the  tunnel 
through  which  the  water  flows  away,  wooden  pipes  should  be  placed  and 
joined  tightly  together  in  such  a  manner  that  they  can  hold  the  air  ;  these 
should  reach  from  the  mouth  of  the  tunnel  to  its  furthest  end.  At  the  mouth 
of  the  tunnel  the  bellows  should  be  so  placed  that  through  its  nozzle  it  can 
blow  its  accumulated  blasts  into  the  pipes  or  the  conduit  ;  since  one  blast 


A — TUNNEL.     B — PIPE.      C — NOZZLE  OF  DOUBLE  BELLOWS. 


210  BOOK    VI. 

always  drives  forward  another,  they  penetrate  into  the  tunnel  and  change 
the  air,  whereby  the  miners  are  enabled  to  continue  their  work. 

If  heavy  vapours  need  to  be  drawn  off  from  the  tunnels,  generally  three 
double  or  triple  bellows,  without  nozzles  and  closed  in  the  forepart,  are  placed 
upon  benches.  A  workman  compresses  them  by  treading  with  his  feet,  just 
as  persons  compress  those  bellows  of  the  organs  which  give  out  varied  and 
sweet  sounds  in  churches.  These  heavy  vapours  are  thus  drawn  along  the 
air-pipes  and  through  the  blow-hole  of  the  lower  bellows  board,  and  are 
expelled  through  the  blow-hole  of  the  upper  bellows  board  into  the  open 
air,  or  into  some  shaft  or  drift.  This  blow-hole  has  a  flap- valve,  which  the 
noxious  blast  opens,  as  often  as  it  passes  out.  Since  one  volume  of  air  con- 
stantly rushes  in  to  take  the  place  of  another  which  has  been  drawn  out  by 
the  bellows,  not  only  is  the  heavy  air  drawn  out  of  a  tunnel  as  great  as  1,200 
feet  long,  or  even  longer,  but  also  the  wholesome  air  is  naturally  drawn  in 
through  that  part  of  the  tunnel  which  is  open  outside  the  conduits.  In  this  way 
the  air  is  changed,  and  the  miners  are  enabled  to  carry  on  the  work  they  have 
begun.  If  machines  of  this  kind  had  not  been  invented,  it  would  be  necessary 
for  miners  to  drive  two  tunnels  into  a  mountain,  and  continually,  at  every 
two  hundred  feet  at  most,  to  sink  a  shaft  from  the  upper  tunnel  to  the 
lower  one,  that  the  air  passing  into  the  one,  and  descending  by  the  shafts 
into  the  other,  would  be  kept  fresh  for  the  miners  ;  this  could  not  be  done 
without  great  expense. 

There  are  two  different  machines  for  operating,  by  means  of  horses,  the 
above  described  bellows.  The  first  of  these  machines  has  on  its  axle  a 
wooden  wheel,  the  rim  of  which  is  covered  all  the  way  round  by  steps  ;  a 
horse  is  kept  continually  within  bars,  like  those  within  which  horses  are  held 
to  be  shod  with  iron,  and  by  treading  these  steps  with  its  feet  it  turns  the  wheel, 
together  with  the  axle  ;  the  cams  on  the  axle  press  down  the  sweeps  which 
compress  the  bellows.  The  way  the  instrument  is  made  which  raises  the 
bellows  again,  and  also  the  benches  on  which  the  bellows  rest,  I  will  explain 
more  clearly  in  Book  IX.  Each  bellows,  if  it  draws  heavy  vapours 
out  of  a  tunnel,  blows  them  out  of  the  hole  in  the  upper  board  ;  if  they  are 
drawn  out  of  a  shaft,  it  blows  them  out  through  its  nozzle.  The  wheel  has 
a  round  hole,  which  is  transfixed  with  a  pole  when  the  machine  needs  to  be 
stopped. 

The  second  machine  has  two  axles  ;  the  upright  one  is  turned  by  a  horse, 
and  its  toothed  drum  turns  a  drum  made  of  rundles  on  a  horizontal  axle  ; 
in  other  respects  this  machine  is  like  the  last.  Here,  also,  the  nozzles  of 
the  bellows  placed  in  the  conduits  blow  a  blast  into  the  shaft  or  tunnel. 

In  the  same  way  that  this  last  machine  can  refresh  the  heavy  air  of  a 
shaft  or  tunnel,  so  also  could  the  old  system  of  ventilating  by  the  constant 
shaking  of  linen  cloths,  which  Pliny  20  has  explained  ;  the  air  not  only  grows 

20Pliny  (xxxi,  28).  "  In  deep  wells,  the  occurrence  of  sulphurata  or  aluminosa 
"  vapor  is  fatal  to  the  diggers.  The  presence  of  this  peril  is  shown  if  a  lighted  lamp  let  down 
"into  the  well  is  extinguished.  If  so,  other  wells  are  sunk  to  the  right  and  left,  which  carry 
"  off  these  noxious  gases.  Apart  from  these  evils,  the  air  itself  becomes  noxious  with  depth, 
"  which  can  be  remedied  by  constantly  shaking  linen  cloths,  thus  setting  the  air  in  motion." 


BOOK    VI. 


211 


A — MACHINE  FIRST  DESCRIBED.  B— THIS  WORKMAN,  TREADING  WITH  HIS  FEET,  is  COM- 
PRESSING THE  BELLOWS.  C — BELLOWS  WITHOUT  NOZZLES.  D — HOLE  BY  WHICH  HEAVY 
VAPOURS  OR  BLASTS  ARE  BLOWN  OUT.  E — CONDUITS.  F — TUNNEL.  G — SECOND 

MACHINE  DESCRIBED.  H — WOODEN  WHEEL.  I — ITS  STEPS.  K — BARS.  L — HOLE  IN 
SAME  WHEEL.  M — POLE.  N — THIRD  MACHINE  DESCRIBED.  O — UPRIGHT  AXLE. 

P — ITS  TOOTHED  DRUM.   Q — HORIZONTAL  AXLE.    R — ITS  DRUM  WHICH  IS  MADE  OF  RUNDLES. 


212 


BOOK    VI. 


A — TUNNEL.     B — LINEN  CLOTH. 


heavier  with  the  depth  of  a  shaft,  of  which  fact  he  has  made  mention,  but 
also  with  the  length  of  a  tunnel. 

The  climbing  machines  of  miners  are  ladders,  fixed  to  one  side  of  the  shaft, 
and  these  reach  either  to  the  tunnel  or  to  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  I  need  not 
describe  how  they  are  made,  because  they  are  used  everywhere,  and  need 
not  so  much  skill  in  their  construction  as  care  in  fixing  them.  However, 
miners  go  down  into  mines  not  only  by  the  steps  of  ladders,  but  they  are 
also  lowered  into  them  while  sitting  on  a  stick  or  a  wicker  basket,  fastened  to 
the  rope  of  one  of  the  three  drawing  machines  which  I  described  at  first. 
Further,  when  the  shafts  are  much  inclined,  miners  and  other  workmen 
sit  in  the  dirt  which  surrounds  their  loins  and  slide  down  in  the  same  way 
that  boys  do  in  winter-time  when  the  water  on  some  hillside  has  congealed 
with  the  cold,  and  to  prevent  themselves  from  falling,  one  arm  is  wound  about 
a  rope,  the  upper  end  of  which  is  fastened  to  a  beam  at  the  mouth  of  the  shaft, 
and  the  lower  end  to  a  stake  fixed  in  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  In  these  three 
ways  miners  descend  into  the  shafts.  A  fourth  way  may  be  mentioned 
which  is  employed  when  men  and  horses  go  down  to  the  underground 


BOOK     VI. 


213 


A— DESCENDING  INTO  THE  SHAFT  BY  LADDERS.      B— BY  SITTING  ON  A  STICK.      C — BY 

SITTING   ON    THE    DIRT.  D — DESCENDING    BY    STEPS    CUT    IN    THE    ROCK. 


214  BOOK    VI. 

machines  and  come  up  again,  that  is  by  inclined  shafts  which  are  twisted  like 
a  screw  and  have  steps  cut  in  the  rock,  as  I  have  already  described. 

It  remains  for  me  to  speak  of  the  ailments  and  accidents  of  miners,  and  of 
the  methods  by  which  they  can  guard  against  these,  for  we  should  always 
devote  more  care  to  maintaining  our  health,  that  we  may  freely  perform  our 
bodily  functions,  than  to  making  profits.  Of  the  illnesses,  some  affect  the 
joints,  others  attack  the  lungs,  some  the  eyes,  and  finally  some  are  fatal  to 
men. 

Where  water  in  shafts  is  abundant  and  very  cold,  it  frequently  injures 
the  limbs,  for  cold  is  harmful  to  the  sinews.  To  meet  this,  miners  should 
make  themselves  sufficiently  high  boots  of  rawhide,  which  protect  their 
legs  from  the  cold  water  ;  the  man  who  does  not  follow  this  advice  will 
suffer  much  ill-health,  especially  when  he  reaches  old  age.  On  the  other 
hand,  some  mines  are  so  dry  that  they  are  entirely  devoid  of  water,  and  this 
dryness  causes  the  workmen  even  greater  harm,  for  the  dust  which  is  stirred 
and  beaten  up  by  digging  penetrates  into  the  windpipe  and  lungs,  and 
produces  difficulty  in  breathing,  and  the  disease  which  the  Greeks  call 
uaOna.  If  the  dust  has  corrosive  qualities,  it  eats  away  the  lungs,  and 
implants  consumption  in  the  body  ;  hence  in  the  mines  of  the  Carpathian 
Mountains  women  are  found  who  have  married  seven  husbands,  all  of  whom 
this  terrible  consumption  has  carried  off  to  a  premature  death.  At  Altenberg 
in  Meissen  there  is  found  in  the  mines  black  pompholyx,  which  eats  wounds 
and  ulcers  to  the  bone  ;  this  also  corrodes  iron,  for  which  reason  the  keys 
of  their  sheds  are  made  of  wood.  Further,  there  is  a  certain  kind  of  cadmia  21 
which  eats  away  the  feet  of  the  workmen  when  they  have  become  wet,  and 
similarly  their  hands,  and  injures  their  lungs  and  eyes.  Therefore,  for  their 

alThis  is  given  in  the  German  translation  as  kobelt.  The  kobelt  (or  cobaltum  of  Agricola) 
was  probably  arsenical-cobalt,  a  mineral  common  in  the  Saxon  mines.  The  origin  of  the 
application  of  the  word  cobalt  to  a  mineral  appears  to  lie  in  the  German  word  for  the  gnomes 
and  goblins  (kobel(s)  so  universal  to  Saxon  miners'  imaginations, — this  word  in  turn  probably 
being  derived  from  the  Greek  cobali  (mimes).  The  suffering  described  above  seems  to  have 
been  associated  with  the  malevolence  of  demons,  and  later  the  word  for  these  demons  was 
attached  to  this  disagreeable  ore.  A  quaint  series  of  mining  "  sermons,"  by  Johann  Mathesius, 
entitled  Sarepta  oder  Bergpostill,  Niirnberg,  1562,  contains  the  following  passage  (p.  154) 
which  bears  out  this  view.  We  retain  the  original  and  varied  spelling  of  cobalt  and  also  add 
another  view  of  Mathesius,  involving  an  experience  of  Solomon  and  Hiram  of  Tyre  with  some 
mines  containing  cobalt. 

"  Sometimes,  however,  from  dry  hard  veins  a  certain  black,  greenish,  grey  or  ash- 
'  coloured  earth  is  dug  out,  often  containing  good  ore,  and  this  mineral  being  burnt  gives  strong 
'  fumes  and  is  extracted  like  '  tutty.'  It  is  called  cadmia  fossilis.  You  miners  call  it  cobelt. 
'  Germans  call  the  Black  Devil  and  the  old  Devil's  furies,  old  and  black  cobel,  who  injure  people 
'  and  their  cattle  with  their  witchcrafts.  Now  the  Devil  is  a  wicked,  malicious  spirit,  who 
'  shoots  his  poisoned  darts  into  the  hearts  of  men,  as  sorcerers  and  witches  shoot  at  the  limbs 
'  of  cattle  and  men,  and  work  much  evil  and  mischief  with  cobalt  or  hipomane  or  horses' 
'  poison.  After  quicksilver  and  rotgultigen  ore,  are  cobalt  and  wismuth  fumes ;  these  are  the 
'  most  poisonous  of  the  metals,  and  with  them  one  can  kill  flies,  mice,  cattle,  birds,  and  men. 
'  So,  fresh  cobalt  and  kisswasser  (vitriol  ?)  devour  the  hands  and  feet  of  miners,  and  the  dust 
'  and  fumes  of  cobalt  kill  many  mining  people  and  workpeople  who  do  much  work  among  the 
'  fumes  of  the  smelters.  Whether  or  not  the  Devil  and  his  hellish  crew  gave  their  name  to 
'  cobelt,  or  kobelt,  nevertheless,  cobelt  is  a  poisonous  and  injurious  metal  even  if  it  contains 
'  silver.  I  find  in  I.  Kings  9,  the  word  Cabul.  When  Solomon  presented  twenty  towns  in 
'  Galilee  to  the  King  of  Tyre,  Hiram  visited  them  first,  and  would  not  have  them,  and  said  the 
'  land  was  well  named  Cabul  as  Joshua  had  christened  it.  It  is  certain  from  Joshua  that  these 


BOOK    VI.  215 

digging  they  should  make  for  themselves  not  only  boots  of  rawhide,  but  gloves 
long  enough  to  reach  to  the  elbow,  and  they  should  fasten  loose  veils  over  their 
faces  ;  the  dust  will  then  neither  be  drawn  through  these  into  their  wind- 
pipes and  lungs,  nor  will  it  fly  into  their  eyes.  Not  dissimilarly,  among  the 
Romans22  the  makers  of  vermilion  took  precautions  against  breathing  its  fatal 
dust. 

Stagnant  air,  both  that  which  remains  in  a  shaft  and  that  which  remains 
in  a  tunnel,  produces  a  difficulty  in  breathing  ;  the  remedies  for  this  evil 
are  the  ventilating  machines  which  I  have  explained  above.  There  is  another 
illness  even  more  destructive,  which  soon  brings  death  to  men  who  work 
in  those  shafts  or  levels  or  tunnels  in  which  the  hard  rock  is  broken  by  fire. 
Here  the  air  is  infected  with  poison,  since  large  and  small  veins  and  seams 
in  the  rocks  exhale  some  subtle  poison  from  the  minerals,  which  is  driven 
out  by  the  fire,  and  this  poison  itself  is  raised  with  the  smoke  not  unlike 
pompholyx,23  which  clings  to  the  upper  part  of  the  walls  in  the  works  in  which 
ore  is  smelted.  If  this  poison  cannot  escape  from  the  ground,  but  falls  down 
into  the  pools  and  floats  on  their  surface,  it  often  causes  danger,  for  if  at  any 
time  the  water  is  disturbed  through  a  stone  or  anything  else,  these  fumes  rise 
again  from  the  pools  and  thus  overcome  the  men,  by  being  drawn  in  with  their 
breath  ;  this  is  even  much  worse  if  the  fumes  of  the  fire  have  not  yet  all 
escaped.  The  bodies  of  living  creatures  who  are  infected  with  this  poison 
generally  swell  immediately  and  lose  all  movement  and  feeling,  and  they  die 
without  pain  ;  men  even  in  the  act  of  climbing  from  the  shafts  by  the 
steps  of  ladders  fall  back  into  the  shafts  when  the  poison  overtakes  them, 
because  their  hands  do  not  perform  their  office,  and  seem  to  them  to  be  round 
and  spherical,  and  likewise  their  feet.  If  by  good  fortune  the  injured 
ones  escape  these  evils,  for  a  little  while  they  are  pale  and  look  like 
dead  men.  At  such  times,  no  one  should  descend  into  the  mine  or  into  the 
neighbouring  mines,  or  if  he  is  in  them  he  should  come  out  quickly.  Prudent 
and  skilled  miners  burn  the  piles  of  wood  on  Friday,  towards  evening,  and 

1  twenty  towns  lay  in  the  Kingdom  of  Aser,  not  far  from  our  Sarepta,  and  that  there  had  been 
'  iron  and  copper  mines  there,  as  Moses  says  in  another  place.  Inasmuch,  then,  as  these  twenty 
'  places  were  mining  towns,  and  cobelt  is  a  metal,  it  appears  quite  likely  that  the  mineral  took 
'  its  name  from  the  land  of  Cabul.  History  and  circumstances  bear  out  the  theory  that  Hiram 
'  was  an  excellent  and  experienced  miner,  who  obtained  much  gold  from  Ophir,  with  which  he 
'  honoured  Solomon.  Therefore,  the  Great  King  wished  to  show  his  gratitude  to  his  good 
'  neighbour  by  honouring  a  miner  with  mining  towns.  But  because  the  King  of  Tyre  was 
'  skilled  in  mines,  he  first  inspected  the  new  mines,  and  saw  that  they  only  produced  poor 
'  metal  and  much  wild  cobelt  ore,  therefore  he  preferred  to  find  his  gold  by  digging  the  gold 
'  and  silver  in  India  rather  than  by  getting  it  by  the  cobelt  veins  and  ore.  For  truly,  cobelt 
'  ores  are  injurious,  and  are  usually  so  embedded  in  other  ore  that  they  rob  them  in  the 
'  fire  and  consume  (madtet  und  frist)  much  lead  before  the  silver  is  extracted,  and  when  this 
'  happens  it  is  especially  speysig.  Therefore  Hiram  made  a  good  reckoning  as  to  the  mines 
'  and  would  not  undertake  all  the  expense  of  working  and  smelting,  and  so  returned  Solomon 
'  the  twenty  towns." 

22Pliny  (XXXIH,  40).  "  Those  employed  in  the  works  preparing  vermilion,  cover 
'  their  faces  with  a  bladder-skin,  that  they  may  not  inhale  the  pernicious  powder,  yet  they 
'  can  see  through  the  skin." 

23Pompholyx  was  a  furnace  deposit,  usually  mostly  zinc  oxide,  but  often  containing 
arsenical  oxide,  and  to  this  latter  quality  this  reference  probably  applies.  The  symptoms  men- 
tioned later  in  the  text  amply  indicate  arsenical  poisoning,  of  which  a  sort  of  spherical  effect 
on  the  hands  is  characteristic.  See  also  note  on  p.  112  for  discussion  of  "  corrosive  "  cadmia  ; 
further  information  on  pompholyx  is  given  in  Note  26,  p.  394. 


216  BOOK    VI. 

they  do  not  descend  into  the  shafts  nor  enter  the  tunnels  again  before  Monday, 
and  in  the  meantime  the  poisonous  fumes  pass  away. 

There  are  also  times  when  a  reckoning  has  to  be  made  with  Orcus,  24 
for  some  metalliferous  localities,  though  such  are  rare,  spontaneously 
produce  poison  and  exhale  pestilential  vapour,  as  is  also  the  case  with  some 
openings  in  the  ore,  though  these  more  often  contain  the  noxious  fumes. 
In  the  towns  of  the  plains  of  Bohemia  there  are  some  caverns  which, 
at  certain  seasons  of  the  year,  emit  pungent  vapours  which  put  out  lights 
and  kill  the  miners  if  they  linger  too  long  in  them.  Pliny,  too,  has  left 
a  record  that  when  wells  are  sunk,  the  sulphurous  or  aluminous  vapours 
which  arise  kill  the  well-diggers,  and  it  is  a  test  of  this  danger  if  a  burning 
lamp  which  has  been  let  down  is  extinguished.  In  such  cases  a  second  well 
is  dug  to  the  right  or  left,  as  an  air-shaft,  which  draws  off  these  noxious 
vapours.  On  the  plains  they  construct  bellows  which  draw  up  these  noxious 
vapours  and  remedy  this  evil  ;  these  I  have  described  before. 

Further,  sometimes  workmen  slipping  from  the  ladders  into  the  shafts 
break  their  arms,  legs,  or  necks,  or  fall  into  the  sumps  and  are  drowned  ; 
often,  indeed,  the  negligence  of  the  foreman  is  to  blame,  for  it  is  his  special 
work  both  to  fix  the  ladders  so  firmly  to  the  timbers  that  they  cannot  break 
away,  and  to  cover  so  securely  with  planks  the  sumps  at  the  bottom  of  the 
shafts,  that  the  planks  cannot  be  moved  nor  the  men  fall  into  the  water ; 
wherefore  the  foreman  must  carefully  execute  his  own  work.  Moreover, 
he  must  not  set  the  entrance  of  the  shaft-house  toward  the  north  wind, 
lest  in  winter  the  ladders  freeze  with  cold,  for  when  this  happens  the  men's 
hands  become  stiff  and  slippery  with  cold,  and  cannot  perform  their  office 
of  holding.  The  men,  too,  must  be  careful  that,  even  if  none  of  these  things 
happen,  they  do  not  fall  through  their  own  carelessness. 

Mountains,  too,  slide  down  and  men  are  crushed  in  their  fall  and  perish. 
In  fact,  when  in  olden  days  Rammelsberg,  in  Goslar,  sank  down,  so  many 
men  were  crushed  in  the  ruins  that  in  one  day,  the  records  tell  us,  about 
400  women  were  robbed  of  their  husbands.  And  eleven  years  ago,  part 
of  the  mountain  of  Altenberg,  which  had  been  excavated,  became  loose  and 
sank,  and  suddenly  crushed  six  miners  ;  it  also  swallowed  up  a  hut  and  one 
mother  and  her  little  boy.  But  this  generally  occurs  in  those  mountains 
which  contain  venae  cumulatae.  Therefore,  miners  should  leave  numerous 
arches  under  the  mountains  which  need  support,  or  provide  underpinning. 
Falling  pieces  of  rock  also  injure  their  limbs,  and  to  prevent  this  from  hap- 
pening, miners  should  protect  the  shafts,  tunnels,  and  drifts. 

The  venomous  ant  which  exists  in  Sardinia  is  not  found  in  our  mines. 
This  animal  is,  as  Solinus  25  writes,  very  small  and  like  a  spider  in  shape  ;  it 
is  called  solifuga,  because  it  shuns  (fugit)  the  light  (solem).  It  is  very  common 

24Orcus,  the  god  of  the  infernal  regions, — otherwise  Pluto. 

26Caius  Julius  Solinus  was  an  unreliable  Roman  Grammarian  of  the  3rd  Century.  There 
is  much  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  precise  animal  meant  by  solifuga.  The  word  is  variously 
spelled  solipugus,  solpugus,  solipuga,  solipunga,  etc.,  and  is  mentioned  by  Pliny  (vm.,  43), 
and  other  ancient  authors  all  apparently  meaning  a  venomous  insect,  either  an  ant  or  a 
spider.  The  term  in  later  times  indicated  a  scorpion. 


BOOK    VI.  217 

in  silver  mines  ;  it  creeps  unobserved  and  brings  destruction  upon  those 
who  imprudently  sit  on  it.  But,  as  the  same  writer  tells  us,  springs  of  warm 
and  salubrious  waters  gush  out  in  certain  places,  which  neutralise  the  venom 
inserted  by  the  ants. 

In  some  of  our  mines,  however,  though  in  very  few,  there  are  other 
pernicious  pests.  These  are  demons  of  ferocious  aspect,  about  which  I  have 
spoken  in  my  book  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis.  Demons  of  this  kind 
are  expelled  and  put  to  flight  by  prayer  and  fasting.28 

Some  of  these  evils,  as  well  as  certain  other  things,  are  the  reason  why 
pits  are  occasionally  abandoned.  But  the  first  and  principal  cause  is  that 
they  do  not  yield  metal,  or  if,  for  some  fathoms,  they  do  bear  metal  they 
become  barren  in  depth.  The  second  cause  is  the  quantity  of  water  which 
flows  in ;  sometimes  the  miners  can  neither  divert  this  water  into  the 
tunnels,  since  tunnels  cannot  be  driven  so  far  into  the  mountains,  or  they 
cannot  draw  it  out  with  machines  because  the  shafts  are  too  deep  ;  or  if  they 
could  draw  it  out  with  machines,  they  do  not  use  them,  the  reason 
undoubtedly  being  that  the  expenditure  is  greater  than  the  profits  of  a 
moderately  poor  vein.  The  third  cause  is  the  noxious  air,  which  the  owners 
sometimes  cannot  overcome  either  by  skill  or  expenditure,  for  which  reason 
the  digging  is  sometimes  abandoned,  not  only  of  shafts,  but  also  of  tunnels.  The 
fourth  cause  is  the  poison  produced  in  particular  places,  if  it  is  not  in  our 
power  either  completely  to  remove  it  or  to  moderate  its  effects.  This  is  the 
reason  why  the  caverns  in  the  Plain  known  as  Laurentius  27  used  not  to  be 

26The  presence  of  demons  or  gnomes  in  the  mines  was  so  general  a  belief  that  Agricola 
fully  accepted  it.  This  is  more  remarkable,  in  view  of  our  author's  very  general  scepticism 
regarding  the  supernatural.  He,  however,  does  not  classify  them  all  as  bad — some  being 
distinctly  helpful.  The  description  of  gnomes  of  kindly  intent,  which  is  contained  in  the 
last  paragraph  in  De  Animantibus  is  of  interest  : — 

"  Then  there  are  the  gentle  kind  which  the  Germans  as  well  as  the  Greeks  call  cobalos, 
'  because  they  mimic  men.  They  appear  to  laugh  with  glee  and  pretend  to  do  much,  but 
'  really  do  nothing.  They  are  called  little  miners,  because  of  their  dwarfish  stature,  which 
'  is  about  two  feet.  They  are  venerable  looking  and  are  clothed  like  miners  in  a  filleted 
'  garment  with  a  leather  apron  about  their  loins.  This  kind  does  not  often  trouble  the  miners, 
'  but  they  idle  about  in  the  shafts  and  tunnels  and  really  do  nothing,  although  they  pretend  to 
'  be  busy  in  all  kinds  of  labour,  sometimes  digging  ore,  and  sometimes  putting  into  buckets 
'  that  which  has  been  dug.  Sometimes  they  throw  pebbles  at  the  workmen,  but  they  rarely 
'  injure  them  unless  the  workmen  first  ridicule  or  curse  them.  They  are  not  very  dissimilar 
'  to  Goblins,  which  occasionally  appear  to  men  when  they  go  to  or  from  their  day's  work,  or 
'  when  they  attend  their  cattle.  Because  they  generally  appear  benign  to  men,  the  Germans 
'  call  them  guleli.  Those  called  trulli,  which  take  the  form  of  women  as  well  as  men,  actually 
'  enter  the  service  of  some  people,  especially  the  Suions.  The  mining  gnomes  are  especially 
'  active  in  the  workings  where  metal  has  already  been  found,  or  where  there  are  hopes  of 
'  discovering  it,  because  of  which  they  do  not  discourage  the  miners,  but  on  the  contrary 
'  stimulate  them  and  cause  them  to  labour  more  vigorously." 

The  German  miners  were  not  alone  in  such  beliefs,  for  miners  generally  accepted 
them — even  to-day  the  faith  in  "  knockers  "  has  not  entirely  disappeared  from  Cornwall. 
Neither  the  sea  nor  the  forest  so  lends  itself  to  the  substantiation  of  the  supernatural  as  does 
the  mine.  The  dead  darkness,  in  which  the  miners'  lamps  serve  only  to  distort  every  shape, 
the  uncanny  noises  of  restless  rocks  whose  support  has  been  undermined,  the  approach  of 
danger  and  death  without  warning,  the  sudden  vanishing  or  discovery  of  good  fortune,  all 
yield  a  thousand  corroborations  to  minds  long  steeped  in  ignorance  and  prepared  for  the 
miraculous  through  religious  teaching. 

27The  Plains  of  Laurentius  extend  from  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber  southward — say 
twenty  miles  south  of  Rome.  What  Agricola's  authority  was  for  silver  mines  in  this  region  we 
cannot  discover.  This  may,  however,  refer  to  the  lead-silver  district  of  the  Attic  Peninsula, 
Laurion  being  sometimes  Latinized  as  Laurium  or  Laurius. 


2l8 


BOOK    VI. 


worked,  though  they  were  not  deficient  in  silver.  The  fifth  cause  are  the 
fierce  and  murderous  demons,  for  if  they  cannot  be  expelled,  no  one  escapes 
from  them.  The  sixth  cause  is  that  the  underpinnings  become  loosened 
and  collapse,  and  a  fall  of  the  mountain  usually  follows  ;  the  underpinnings 
are  then  only  restored  when  the  vein  is  very  rich  in  metal.  The  seventh 
cause  is  military  operations.  Shafts  and  tunnels  should  not  be  re-opened 
unless  we  are  quite  certain  of  the  reasons  why  the  miners  have  deserted  them, 
because  we  ought  not  to  believe  that  our  ancestors  were  so  indolent  and 
spiritless  as  to  desert  mines  which  could  have  been  carried  on  with  profit. 
Indeed,  in  our  own  days,  not  a  few  miners,  persuaded  by  old  women's  tales, 
have  re-opened  deserted  shafts  and  lost  their  time  and  trouble.  Therefore, 
to  prevent  future  generations  from  being  led  to  act  in  such  a  way,  it  is 
advisable  to  set  down  in  writing  the  reason  why  the  digging  of  each  shaft  or 
tunnel  has  been  abandoned,  just  as  it  is  agreed  was  once  done  at  Freiberg, 
when  the  shafts  were  deserted  on  account  of  the  great  inrush  of  water. 

END    OF    BOOK    VI. 


BOOK    VII. 


INCE  the  Sixth  Book  has  described  the  iron  tools, 
the  vessels  and  the  machines  used  in  mines,  this 
Book  will  describe  the  methods  of  assaying1  ores ; 
because  it  is  desirable  to  first  test  them  in  order 
that  the  material  mined  may  be  advantageously 
smelted,  or  that  the  dross  may  be  purged  away  and 
the  metal  made  pure.  Although  writers  have  men- 
tioned such  tests,  yet  none  of  them  have  set  down  the 
directions  for  performing  them,  wherefore  it  is  no 
wonder  that  those  who  come  later  have  written  nothing  on  the  subject. 
By  tests  of  this  kind  miners  can  determine  with  certainty  whether 
ores  contain  any  metal  in  them  or  not  ;  or  if  it  has  already  been 
indicated  that  the  ore  contains  one  or  more  metals,  the  tests  show  whether 
it  is  much  or  little  ;  the  miners  also  ascertain  by  such  tests  the  method  by 
which  the  metal  can  be  separated  from  that  part  of  the  ore  devoid  of  it  ; 
and  further,  by  these  tests,  they  determine  that  part  in  which  there  is  much 
metal  from  that  part  in  which  there  is  little.  Unless  these  tests  have  been 
carefully  applied  before  the  metals  are  melted  out,  the  ore  cannot  be  smelted 
without  great  loss  to  the  owners,  for  the  parts  which  do  not  easily  melt  in  the 
fire  carry  the  metals  off  with  them  or  consume  them.  In  the  last  case,  they  pass 
off  with  the  fumes  ;  in  the  other  case  they  are  mixed  with  the  slag  and  furnace 
accretions,  and  in  such  event  the  owners  lose  the  labour  which  they  have  spent 
in  preparing  the  furnaces  and  the  crucibles,  and  further,  it  is  necessary  for  them 
to  incur  fresh  expenditure  for  fluxes  and  other  things.  Metals,  when  they  have 
been  melted  out,  are  usually  assayed  in  order  that  we  may  ascertain  what  pro- 
portion of  silver  is  in  a  centumpondium  of  copper  or  lead,  or  what  quantity  of 
gold  is  in  one  libra  of  silver  ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  what  proportion  of  copper 
or  lead  is  contained  in  a  centumpondium  of  silver,  or  what  quantity  of  silver  is 
contained  in  one  libra  of  gold.  And  from  this  we  can  calculate  whether  it 
will  be  worth  while  to  separate  the  precious  metals  from  the  base  metals,  or 
not.  Further,  a  test  of  this  kind  shows  whether  coins  are  good  or  are 
debased ;  and  readily  detects  silver,  if  the  coiners  have  mixed  more  than  is 
lawful  with  the  gold ;  or  copper,  if  the  coiners  have  alloyed  with  the  gold  or 
silver  more  of  it  than  is  allowable.  I  will  explain  all  these  methods  with  the 
utmost  care  that  I  can. 

1We  have  but  little  record  of  anything  which  could  be  called  "  assaying  "  among  the 
Greeks  and  Romans.  The  fact,  however,  that  they  made  constant  use  of  the  touchstone 
(see  note  37,  p.  252)  is  sufficient  proof  that  they  were  able  to  test  the  purity  of  gold  and  silver. 
The  description  of  the  touchstone  by  Theophrastus  contains  several  references  to  "  trial  " 
by  fire  (see  note  37,  p.  252).  They  were  adepts  at  metal  working,  and  were  therefore  familiar 
with  melting  metals  on  a  small  scale,  with  the  smelting  of  silver,  lead,  copper,  and  tin 
ores  (see  note  i,  p.  353)  and  with  the  parting  of  silver  and  lead  by  cupellation.  Consequently, 
it  would  not  require  much  of  an  imaginative  flight  to  conclude  that  there  existed  some  system 
of  tests  of  ore  and  metal  values  by  fire.  Apart  from  the  statement  of  Theophrastus  referred 
to,  the  first  references  made  to  anything  which  might  fill  the  role  of  assaying  are  from  the 
Alchemists,  particularly  Geber  (prior  to  1300),  for  they  describe  methods  of  solution, 
precipitation,  distillation,  fusing  in  crucibles,  cupellation,  and  of  the  parting  of  gold  and  silver 
by  acid  and  by  sulphur,  antimony,  or  cementation.  However,  they  were  not  bent  on 


220 


BOOK    VII. 


The  method  of  assaying  ore  used  by  mining  people,  differs  from 
smelting  only  by  the  small  amount  of  material  used.  Inasmuch  as,  by 
smelting  a  small  quantity,  they  learn  whether  the  smelting  of  a  large 

determining  quantitative  values,  which  is  the  fundamental  object  of  the  assayer's  art,  and 
all  their  discussion  is  shrouded  in  an  obscure  cloak  of  gibberish  and  attempted  mysticism. 
Nevertheless,  therein  lies  the  foundation  of  many  cardinal  assay  methods,  and  even  of 
chemistry  itself. 

The  first  explicit  records  of  assaying  are  the  anonymous  booklets  published  in  German  early 
in  the  i6th  Century  under  the  title  Probierbiichlein.  Therein  the  art  is  disclosed  well  advanced 
toward  maturity,  so  far  as  concerns  gold  and  silver,  with  some  notes  on  lead  and  copper.  We 
refer  the  reader  to  Appendix  B  for  fuller  discussion  of  these  books,  but  we  may  repeat  here 
that  they  are  a  collection  of  disconnected  recipes  lacking  in  arrangement,  the  items  often 
repeated,  and  all  apparently  the  inheritance  of  wisdom  passed  from  father  to  son  over  many 
generations.  It  is  obviously  intended  as  a  sort  of  reminder  to  those  already  skilled  in  the 
art,  and  would  be  hopeless  to  a  novice.  Apart  from  some  notes  in  Biringuccio  (Book  III, 
Chaps.  I  and  2)  on  assaying  gold  and  silver,  there  is  nothing  else  prior  to  De  Re 
Metallica.  Agricola  was  familiar  with  these  works  and  includes  their  material  in  this  chapter. 
The  very  great  advance  which  his  account  represents  can  only  be  appreciated  by  comparison, 
but  the  exhaustive  publication  of  other  works  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  these  notes. 
Agricola  introduces  system  into  the  arrangement  of  his  materials,  describes  implements,  and 
gives  a  hundred  details  which  are  wholly  omitted  from  the  previous  works,  all  in  a  manner 
which  would  enable  a  beginner  to  learn  the  art.  Furthermore,  the  assaying  of  lead,  copper, 
tin,  quicksilver,  iron,  and  bismuth,  is  almost  wholly  new,  together  with  the  whole  of  the 
argument  and  explanations.  We  would  call  the  attention  of  students  of  the  history  of 
chemistry  to  the  general  oversight  of  these  early  i6th  Century  attempts  at  analytical 
chemistry,  for  in  them  lie  the  foundations  of  that  science.  The  statement  sometimes  made 
that  Agricola  was  the  first  assayer,  is  false  if  for  no  other  reason  than  that  science  does  not 
develop  with  such  strides  at  any  one  human  hand.  He  can,  however,  fairly  be  accounted  as  the 
author  of  the  first  proper  text-book  upon  assaying.  Those  familiar  with  the  art  will  be  astonished 
at  the  small  progress  made  since  his  time,  for  in  his  pages  appear  most  of  the  reagents  and  most 
of  the  critical  operations  in  the  dry  analyses  of  gold,  silver,  lead,  copper,  tin,  bismuth,  quick- 
silver, and  iron  of  to-day.  Further,  there  will  be  recognised  many  of  the  "  kinks  "  of  the  art 
used  even  yet,  such  as  the  method  of  granulation,  duplicate  assays,  the  "  assay  ton  "  method  of 
weights,  the  use  of  test  lead,  the  introduction  of  charges  in  leaf  lead,  and  even  the  use  of  beer 
instead  of  water  to  damp  bone-ash. 

The  following  table  is  given  of  the  substances  mentioned  requiring  some  comment, 
and  the  terms  adopted  in  this  book,  with  notes  for  convenience  in  reference.  The  German 
terms  are  either  from  Agricola's  Glossary  of  De  Re  Metallica,  his  Interpretation  or  the 
German  Translation.  We  have  retained  the  original  German  spelling.  The  fifth  column 
refers  to  the  page  where  more  ample  notes  are  given  : — 


Terms  adopted. 

Latin. 

German. 

Remarks. 

Further 
Notes. 

Alum 

A  lumen 

Alaun 

Either  potassium  or 

P-   564 

ammonia  alum 

Ampulla 

Ampulla 

Kolb 

A  distillation  jar 

Antimony 

Stibium 

Spiesglas 

Practically  always 

p.   428 

antimony  sulphide 

Aqua  valens  or  aqua 

Aqua  valens 

Scheidewasser 

Mostly  nitric  acid 

P-   439 

Argol 

Feces  vini  siccae 

Die  weinheffen 

Crude    tartar 

P-   234 

Ash  of  lead 

Nigrum  plumbum 

Artificial  lead  sul- 

P-  237 

cinereum 

phide 

Ash  of  musk  ivy 

Sal  ex  anthyllidis 

Salalkali 

Mostly  potash 

p.   560 

(Salt  made  from) 

cinere  factus 

Ashes  which  wool- 

Cineres    quo   infec- 

Mostly  potash 

P-   559 

dyers  use 

tores     lanarum 

utuntur 

Assay 

Venas   experiri 

Probiren 

Assay  furnace 

Fornacula 

Probir  ofen 

"  Little  "  furnace 

Azure 

Caeruleum 

Lasur 

Partly    copper    car- 

p.   no 

bonate  (azurite) 

partly  silicate 

BOOK    VII. 


221 


quantity  will  compensate  them  for  their  expenditure ;  hence,  if  they  are  not 
particular  to  employ  assays,  they  may,  as  I  have  already  said,  sometimes  smelt 
the  metal  from  the  ore  with  a  loss  or  sometimes  without  any  profit  ;  for  they 


Terms  adopted. 

Latin. 

German. 

Remarks. 

Further 
Notes. 

Bismuth 

Plumbum  Cinereum 

Wismul 

Bismuth 

P-   433 

Bitumen 

Bitumen 

Bergwachs 

P-    58i 

Blast  furnace 

Prima  fornax 

Schmeltzofen 

Borax 

Chrysocolla  ex  nitro 

Borras  ;  Tincar 

p.    560 

confecta  ;     chryso- 

colla  quam  boracem 

nominanl 

Burned  alum 

A  lumen  coctum 

Gesottener    alaun 

Probably  de  hydrated 

P-   565 

alum 

Cadmia 

(i)  Furnace  accre- 

p.    112 

(see  note  8,  p.  112^ 

tions 

(2)  Calamine 

(3)  Zinc  blende 

(4)  Cobalt   arsenical 

sulphides 

Camphor 

Camphora 

Campffer 

p.     238 

Chrysocolla  called 

borax  (see  borax) 

Chrysocolla(copper 

Chrysocolla 

Berggriin  und 

Partly  chrysocolla, 

p.   no 

mineral) 

Schifergriin 

partly  malachite 

Copper  filings 

Aeris  scobs  elimata 

Kupferfeilich 

Apparently   finely 

P-  233 

divided  copper 

metal 

Copper  flowers 

Aeris  flos 

Kupferbraun 

Cupric  oxide 

P-  538 

Copper  scales 

Aeris  squamae 

Kupfer    hammer- 

Probably  cupric  oxide 

schlag  oder  kessel 

braun 

Copper  minerals 

(see  note  8,  p.  109] 

Crucible  (trian- 

Catillus triangularis 

Dreieckichtschirbe 

See  illustration 

p.  229 

gular) 

Cupel 

Catillus  cinereus 

Capelle 

Cupellation  furnace 

Secunda  fornax 

Treibherd 

Flux 

A  dditamentum 

Zusetze 

p.  232 

Furnace  accretions 

Cadmia  fornacum 

Mitlere  und  obere 

offenbruche 

Galena 

Lapis  plumbarius 

Glantz 

Lead  sulphide 

p.  no 

Glass-gall 

Recrementum  vitri 

Glassgallen 

Skimmings  from 

P-  235 

glass  melting 

Grey  antimony  or 

Stibi  or  stibium          i  Spiesglas 

Antimony  sulphide, 

p.  428 

stibium 

stibnite 

Hearth-lead 

Molybdaena 

Herdplei 

The    saturated    fur- 

p. 476 

nace  bottoms  from 

cupellation 

Hoop  (iron) 

Circulus  ferreus 

Ring 

A  forge  for  crucibles 

p.   226 

Iron  filings 

Ferri  scobs  elimata 

Eisen  feilich 

Metallic  iron 

Iron  scales 

Squamae  ferri 

Eisen  hammer- 

Partly  iron  oxide 

schlag 

Iron  slag 

Recrementum  ferri 

Sinder 

Lead  ash 

Cinis  plumbi  nigri 

Pleiasche 

Artificial  lead  sul- 

P- 237 

phide 

Lead  granules 

Globuli  plumbei 

Gekornt  plei 

Granulated  lead 

Lead  ochre 

Ochra  plumbaria 

Pleigeel 

Modern  massicot 

p.   232 

(PbO) 

Lees  of  aqua  which 

Feces  aquarum  quae     Scheidewasser 

Uncertain 

P-  234 

separates  gold 

aurum  ab    argenlo 

heffe 

from  silver 

secernunt 

Dried  lees  of  vinegar 

Siccae  feces  aceti 

Heffe  des  essigs 

Argol 

p.  234 

Dried  lees  of  wine      Feces  vini  siccae 

Wein  heffen 

Argol 

p.  234 

222 


BOOK     VII. 


can  assay  the  ore  at  a  very  small  expense,  and  smelt  it  only  at  a  great 
expense.  Both  processes,  however,  are  carried  out  in  the  same  way,  for  just 
as  we  assay  ore  in  a  little  furnace,  so  do  we  smelt  it  in  the  large  furnace.  Also 
in  both  cases  charcoal  and  not  wood  is  burned.  Moreover,  in  the  crucible 
when  metals  are  tested,  be  they  gold,  silver,  copper,  or  lead,  they  are  mixed  in 
precisely  the  same  way  as  they  are  mixed  in  the  blast  furnace  when  they 
are  smelted.  Further,  those  who  assay  ores  with  fire,  either  pour  out  the 
metal  in  a  liquid  state,  or,  when  it  has  cooled,  break  the  crucible  and  clean 


Terms  adopted. 

Latin.                       German. 

i 

Remarks. 

Further 
Notes. 

Limestone 

Saxum  calcis 

Kalchstein 

Litharge 

Spuma  argenti 

Glette 

Lye 

Lixivium 

Lauge  durch 

Mostly  potash 

P-  233 

asschen  gemacht 

Muffle 

Tegula 

Muffel 

Latin,  literally 

"Roof-  tile" 

Operculum 

Operculum 

Helm  oder  alem- 

Helmet  or  cover  for 

bick 

a    distillation    jar 

Orpiment 

A  uripigmentum 

Operment 

Yellow    sulphide    of 

p.    in 

arsenic  (As2S3) 

Pyrites 

Pyrites 

Kis 

Rather   a  genus  of 

p.    112 

sulphides,  than  iron 

pyrite  in  particular 

Pyrites  (Cakes 

Panes  ex  pyrite 

Stein 

Iron  or  copper  matte 

P-   350 

from) 

conflati 

Realgar 

Sandaraca 

Rosgeel 

Red  sulphide  of 

p.    in 

arsenic  (AsS) 

Red  lead 

Minium 

Menning 

Pb3C>4 

P-   232 

Roasted  copper 

Aes  ustum 

Gebrandt  kupffer 

Artificial    copper 

P-    233 

sulphide  (?) 

Salt 

Sal 

Saltz 

NaCl 

P-  233 

Salt  (Rock) 

Sal  fossilis 

Berg  saltz 

NaCl 

P-    233 

Sal  artificiosus 

Sal  artificiosus 

A  stock  flux  ? 

p.    236 

Sal  ammoniac 

Sal  ammoniacus 

Salarmoniac 

NH4C1 

P-   56o 

Saltpetre 

Halinitrum 

Salpeter 

KNOs                          !  p.   561 

Salt  (refined) 

Sal  facticius  purgatus 

NaCl 

Sal  tostus 

Sal  tostus 

Gerost  saltz 

Apparently  simply        p.    233 

heated  or  melted 

common  salt 

Sal  torrefactus 

Sal  torrefactus 

Gerost  saltz 

P-    233 

Salt  (melted) 

Sal  liquefactus 

Geftossen  saltz 

Melted  salt  or  salt       p.   233 

glass 

Scorifier 

Catillus  fictilis 

Scherbe 

Schist 

Saxum  fissile 

Schifer 

Silver  minerals  (see 

note  8,  p.  108) 

Slag 

Recrementum 

Schlacken 

Soda 

Nitrum 

Mostly    soda    from 

P-    558 

Egypt,  Na2Co3 

Stones  which  easily 

Lapides  qui  facile  igni 

Plus 

Quartz  and  fluorspar 

p.    380 

melt 

liquescunt 

Sulphur 

Sulfur 

Schwefel 

P-   579 

Tophus 

Tophus 

Top  stein 

Marl(?) 

P-   233 

Touchstone 

Colicula 

Goldstein 

Venetian  glass 

Venetianum  vitrum 

Verdigris 

A  erugo 

Grtinspan  oder 

Copper  sub-acetate 

p.   440 

Spanschgriln 

Vitriol 

Atr  amentum 

Kupferwasser 

Mostly  FeS04 

P-   572 

sutorium 

White  schist 

Saxum  fissile  album 

Weisser  schifer 

P-   234 

Weights  (see  Appen- 

dix). 

i 

BOOK     VII. 


223 


the  metal  from  slag  ;  and  in  the  same  way  the  smelter,  as  soon  as  the  metal 
flows  from  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth,  pours  in  cold  water  and  takes  the 
slag  from  the  metal  with  a  hooked  bar.  Finally,  in  the  same  way  that  gold 
and  silver  are  separated  from  lead  in  a  cupel,  so  also  are  they  separated  in 
the  cupellation  furnace. 

It  is  necessary  that  the  assayer  who  is  testing  ore  or  metals  should  be 
prepared  and  instructed  in  all  things  necessary  in  assaying,  and  that  he 
should  close  the  doors  of  the  room  in  which  the  assay  furnace  stands,  lest 


ROUND  ASSAY  FURNACE. 


RECTANGULAR  ASSAY  FURNACE. 


224 


BOOK     VII. 


anyone  coming  at  an  inopportune  moment  might  disturb  his  thoughts  when 
they  are  intent  on  the  work.  It  is  also  necessary  for  him  to  place  his  balances 
in  a  case,  so  that  when  he  weighs  the  little  buttons  of  metal  the  scales  may 
not  be  agitated  by  a  draught  of  air,  for  that  is  a  hindrance  to  his  work. 

Now  I  will  describe  the  different  things  which  are  necessary  in  assaying, 
beginning  with  the  assay  furnace,  of  which  one  differs  from  another  in 
shape,  material,  and  the  place  in  which  it  is  set.  In  shape,  they  may  be 
round  or  rectangular,  the  latter  shape  being  more  suited  to  assaying  ores. 
The  materials  of  the  assay  furnaces  differ,  in  that  one  is  made  of  bricks, 
another  of  iron,  and  certain  ones  of  clay.  The  one  of  bricks  is  built  on  a 
chimney-hearth  which  is  three  and  a  half  feet  high  ;  the  iron  one  is  placed 
in  the  same  position,  and  also  the  one  of  clay.  The  brick  one  is  a  cubit  high, 
a  foot  wide  on  the  inside,  and  one  foot  two  digits  long  ;  at  a  point  five  digits 
above  the  hearth — which  is  usually  the  thickness  of  an  unbaked2  brick— 
an  iron  plate  is  laid,  and  smeared  over  with  lute  on  the  upper  side  to  prevent 
it  from  being  injured  by  the  fire  ;  in  front  of  the  furnace  above  the  plate  is  a 
mouth  a  palm  high,  five  digits  wide,  and  rounded  at  the  top.  The  iron  plate 


A — OPENINGS  IN  THE  PLATE.     B — PART  OF  PLATE  WHICH  PROJECTS  BEYOND  THE  FURNACE. 

has  three  openings  which  are  one  digit  wide  and  three  digits  long,  one  is  at 
each  side  and  the  third  at  the  back  ;  through  them  sometimes  the  ash  falls 
from  the  burning  charcoal,  and  sometimes  the  draught  blows  through  the 
chamber  which  is  below  the  iron  plate,  and  stimulates  the  fire.  For  this 
reason  this  furnace  when  used  by  metallurgists  is  named  from  assaying,  but 
when  used  by  the  alchemists  it  is  named  from  the  wind3.  The  part  of  the 
iron  plate  which  projects  from  the  furnace  is  generally  three-quarters  of  a 

aCrudorum, — unbaked  ? 

8This  reference  is  not  very  clear.     Apparently  the  names  refer  to  the  German  terr 
probier  ofen  and  windt  ofen. 


BOOK    VII. 


225 


palm  long  and  a  palm  wide  ;  small  pieces  of  charcoal,  after  being  laid  thereon, 
can  be  placed  quickly  in  the  furnace  through  its  mouth  with  a  pair  of  tongs, 
or  again,  if  necessary,  can  be  taken  out  of  the  furnace  and  laid  there. 

The  iron  assay  furnace  is  made  of  four  iron  bars  a  foot  and  a  half  high, 
which  at  the  bottom  are  bent  outward  and  broadened  a  short  distance  to  enable 
them  to  stand  more  firmly  ;  the  front  part  of  the  furnace  is  made  from  two 
of  these  bars,  and  the  back  part  from  two  of  them  ;  to  these  bars  on  both 
sides  are  joined  and  welded  three  iron  cross-bars,  the  first  at  a  height  of  a  palm 
from  the  bottom,  the  second  at  a  height  of  a  foot,  and  the  third  at  the  top. 
The  upright  bars  are  perforated  at  that  point  where  the  side  cross-bars  are 
joined  to  them,  in  order  that  three  similar  iron  bars  on  the  remaining  sides 
can  be  engaged  in  them  ;  thus  there  are  twelve  cross-bars,  which  make 
three  stages  at  unequal  intervals.  At  the  lower  stage,  the  upright  bars  are 
distant  from  each  other  one  foot  and  five  digits ;  and  at  the  middle  stage  the 
front  is  distant  from  the  back  three  palms  and  one  digit,  and  the  sides  are 
distant  from  each  other  three  palms  and  as  many  digits ;  at  the  highest  stage 
from  the  front  to  the  back  there  is  a  distance  of  two  palms,  and  between  the 
sides  three  palms,  so  that  in  this  way  the  furnace  becomes  narrower  at  the 
top.  Furthermore,  an  iron  rod,  bent  to  the  shape  of  the  mouth,  is  set  into 
the  lowest  bar  of  the  front ;  this  mouth,  just  like  that  of  the  brick  furnace, 
is  a  palm  high  and  five  digits  wide.  Then  the  front  cross-bar  of  the  lower 
stage  is  perforated  on  each  side  of  the  mouth,  and  likewise  the  back  one  ; 
through  these  perforations  there  pass  two  iron  rods,  thus  making  altogether 
four  bars  in  the  lower  stage,  and  these  support  an  iron  plate  smeared  with 
lute  ;  part  of  this  plate  also  projects  outside  the  furnace.  The  outside  of 
the  furnace  from  the  lower  stage  to  the  upper,  is  covered  with  iron  plates, 
which  are  bound  to  the  bars  by  iron  wires,  and  smeared  with  lute  to  enable 
them  to  bear  the  heat  of  the  fire  as  long  as  possible. 

As  for  the  clay  furnace,  it  must  be  made  of  fat,  thick  clay,  medium  so 
far  as  relates  to  its  softness  or  hardness.  This  furnace  has  exactly  the  same 
height  as  the  iron  one,  and  its  base  is  made  of  two  earthenware  tiles,  one 
foot  and  three  palms  long  and  one  foot  and  one  palm  wide.  Each  side  of  the 
fore  part  of  both  tiles  is  gradually  cut  away  for  the  length  of  a  palm,  so 
that  they  are  half  a  foot  and  a  digit  wide,  which  part  projects  from  the 
furnace  ;  the  tiles  are  about  a  digit  and  a  half  thick.  The  walls  are  similarly 
of  clay,  and  are  set  on  the  lower  tiles  at  a  distance  of  a  digit  from  the  edge, 
and  support  the  upper  tiles  ;  the  walls  are  three  digits  high  and  have  four 
openings,  each  of  which  is  about  three  digits  high  ;  those  of  the  back  part  and 
of  each  side  are  five  digits  wide,  and  of  the  front,  a  palm  and  a  half  wide,  to 
enable  the  freshly  made  cupels  to  be  conveniently  placed  on  the  hearth,  when 
it  has  been  thoroughly  wanned,  that  they  may  be  dried  there.  Both  tiles 
are  bound  on  the  outer  edge  with  iron  wire,  pressed  into  them,  so  that  they 
will  be  less  easily  broken ;  and  the  tiles,  not  unlike  the  iron  bed-plate,  have 
three  openings  three  digits  long  and  a  digit  wide,  in  order  that  when  the  upper 
one  on  account  of  the  heat  of  the  fire  or  for  some  other  reason  has  become 
damaged,  the  lower  one  may  be  exchanged  and  take  its  place.  Through  these 


226  BOOK     VII. 

holes,  the  ashes  from  the  burning  charcoal,  as  I  have  stated,  fall  down,  and 
air  blows  into  the  furnace  after  passing  through  the  openings  in  the  walls  of 
the  chamber.  The  furnace  is  rectangular,  and  inside  at  the  lower  part  it  is 
three  palms  and  one  digit  wide  and  three  palms  and  as  many  digits  long.  At 
the  upper  part  it  is  two  palms  and  three  digits  wide,  so  that  it  also  grows 
narrower  ;  it  is  one  foot  high  ;  in  the  middle  of  the  back  it  is  cut  out  at 
the  bottom  in  the  shape  of  a  semicircle,  of  half  a  digit  radius.  Not 
unlike  the  furnace  before  described,  it  has  in  its  forepart  a  mouth  which  is 
rounded  at  the  top,  one  palm  high  and  a  palm  and  a  digit  wide.  Its  door 
is  also  made  of  clay,  and  this  has  a  window  and  a  handle  ;  even  the  lid 
of  the  furnace  which  is  made  of  clay  has  its  own  handle,  fastened  on  with  iron 
wire.  The  outer  parts  and  sides  of  this  furnace  are  bound  with  iron  wires, 
which  are  usually  pressed  in,  in  the  shape  of  triangles.  The  brick  furnaces 
must  remain  stationary  ;  the  clay  and  iron  ones  can  be  carried  from  one 
place  to  another.  Those  of  brick  can  be  prepared  more  quickly,  while  those 
of  iron  are  more  lasting,  and  those  of  clay  are  more  suitable.  Assay ers 
also  make  temporary  furnaces  in  another  way  ;  they  stand  three  bricks 
on  a  hearth,  one  on  each  side  and  a  third  one  at  the  back,  the  fore-part  lies 
open  to  the  draught,  and  on  these  bricks  is  placed  an  iron  plate,  upon  which 
they  again  stand  three  bricks,  which  hold  and  retain  the  charcoal. 

The  setting  of  one  furnace  differs  from  another,  in  that  some  are  placed 
higher  and  others  lower  ;  that  one  is  placed  higher,  in  which  the  man  who  is 
assaying  the  ore  or  metals  introduces  the  scorifier  through  the  mouth  with  the 
tongs ;  that  one  is  placed  lower,  into  which  he  introduces  the  crucible 
through  its  open  top. 

In  some  cases  the  assay er  uses  an  iron  hoop4  in  place  of  a  furnace  ; 
this  is  placed  upon  the  hearth  of  a  chimney,  the  lower  edge  being  daubed 
with  lute  to  prevent  the  blast  of  the  bellows  from  escaping  under  it. 
If  the  blast  is  given  slowly,  the  ore  will  be  smelted  and  the  copper  will  melt  in 
the  triangular  crucible,  which  is  placed  in  it  and  taken  away  again  with  the 
tongs.  The  hoop  is  two  palms  high  and  half  a  digit  thick  ;  its  diameter  is 
generally  one  foot  and  one  palm,  and  where  the  blast  from  the  bellows  enters 
into  it,  it  is  notched  out.  The  bellows  is  a  double  one,  such  as  goldworkers 
use,  and  sometimes  smiths.  In  the  middle  of  the  bellows  there  is  a  board  in 
which  there  is  an  air-hole,  five  digits  wide  and  seven  long,  covered  by  a 
little  flap  which  is  fastened  over  the  air-hole  on  the  lower  side  of  the  board  ; 
this  flap  is  of  equal  length  and  width.  The  bellows,  without  its  head,  is 
three  feet  long,  and  at  the  back  is  one  foot  and  one  palm  wide  and 
somewhat  rounded,  and  it  is  three  palms  wide  at  the  head  ;  the  head  itself 
is  three  palms  long  and  two  palms  and  a  digit  wide  at  the  part  where  it  joins 
the  boards,  then  it  gradually  becomes  narrower.  The  nozzle,  of  which  there 
is  only  one,  is  one  foot  and  two  digits  long  ;  this  nozzle,  and  one-half  of  the 
head  in  which  the  nozzle  is  fixed,  are  placed  in  an  opening  of  the  wall,  this 
being  one  foot  and  one  palm  thick  ;  it  reaches  only  to  the  iron  hoop  on  the 

*Circulu$.    This  term  does  not  offer  a  very  satisfactory  equivalent,  as  such  a  furnace 
has  no  distinctive  name  in  English.     It  is  obviously  a  sort  of  forge  for  fusing  in  crucibles. 


BOOK    VII. 


227 


hearth,  for  it  does  not  project  beyond  the  wall.  The  hide  of  the  bellows  is 
fixed  to  the  bellows-boards  with  its  own  peculiar  kind  of  iron  nails.  It  joins 
both  bellows-boards  to  the  head,  and  over  it  there  are  cross  strips  of 
hide  fixed  to  the  bellows-boards  with  broad-headed  nails,  and  similarly 
fixed  to  the  head.  The  middle  board  of  the  bellows  rests  on  an  iron  bar, 
to  which  it  is  fastened  with  iron  nails  clinched  on  both  ends,  so  that  it  cannot 
move  ;  the  iron  bar  is  fixed  between  two  upright  posts,  through  which  it 
penetrates.  Higher  up  on  these  upright  posts  there  is  a  wooden  axle,  with 
iron  journals  which  revolve  in  the  holes  in  the  posts.  In  the  middle  of 
this  axle  there  is  mortised  a  lever,  fixed  with  iron  nails  to  prevent  it  from 
flying  out  ;  the  lever  is  five  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  its  posterior  end  is 
engaged  in  the  iron  ring  of  an  iron  rod  which  reaches  to  the  "  tail "  of  the 
lowest  bellows-board,  and  there  engages  another  similar  ring.  And  so  when 
the  workman  pulls  down  the  lever,  the  lower  part  of  the  bellows  is  raised  and 
drives  the  wind  into  the  nozzle  ;  then  the  wind,  penetrating  through  the  hole 
in  the  middle  bellows-board,  which  is  called  the  air-hole,  lifts  up  the  upper 
part  of  the  bellows,  upon  whose  upper  board  is  a  piece  of  lead,  heavy  enough 
to  press  down  that  part  of  the  bellows  again,  and  this  being  pressed  down 
blows  a  blast  through  the  nozzle.  This  is  the  principle  of  the  double  bellows, 
which  is  peculiar  to  the  iron  hoop  where  are  placed  the  triangular  crucibles  in 
which  copper  ore  is  smelted  and  copper  is  melted. 


A — IRON  HOOP.     B — DOUBLE  BELLOWS.     C — ITS  NOZZLE.     D — LEVER. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  furnaces  and  the  iron  hoop  ;  I  will  now  speak  of 
the  muffles  and  the  crucibles.  The  muffle  is  made  of  clay,  in  the  shape 
of  an  inverted  gutter  tile  ;  it  covers  the  scorifiers,  lest  coal  dust  fall  into 
them  and  interfere  with  the  assay.  It  is  a  palm  and  a  half  broad,  and  the 
height,  which  corresponds  with  the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  is  generally  a  palm, 


228 


BOOK    VII. 


and  it  is  nearly  as  long  as  the  furnace  ;  only  at  the  front  end  does  it  touch 
the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  everywhere  else  on  the  sides  and  at  the  back 
there  is  a  space  of  three  digits,  to  allow  the  charcoal  to  lie  in  the  open  space 
between  it  and  the  furnace.  The  muffle  is  as  thick  as  a  fairly  thick  earthen 
jar ;  its  upper  part  is  entire  ;  the  back  has  two  little  windows,  and  each  side 
has  two  or  three  or  even  four,  through  which  the  heat  passes  into  the  scorifiers 
and  melts  the  ore.  In  place  of  little  windows,  some  muffles  have  small  holes, 
ten  in  the  back  and  more  on  each  side.  Moreover,  in  the  back  below  the 
little  windows,  or  small  holes,  there  are  cut  away  three  semi-circular  notches 
half  a  digit  high,  and  on  each  side  there  are  four.  The  back  of  the  muffle 
is  generally  a  little  lower  than  the  front. 


A — BROAD  LITTLE  WINDOWS  OF  MUFFLE.      B — NARROW  ONES.      C — OPENINGS  IN  THE 

BACK   THEREOF. 

The  crucibles  differ  in  the  materials  from  which  they  are  made,  because 
they  are  made  of  either  clay  or  ashes ;  and  those  of  clay,  which  we  also  call 
"  earthen,"  differ  in  shape  and  size.  Some  are  made  in  the  shape  of  a  mod- 
erately thick  salver  (scorifiers),  three  digits  wide,  and  of  a  capacity  of  an 
uncia  measure ;  in  these  the  ore  mixed  with  fluxes  is  melted,  and  they  are  used 
by  those  who  assay  gold  or  silver  ore.  Some  are  triangular  and  much 
thicker  and  more  capacious,  holding  five,  or  six,  or  even  more  unciae  ;  in 
these  copper  is  melted,  so  that  it  can  be  poured  out,  expanded,  and  tested 
with  fire,  and  in  these  copper  ore  is  usually  melted. 

The  cupels  are  made  of  ashes  ;  like  the  preceding  scorifiers  they  are 
tray-shaped,  and  their  lower  part  is  very  thick  but  their  capacity  is  less. 
In  these  lead  is  separated  from  silver,  and  by  them  assays  are  concluded. 
Inasmuch  as  the  assayers  themselves  make  the  cupels,  something  must 
be  said  about  the  material  from  which  they  are  made,  and  the  method 
of  making  them.  Some  make  them  out  of  all  kinds  of  ordinary  ashes  ;  these 
are  not  good,  because  ashes  of  this  kind  contain  a  certain  amount  of  fat, 
whereby  such  cupels  are  easily  broken  when  they  are  hot.  Others  make 
them  likewise  out  of  any  kind  of  ashes  which  have  been  previously 
leached  ;  of  this  kind  are  the  ashes  into  which  warm  water  has  been  infused 
for  the  purpose  of  making  lye.  These  ashes,  after  being  dried  in  the  sun  or 
a  furnace,  are  sifted  in  a  hair  sieve ;  and  although  warm  water  washes  away  the 


BOOK    VII. 


229 


B  —  TRIANGULAR  CRUCIBLE.    C  —  CUPEL. 


iat  from  the  ashes,  still  the  cupels  which  are  made  from  such  ashes  are  not 
very  good  because  they  often  contain  charcoal  dust,  sand,  and  pebbles. 
Some  make  them  in  the  same  way  out  of  any  kind  of  ashes,  but  first  of  all 
pour  water  into  the  ashes  and  remove  the  scum  which  floats  thereon  ;  then, 
after  it  has  become  clear,  they  pour  away  the  water,  and  dry  the  ashes  ;  they 
then  sift  them  and  make  the  cupels  from  them.  These,  indeed,  are  good, 
but  not  of  the  best  quality,  because  ashes  of  this  kind  are  also  not  devoid  of 
small  pebbles  and  sand.  To  enable  cupels  of  the  best  quality  to  be  made,  all 
the  impurities  must  be  removed  from  the  ashes.  These  impurities  are  of 
two  kinds  ;  the  one  sort  light,  to  which  class  belong  charcoal  dust  and  fatty 
material  and  other  things  which  float  in  water,  the  other  sort  heavy,  such 
as  small  stones,  fine  sand,  and  any  other  materials  which  settle  in  the 
bottom  of  a  vessel.  Therefore,  first  of  all,  water  should  be  poured  into  the 
ashes  and  the  light  impurities  removed  ;  then  the  ashes  should  be 
kneaded  with  the  hands,  so  that  they  will  become  properly  mixed  with 
the  water.  When  the  water  has  become  muddy  and  turbid,  it  should  be 
poured  into  a  second  vessel.  In  this  way  the  small  stones  and  fine  sand,  or 
any  other  heavy  substance  which  may  be  there,  remain  in  the  first  vessel, 
and  should  be  thrown  away.  When  all  the  ashes  have  settled  in  this  second 
vessel,  which  will  be  shown  if  the  water  has  become  clear  and  does  not  taste 
of  the  flavour  of  lye,  the  water  should  be  thrown  away,  and  the  ashes 
which  have  settled  in  the  vessel  should  be  dried  in  the  sun  or  in  a  furnace. 
This  material  is  suitable  for  the  cupels,  especially  if  it  is  the  ash  of  beech 
wood  or  other  wood  which  has  a  small  annual  growth  ;  those  ashes  made 
from  twigs  and  limbs  of  vines,  which  have  rapid  annual  growth,  are  not  so 


230  BOOK     VII. 

good,  for  the  cupels  made  from  them,  since  they  are  not  sufficiently  dry, 
frequently  crack  and  break  in  the  fire  and  absorb  the  metals.  If  ashes  of 
beech  or  similar  wood  are  not  to  be  had,  the  assayer  makes  little  balls  of  such 
ashes  as  he  can  get,  after  they  have  been  cleared  of  impurities  in  the  manner 
before  described,  and  puts  them  in  a  baker's  or  potter's  oven  to  burn,  and  from 
these  the  cupels  are  made,  because  the  fire  consumes  whatever  fat  or  damp 
there  may  be.  As  to  all  kinds  of  ashes,  the  older  they  are  the  better,  for  it  is 
necessary  that  they  should  have  the  greatest  possible  dryness.  For  this 
reason  ashes  obtained  from  burned  bones,  especially  from  the  bones  of  the 
heads  of  animals,  are  the  most  suitable  for  cupels,  as  are  also  those  ashes 
obtained  from  the  horns  of  deer  and  the  spines  of  fishes.  Lastly,  some  take  the 
ashes  which  are  obtained  from  burnt  scrapings  of  leather,  when  the  tanners 
scrape  the  hides  to  clear  them  from  hair.  Some  prefer  to  use  compounds, 
that  one  being  recommended  which  has  one  and  a  half  parts  of  ashes  from  the 
bones  of  animals  or  the  spines  of  fishes,  and  one  part  of  beech  ashes,  and  half  a 
part  of  ashes  of  burnt  hide  scrapings.  From  this  mixture  good  cupels  are 
made,  though  far  better  ones  are  obtained  from  equal  portions  of  ashes  of 
burnt  hide  scrapings,  ashes  of  the  bones  of  heads  of  sheep  and  calves,  and 
ashes  of  deer  horns.  But  the  best  of  all  are  produced  from  deer  horns  alone, 
burnt  to  powder  ;  this  kind,  by  reason  of  its  extreme  dryness,  absorbs  metals 
least  of  all.  Assayers  of  our  own  day,  however,  generally  make  the 
cupels  from  beech  ashes.  These  ashes,  after  being  prepared  in  the 
manner  just  described,  are  first  of  all  sprinkled  with  beer  or  water,  to  make 
them  stick  together,  and  are  then  ground  in  a  small  mortar.  They  are  ground 
again  after  being  mixed  with  the  ashes  obtained  from  the  skulls  of  beasts  or  from 
the  spines  of  fishes  ;  the  more  the  ashes  are  ground  the  better  they  are. 
Some  rub  bricks  and  sprinkle  the  dust  so  obtained,  after  sifting  it,  into  the 
beech  ashes,  for  dust  of  this  kind  does  not  allow  the  hearth-lead  to  absorb 
the  gold  or  silver  by  eating  away  the  cupels.  Others,  to  guard  against  the 
same  thing,  moisten  the  cupels  with  white  of  egg  after  they  have  been  made, 
and  when  they  have  been  dried  in  the  sun,  again  crush  them  ;  especially  if  they 
want  to  assay  in  it  an  ore  or  copper  which  contains  iron.  Some  moisten  the 
ashes  again  and  again  with  cow's  milk,  and  dry  them,  and  grind  them  in  a 
small  mortar,  and  then  mould  the  cupels.  In  the  works  in  which  silver 
is  separated  from  copper,  they  make  cupels  from  two  parts  of  the  ashes  of 
the  crucible  of  the  cupellation  furnace,  for  these  ashes  are  very  dry,  and  from 
one  part  of  bone-ash.  Cupels  which  have  been  made  in  these  ways  also 
need  to  be  placed  in  the  sun  or  in  a  furnace  ;  afterward,  in  whatever  way 
they  have  been  made,  they  must  be  kept  a  long  time  in  dry  places,  for  the 
older  they  are,  the  dryer  and  better  they  are. 

Not  only  potters,  but  also  the  assayers  themselves,  make  scorifiers 
and  triangular  crucibles.  They  make  them  out  of  fatty  clay,  which  is 
dry5,  and  neither  hard  nor  soft.  With  this  clay  they  mix  the  dust  of  old 
broken  crucibles,  or  of  burnt  and  worn  bricks  ;  then  they  knead  with  a 
pestle  the  clay  thus  mixed  with  dust,  and  then  dry  it.  As  to  these  crucibles, 
, — "Dry."  This  term  is  used  in  centra-distinction  to  pingue,  unctuous  or  "fatty." 


BOOK     VII. 


231 


the  older  they  are,  the  dryer  and  better  they  are.  The  moulds  in  which  the 
cupels  are  moulded  are  of  two  kinds,  that  is,  a  smaller  size  and  a  larger  size. 
In  the  smaller  ones  are  made  the  cupels  in  which  silver  or  gold  is  purged 
from  the  lead  which  has  absorbed  it  ;  in  the  larger  ones  are  made  cupels  in 
which  silver  is  separated  from  copper  and  lead.  Both  moulds  are  made  out 
of  brass  and  have  no  bottom,  in  order  that  the  cupels  can  be  taken  out  of 
them  whole.  The  pestles  also  are  of  two  kinds,  smaller  and  larger,  each 
likewise  of  brass,  and  from  the  lower  end  of  them  there  projects  a  round 
knob,  and  this  alone  is  pressed  into  the  mould  and  makes  the  hollow  part  of 
the  cupel.  The  part  which  is  next  to  the  knob  corresponds  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  mould. 


A — LITTLE   MOULD.    B — INVERTED   MOULD.     C — PESTLE.     D — ITS   KNOB.     E — SECOND 

PESTLE. 

So  much  for  these  matters.  I  will  now  speak  of  the  preparation  of  the 
ore  for  assaying.  It  is  prepared  by  roasting,  burning,  crushing,  and  wash- 
ing. It  is  necessary  to  take  a  fixed  weight  of  ore  in  order  that  one  may 
determine  how  great  a  portion  of  it  these  preparations  consume.  The 
hard  stone  containing  the  metal  is  burned  in  order  that,  when  its  hardness 
has  been  overcome,  it  can  be  crushed  and  washed ;  indeed,  the  very  hardest 
kind,  before  it  is  burned,  is  sprinkled  with  vinegar,  in  order  that  it  may  more 
rapidly  soften  in  the  fire.  The  soft  stone  should  be  broken  with  a  hammer, 
crushed  in  a  mortar  and  reduced  to  powder  ;  then  it  should  be  washed 
and  then  dried  again.  If  earth  is  mixed  with  the  mineral,  it  is  washed  in  a 
basin,  and  that  which  settles  is  assayed  in  the  fire  after  it  is  dried.  All  mining 
products  which  are  washed  must  again  be  dried.  But  ore  which  is  rich  in 
metal  is  neither  burned  nor  crushed  nor  washed,  but  is  roasted,  lest  that 
method  of  preparation  should  lose  some  of  the  metal.  When  the  fires  have 


232  BOOK     VII. 

been  kindled,  this  kind  of  ore  is  roasted  in  an  enclosed  pot,  which  is  stopped 
up  with  lute.  A  less  valuable  ore  is  even  burned  on  a  hearth,  being  placed 
upon  the  charcoal ;  for  we  do  not  make  a  great  expenditure  upon  metals,  if 
they  are  not  worth  it.  However,  I  will  go  into  fuller  details  as  to  all  these 
methods  of  preparing  ore,  both  a  little  later,  and  in  the  following  Book. 

For  the  present,  I  have  decided  to  explain  those  things  which  mining 
people  usually  call  fluxes6  because  they  are  added  to  ores,  not  only  for 
assaying,  but  also  for  smelting.  Great  power  is  discovered  in  all  these  fluxes, 
but  we  do  not  see  the  same  effects  produced  in  every  case  ;  and  some  are  of  a 
very  complicated  nature.  For  when  they  have  been  mixed  with  the  ore 
and  are  melted  in  either  the  assay  or  the  smelting  furnace,  some  of  them, 
because  they  melt  easily,  to  some  extent  melt  the  ore  ;  others,  because  they 
either  make  the  ore  very  hot  or  penetrate  into  it,  greatly  assist  the  fire  in 
separating  the  impurities  from  the  metals,  and  they  also  mix  the  fused  part 
with  the  lead,  or  they  partly  protect  from  the  fire  the  ore  whose  metal  contents 
would  be  either  consumed  in  the  fire,  or  carried  up  with  the  fumes  and  fly  out 
of  the  furnace  ;  some  fluxes  absorb  the  metals.  To  the  first  order  be- 
longs lead,  whether  it  be  reduced  to  little  granules  or  resolved  into  ash  by 
fire,  or  red-lead7,  or  ochre  made  from  lead8,  or  litharge,  or  hearth-lead,  or 

*Additamenta, — "  Additions."     Hence  the  play  on  words. 

We  have  adopted  "  flux  "  because  the  old  English  equivalent  for  all  these  materials 
was  "  flux,"  although  in  modern  nomenclature  the  term  is  generally  restricted  to  those 
substances  which,  by  chemical  combination  in  the  furnace,  lower  the  melting  point  of  some 
of  the  charge.  The  "  additions "  of  Agricola,  therefore,  include  reducing,  oxidizing, 
sulphurizing,  desulphurizing,  and  collecting  agents  as  well  as  fluxes.  A  critical  examina- 
tion of  the  fluxes  mentioned  in  the  next  four  pages  gives  point  to  the  Author's  assertion  that 
"  some  are  of  a  very  complicated  nature."  However,  anyone  of  experience  with  home- 
taught  assayers  has  come  in  contact  with  equally  extraordinary  combinations.  The  four 
orders  of  "  additions  "  enumerated  are  quite  impossible  to  reconcile  from  a  modern  metal- 
lurgical point  of  view. 

''Minium  secundarium.  (Interpretatio, — menning.  Pb3<D4).  Agricola  derived  his  Latin 
term  from  Pliny.  There  is  great  confusion  in  the  ancient  writers  on  the  use  of  the  word 
minium,  for  prior  to  the  Middle  Ages  it  was  usually  applied  to  vermilion  derived  from 
cinnabar.  Vermilion  was  much  adulterated  with  red-lead,  even  in  Roman  times,  and  finally 
in  later  centuries  the  name  came  to  be  appropriated  to  the  lead  product.  Theophrastus 
(103)  mentions  a  substitute  for  vermilion,  but,  in  spite  of  commentators,  there  is  no 
evidence  that  it  was  red-lead.  The  first  to  describe  the  manufacture  of  real  red-lead  was 
apparently  Vitruvius  (VII,  12),  who  calls  it  sandaraca  (this  name  was  usually  applied  to  red 
arsenical  sulphide),  and  says  :  "  White-lead  is  heated  in  a  furnace  and  by  the  force  of  the 
"  fire  becomes  red  lead.  This  invention  was  the  result  of  observation  in  the  case  of  an 
"  accidental  fire,  and  by  the  process  a  much  better  material  is  obtained  than  from  the  mines." 
He  describes  minium  as  the  product  from  cinnabar.  Dioscorides  (v,  63),  after  discussing 
white -lead,  says  it  may  be  burned  until  it  becomes  the  colour  of  sandaracha,  and  is  called 
sandyx.  He  also  states  (v,  69)  that  those  are  deceived  who  consider  cinnabar  to  be  the 
same  as  minium,  for  minium  is  made  in  Spain  out  of  stone  mixed  with  silver  sands.  There- 
fore he  is  not  in  agreement  with  Vitruvius  and  Pliny  on  the  use  of  the  term.  Pliny 
(xxxin,  40)  says  :  "  These  barren  stones  (apparently  lead  ores  barren  of  silver)  may  be 
"  recognised  by  their  colour ;  it  is  only  in  the  furnace  that  they  turn  red.  After  being 
"  roasted  it  is  pulverized  and  is  minium  secundarium.  It  is  known  to  few  and  is  very 
"  inferior  to  the  natural  kind  made  from  those  sands  we  have  mentioned  (cinnabar).  It  is 
"  with  this  that  the  genuine  minium  is  adulterated  in  the  works  of  the  Company."  This 
proprietary  company  who  held  a  monopoly  of  the  Spanish  quicksilver  mines,  "  had  many 
"  methods  of  adulterating  it  (minium) — a  source  of  great  plunder  to  the  Company." 
Pliny  also  describes  the  making  of  red  lead  from  white. 

*0chra  plumbaria,  (Interpretatio, — pleigeel ;  modern  German, — Bleigelb).  The  German 
term  indicates  that  this  "  Lead  Ochre,"  a  form  of  PbO,  is  what  in  the  English  trade  is 
known  as  massicot,  or  masticot.  This  material  can  be  a  partial  product  from  almost  any 
cupellation  where  oxidation  takes  place  below  the  melting  point  of  the  oxide.  It  may 
have  been  known  to  the  Ancients  among  the  various  species  into  which  they  divided 


BOOK    VII.  233 

galena ;  also  copper,  the  same  either  roasted  or  in  leaves  or  filings9 ;  also  the 
slags  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead  ;  also  soda10,  its  slags,  saltpetre,  burned 
alum,  vitriol,  sal  tostus,  and  melted  salt11 ;  stones  which  easily  melt 
in  hot  furnaces,  the  sand  which  is  made  from  them12 ;  soft  tophus13, 

litharge,  but  there  is  no  valid  reason  for  assigning  to  it  any  special  one  of  their  terms,  so  far 
as  we  can  see. 

•There  are  four  forms  of  copper  named  as  re-agents  by  Agricola : 
Copper  filings  Aeris  scobs  elimata. 

Copper  scales       —     Aeris  squamae. 
Copper  flowers     —     Aeris  flos. 
Roasted  copper   -       Aes  ustum. 

The  first  of  these  was  no  doubt  finely  divided  copper  metal ;    the  second,  third,  and 

fourth  were  probably  all  cupric  oxide.     According  to  Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  352),  the 

scales  were  the  result  of  hammering  the  metal  ;    the  flowers  came  off  the  metal  when  hot  bars 

were  quenched  in  water,  and  a  third  kind  were  obtained  from  calcining  the  metal.     "  Both 

flowers  (flos)  and  hammer-scales  (squama)  have    the   same    properties  as  crematum   copper. 

"  .     .     .     The  particles  of  flower  copper  are  finer  than  scales  or  crematum  copper."     If  we 

assume  that  the  verb  uro  used  in  De  Re  Metallica  is  of  the  same  import  as  cremo  in  the  De 

Natura  Fossilium,  we  can  accept  this  material  as  being  merely  cupric  oxide,  but  the  aes 

ustum  of  Pliny — Agricola's  usual  source  of  technical  nomenclature — is  probably  an  artificial 

sulphide.      Dioscorides  (v,  47),  who  is  apparently  the  source  of  Pliny's  information,  says  : — 

''  Of  chalcos  cecaumenos,  the  best  is  red,  and  pulverized  resembles  the  colour  of    cinnabar  ; 

'  if  it  turns  black,  it  is  over-burnt.       It  is  made  from  broken  ship  nails  put  into  a  rough 

'  earthen  pot,  with  alternate  layers  of  equal  parts  of  sulphur  and  salt.     The  opening  should 

'  be  smeared  with  potter's  clay  and  the  pot  put  in  the  furnace  until  it  is  thoroughly  heated," 

etc.       Pliny    (xxxiv,  23)    states  :    "  Moreover    Cyprian    copper   is  roasted  in  crude  earthen 

'  pots  with  an  equal  amount  of  sulphur  ;  the  apertures  of  the  pots  are  well  luted,  and  they 

'  are  kept  in  the  furnace  until  the  pot  is  thoroughly  heated.     Some  add  salt,  others  use 

'  alumen  instead  of  sulphur,  others  add  nothing,  but  only  sprinkle  it  with  vinegar." 

10The  reader  is  referred  to  note  6,  p.  558,  for  more  ample  discussion  of  the  alkalis. 
Agricola  gives  in  this  chapter  four  substances  of  that  character  : 

Soda  (nitrum).        Lye.         "  Ashes  which  wool-dyers  use." 

"  Salt  made  from  the  ashes  of  musk  ivy." 

The  last  three  are  certainly  potash,  probably  impure.  While  the  first  might  be  either 
potash  or  soda,  the  fact  that  the  last  three  are  mentioned  separately,  together  with  other 
evidence,  convinces  us  that  by  the  first  is  intended  the  nitrum  so  generally  imported  into 
Europe  from  Egypt  during  the  Middle  Ages.  This  imported  salt  was  certainly  the  natural 
bicarbonate,  and  we  have,  therefore,  used  the  term  "soda." 

uln  this  chapter  are  mentioned  seven  kinds  of  common  salt : 

Salt  —     Sal. 

Rock  salt  Sal  fossilis. 

"  Made  "  salt  —     Sal  factictius. 

Refined  salt     —     Sal  purgatius. 

Melted  salt       —     Sal  liquefactus. 

And  in  addition  sal  tostus  and  sal  torrefactus.  Sal  facticius  is  used  in  distinction  from  rock- 
salt.  The  melted  salt  would  apparently  be  salt-glass.  What  form  the  sal  tostus  and  sal 
torrefactus  could  have  we  cannot  say,  however,  but  they  were  possibly  some  form  of  heated 
salt  ;  they  may  have  been  combinations  after  the  order  of  sal  artificiosus  (see  p.  236). 

12  "Stones  which  easily  melt  in  hot  furnaces  and  sand  which  is  made  from  them" 
(lapides  qui  in  ardentibus  fornacibus  facile  liquescunt  arenae  ab  eis  resolutae).  These  were 
probably  quartz  in  this  instance,  although  fluorspar  is  also  included  in  this  same  genus.  For 
fuller  discussion  see  note  on  p.  380. 

uTophus.  (Interpretatio ;  Toffstein  oder  topslein).  According  to  Dana  (Syst.  of 
Min.,  p.  678),  the  German  topfstein  was  English  potstone  or  soapstone,  a  magnesian  silicate. 
It  is  scarcely  possible,  however,  that  this  is  what  Agricola  meant  by  this  term,  for  such  a 
substance  would  be  highly  infusible.  Agricola  has  a  good  deal  to  say  about  this  mineral  in 
De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  189  and  313),  and  from  these  descriptions  it  would  seem  to  be  a 
tufaceous  limestone  of  various  sorts,  embracing  some  marls,  stalagmites,  calcareous  sinter, 
etc.  He  states  :  "  Generally  fire  does  not  melt  it,  but  makes  it  harder  and  breaks  it  into 
"  powder.  Tophus  is  said  to  be  a  stone  found  in  caverns,  made  from  the  dripping  of  stone 
"  juice  solidified  by  cold  ....  sometimes  it  is  found  containing  many  shells,  and 
"  likewise  the  impressions  of  alder  leaves ;  our  people  make  lime  by  burning  it."  Pliny, 
upon  whom  Agricola  depends  largely  for  his  nomenclature,  mentions  such  a  substance 
(xxxvi,  48)  :  "  Among  the  multitude  of  stones  there  is  tophus.  It  is  unsuitable  for 


234  BOOK     VII. 

and  a  certain  white  schist14.  But  lead,  its  ashes,  red-lead,  ochre,  and 
litharge,  are  more  efficacious  for  ores  which  melt  easily  ;  hearth-lead  for 
those  which  melt  with  difficulty  ;  and  galena  for  those  which  melt  with 
greater  difficulty.  To  the  second  order  belong  iron  filings,  their  slag,  sal 
artificiosus,  argol,  dried  lees  of  vinegar15,  and  the  lees  of  the  aqua  which  separates 
gold  from  silver16  ;  these  lees  and  sal  artificiosus  have  the  power  of  penetrating 
into  ore,  the  argol  to  a  considerable  degree,  the  lees  of  vinegar  to  a  greater 
degree,  but  most  of  all  those  of  the  aqua  which  separates  gold  from  silver  ; 
filings  and  slags  of  iron,  since  they  melt  more  slowly,  have  the  power  of  heat- 
ing the  ore.  To  the  third  order  belong  pyrites,  the  cakes  which  are  melted 
from  them,  soda,  its  slags,  salt,  iron,  iron  scales,  iron  filings,  iron  slags,  vitriol, 
the  sand  which  is  resolved  from  stones  which  easily  melt  in  the  fire,  and 
tophus  ;  but  first  of  all  are  pyrites  and  the  cakes  which  are  melted  from  it,  for 
they  absorb  the  metals  of  the  ore  and  guard  them  from  the  fire  which  con- 
sumes them.  To  the  fourth  order  belong  lead  and  copper,  and  their  relations. 
And  so  with  regard  to  fluxes,  it  is  manifest  that  some  are  natural,  others 
fall  in  the  category  of  slags,  and  the  rest  are  purged  from  slag.  When  we 

"  buildings,  because  it  is  perishable  and  soft.  Still,  however,  there  are  some  places  which 
"  have  no  other,  as  Carthage,  in  Africa.  It  is  eaten  away  by  the  emanations  from  the 
"  sea,  crumbled  to  dust  by  the  wind,  and  washed  away  by  the  rain."  In  fact,  tophus  was 
a  wide  genus  among  the  older  mineralogists,  Wallerius  (M 'editationes  Physico — Chemicae  De 
Origine  Mundi,  Stockholm,  1776,  p.  186),  for  instance,  gives  22  varieties.  For  the  purposes 
for  which  it  is  used  we  believe  it  was  always  limestone  of  some  form. 

ltSaxum  fissile  album.  (The  Interpretatio  gives  the  German  as  schifer)  Agricola 
mentions  it  in  Bermannus  (459),  in  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  319),  but  nothing  definite 
can  be  derived  from  these  references.  It  appears  to  us  from  its  use  to  have  been  either  a 
quartzite  or  a  fissile  limestone. 

16Argol  (Feces  vini  siccae,—"  Dried  lees  of  wine."  Germ,  trans,  gives  die  wein  heffen, 
although  the  usual  German  term  of  the  period  was  weinstein).  The  lees  of  wine  were  the 
crude  tartar  or  argols  of  commerce  and  modern  assayers.  The  argols  of  white  wine  are  white, 
while  they  are  red  from  red  wine.  The  white  argol  which  Agricola  so  often  specifies  would 
have  no  special  excellence,  unless  it  may  be  that  it  is  less  easily  adulterated.  Agricola  (De  Nat. 
Fos.,  p.  344)  uses  the  expression  "  Fex  vini  sicca  called  tartarum" — one  of  the  earliest 
appearances  of  the  latter  term  in  this  connection.  The  use  of  argol  is  very  old,  for 
Dioscorides  (ist  Century  A.D.)  not  only  describes  argol,  but  also  its  reduction  to  impure 
potash.  He  says  (v,  90)  :  "  The  lees  (tryx)  are  to  be  selected  from  old  Italian  wine  ;  if  not, 
from  other  similar  wine.  Lees  of  vinegar  are  much  stronger.  They  are  carefully  dried  and 
then  burnt.  There  are  some  who  burn  them  in  a  new  earthen  pot  on  a  large  fire  until  they 
are  thoroughly  incinerated.  Others  place  a  quantity  of  the  lees  on  live  coals  and  pursue 
the  same  method.  The  test  as  to  whether  it  is  completely  burned,  is  that  it  becomes  white 
or  blue,  and  seems  to  burn  the  tongue  when  touched.  The  method  of  burning  lees  of 
vinegar  is  the  same.  ...  It  should  be  used  fresh,  as  it  quickly  grows  stale  ;  it  should 
be  placed  in  a  vessel  in  a  secluded  place."  Pliny  (xxm,  31)  says  :  "  Following  these,  come 
the  lees  of  these  various  liquids.  The  lees  of  wine  (vini  faecibus)  are  so  powerful  as  to  be 
fatal  to  persons  on  descending  into  the  vats.  The  test  for  this  is  to  let  down  a  lamp,  which, 
if  extinguished,  indicates  the  peril.  .  .  .  Their  virtues  are  greatly  increased  by  the 
action  of  fire."  Matthioli,  commenting  on  this  passage  from  Dioscorides  in  1565,  makes 
the  following  remark  (p.  1375)  :  "  The  precipitate  of  the  wine  which  settles  in  the  casks  of 
the  winery  forms  stone-like  crusts,  and  is  called  by  the  works-people  by  the  name  tartarum." 
It  will  be  seen  above  that  these  lees  were  rendered  stronger  by  the  action  of  fire,  in  which  case 
the  tartar  was  reduced  to  potassium  carbonate.  The  weinstein  of  the  old  German  metal- 
lurgists was  often  the  material  lixiviated  from  the  incinerated  tartar. 

Dried  lees  of  vinegar  (siccae  feces  aceti ;  Interpretaltio,  die  heffe  des  essigs).  This  would 
also  be  crude  tartar.  Pliny  (xxm,  32)  says  :  "  The  lees  of  vinegar  (faex  aceti)  ;  owing  to  the 
"  more  acrid  material  are  more  aggravating  in  their  effects.  .  .  .  When  combined  with 
"  melanthium  it  heals  the  bites  of  dogs  and  crocodiles." 

16Dried  lees  of  aqua  which  separates  gold  and  silver.  (Siccae  feces  aquarum  quae  aurum 
ab  argento  secernunt.  German  translation,  Der  scheidwasser  heffe).  There  is  no  pointed 
description  in  Agricola's  works,  or  in  any  other  that  we  can  find,  as  to  what  this  material 
was.  The  "  separating  aqua  "  was  undoubtedly  nitric  acid  (see  p.  439,  Book  X).  There 


BOOK     VII. 


235 


assay  ores,  we  can  without  great  expense  add  to  them  a  small  portion  of  any 
sort  of  flux,  but  when  we  smelt  them  we  cannot  add  a  large  portion  without 
great  expense.  We  must,  therefore,  consider  how  great  the  cost  is,  to  avoid 
incurring  a  greater  expense  on  smelting  an  ore  than  the  profit  we  make  out  of 
the  metals  which  it  yields. 

The  colour  of  the  fumes  which  the  ore  emits  after  being  placed  on  a  hot 
shovel  or  an  iron  plate,  indicates  what  flux  is  needed  in  addition  to  the  lead, 
for  the  purpose  of  either  assaying  or  smelting.  If  the  fumes  have  a  purple 
tint,  it  is  best  of  all,  and  the  ore  does  not  generally  require  any  flux  whatever. 
If  the  fumes  are  blue,  there  should  be  added  cakes  melted  out  of  pyrites  or 
other  cupriferous  rock  ;  if  yellow,  litharge  and  sulphur  should  be  added ;  if 
red,  glass-galls17  and  salt ;  if  green,  then  cakes  melted  from  cupriferous  stones, 
litharge,  and  glass-galls  ;  if  the  fumes  are  black,  melted  salt  or  iron  slag, 
litharge  and  white  lime  rock.  If  they  are  white,  sulphur  and  iron  which  is 
eaten  with  rust ;  if  they  are  white  with  green  patches,  iron  slag  and 
sand  obtained  from  stones  which  easily  melt ;  if  the  middle  part  of  the 
fumes  are  yellow  and  thick,  but  the  outer  parts  green,  the  same  sand  and 
iron  slag.  The  colour  of  the  fumes  not  only  gives  us  information  as  to  the 
proper  remedies  which  should  be  applied  to  each  ore,  but  also  more  or  less 
indication  as  to  the  solidified  juices  which  are  mixed  with  it,  and  which  give 
forth  such  fumes.  Generally,  blue  fumes  signify  that  the  ore  contains  azure  ; 
yellow,  orpiment ;  red,  realgar  ;  green,  chrysocolla  ;  black,  black  bitumen  ; 
white,  tin18  ;  white  with  green  patches,  the  same  mixed  with  chrysocolla  ; 
the  middle  part  yellow  and  other  parts  green  show  that  it  contains  sulphur. 
Earth,  however,  and  other  things  dug  up  which  contain  metals,  some- 
times emit  similarly  coloured  fumes. 

If  the  ore  contains  any  stibium,  then  iron  slag  is  added  to  it ;  if  pyrites, 
then  are  added  cakes  melted  from  a  cupriferous  stone  and  sand  made  from 
stones  which  easily  melt.  If  the  ore  contains  iron,  then  pyrites  and  sulphur 
are  added  ;  for  just  as  iron  slag  is  the  flux  for  an  ore  mixed  with  sulphur,  so 
on  the  contrary,  to  a  gold  or  silver  ore  containing  iron,  from  which  they  are 

are  two  precipitates  possible,  both  referred  to  as  feces, — the  first,  a  precipitate  of  silver  chloride 
from  clarifying  the  aqua  valens,  and  the  second,  the  residues  left  in  making  the  acid  by 
distillation.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  silver  chloride  was  the  feces  referred  to  in  the  text, 
because  such  a  precipitate  would  be  obviously  misleading  when  used  as  a  flux  through  the 
addition  of  silver  to  the  assays,  too  expensive,  and  of  no  merit  for  this  purpose.  Therefore 
one  is  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  the  feces  must  have  been  the  residues  left  in  the  retorts 
when  nitric  acid  was  prepared.  It  would  have  been  more  in  keeping  with  his  usual  mode 
of  expression,  however,  to  have  referred  to  this  material  as  a  residuus.  The  materials  used 
for  making  acid  varied  greatly,  so  there  is  no  telling  what  such  a  feces  contained.  A  list 
of  possibilities  is  given  in  note  8,  p.  443.  In  the  main,  the  residue  would  be  undigested 
vitriol,  alum,  saltpetre,  salt,  etc.,  together  with  potassium,  iron,  and  alum  sulphates.  The 
Probierbuchlin  (p.  27)  also  gives  this  re-agent  under  the  term  Toden  kopff  das  ist  schlam 
oder  feces  auss  dem  scheydwasser. 

17  Recrementum  vitri.  (Interpretatio  Glassgallen).  Formerly,  when  more  impure 
materials  were  employed  than  nowadays,  the  surface  of  the  mass  in  the  first  melting 
of  glass  materials  was  covered  with  salts,  mostly  potassium  and  sodium  sulphates  and 
chlorides  which  escaped  perfect  vitrification.  This  "  slag  "  or  "  glassgallen  "  of  Agricola 
was  also  termed  sandiver. 


18The  whole  of  this  expression    is  "  eandidus,  candido." 
that  this  is  tin,  for  usually  tin  is  given  as  plumbum  candidum. 


It  is  by  no  means  certain 


236 


BOOK    VII. 


not  easily  separated,  is  added  sulphur  and  sand  made  from  stones  which 
easily  melt. 

Sal  artificiosus19  suitable  for  use  in  assaying  ore  is  made  in  many  ways. 
By  the  first  method,  equal  portions  of  argol,  lees  of  vinegar,  and  urine, 
are  all  boiled  down  together  till  turned  into  salt.  The  second  method  is  from 
equal  portions  of  the  ashes  which  wool-dyers  use,  of  lime,  of  argol  purified, 
and  of  melted  salt ;  one  libra  of  each  of  these  ingredients  is  thrown  into 
twenty  librae  of  urine  ;  then  all  are  boiled  down  to  one-third  and  strained, 
and  afterward  there  is  added  to  what  remains  one  libra  and  four  undue 
of  unmelted  salt,  eight  pounds  of  lye  being  at  the  same  time  poured  into 
the  pots,  with  litharge  smeared  around  on  the  inside,  and  the  whole  is  boiled 
till  the  salt  becomes  thoroughly  dry.  The  third  method  follows.  Unmelted 
salt,  and  iron  which  is  eaten  with  rust,  are  put  into  a  vessel,  and  after 
urine  has  been  poured  in,  it  is  covered  with  a  lid  and  put  in  a  warm  place 
for  thirty  days  ;  then  the  iron  is  washed  in  the  urine  and  taken  out,  and 
the  residue  is  boiled  until  it  is  turned  into  salt.  In  the  fourth  method  by 
which  sal  artificiosus  is  prepared,  the  lye  made  from  equal  portions  of 
lime  and  the  ashes  which  wool-dyers  use,  together  with  equal  portions  of 
salt,  soap,  white  argol,  and  saltpetre,  are  boiled  until  in  the  end  the  mix- 
ture evaporates  and  becomes  salt.  This  salt  is  mixed  with  the  concentrates 
from  washing,  to  melt  them. 

Saltpetre  is  prepared  in  the  following  manner,  in  order  that  it  may  be 
suitable  for  use  in  assaying  ore.  It  is  placed  in  a  pot  which  is  smeared  on 
the  inside  with  litharge,  and  lye  made  of  quicklime  is  repeatedly  poured  over 
it,  and  it  is  heated  until  the  fire  consumes  it.  Wherefore  the  saltpetre 
does  not  kindle  with  the  fire,  since  it  has  absorbed  the  lime  which  preserves 
it,  and  thus  it  is  prepared20. 

The  following  compositions21  are  recommended  to  smelt  all  ores  which 
the  heat  of  fire  breaks  up  or  melts  only  with  difficulty.  Of  these,  one  is  made 
from  stones  of  the  third  order,  which  easily  melt  when  thrown  into  hot 
furnaces.  They  are  crushed  into  pure  white  powder,  and  with  half  an  uncia 

l>Sal  artificiosus.    These  are  a  sort  of  stock  fluxes.     Such  mixtures  are  common  in  all 

old  assay  books,  from  the  Probierbuchlin  to  later  than  John  Cramer  in  1737  (whose  Latin 

lectures  on  Assaying  were  published  in  English  under  the  title  of  "  Elements  of  the  Art  of 

Assaying  Metals,"  London,  1741).  Cramer  observes  (p.  51)  that :    "  Artificers  compose  a 

'great  many  fluxes  with  the  above-mentioned  salts  and  with  the  reductive  ones;    nay, 

'  some  use  as  many  different  fluxes  as  there  are  different  ores  and  metals  ;  all  which,  however, 

'  we  think  needless  to  describe.     It  is  better  to  have  explained  a  few  of  the  simpler  ones, 

'  which  serve  for  all  the  others,  and  are  very  easily  prepared,  than  to  tire  the  reader  with 

'  confused  compositions  :    and   this  chiefly  because  unskilled  artificers  sometimes  attempt 

'  to  obtain  with  many  ingredients  of  the  same  nature  heaped  up  beyond  measure,  and  with 

'  much  labour,  though  not  more  properly  and  more  securely,  what  might  have  been  easily 

'  effected,  with  one  only  and  the  same  ingredient,  thus  increasing  the  number,  not  at  all 

'  the  virtue  of  the  things  employed.     Nevertheless,  if  anyone  loves  variety,  he  may,  according 

'  to  the  proportions  and  cautions  above  prescribed,  at  his  will  chuse  among  the  simpler  kinds 

'  such  as  will  best  suit  his  purpose,  and  compose  a  variety  of  fluxes  with  them." 

a°This  operation  apparently  results  in  a  coating  to  prevent  the  deflagration  of  the 
saltpetre — in  fact,  it  might  be  permitted  to  translate  inflammatur  "  deflagrate,"  instead  of 
kindle. 

"The  results  which  would  follow  from  the  use  of  these  "  fluxes  "  would  obviously 
depend  upon  the  ore  treated.  They  can  all  conceivably  be  successful.  Of  these,  the  first 
is  the  lead-glass  of  the  German  assayers — a  flux  much  emphasized  by  all  old  authorities, 


BOOK    VII.  237 

of  this  powder  there  are  mixed  two  unciae  of  yellow  litharge,  likewise  crushed. 
This  mixture  is  put  into  a  scorifier  large  enough  to  hold  it,  and  placed  under 
the  muffle  of  a  hot  furnace  ;  when  the  charge  flows  like  water,  which  occurs 
after  half  an  hour,  it  is  taken  out  of  the  furnace  and  poured  on  to  a  stone, 
and  when  it  has  hardened  it  has  the  appearance  of  glass,  and  this  is  likewise 
crushed.  This  powder  is  sprinkled  over  any  metalliferous  ore  which  does 
not  easily  melt  when  we  are  assaying  it,  and  it  causes  the  slag  to  exude. 
Others,  in  place  of  litharge,  substitute  lead  ash,22  which  is  .made  in  the 
following  way  :  sulphur  is  thrown  into  lead  which  has  been  melted  in  a 
crucible,  and  it  soon  becomes  covered  with  a  sort  of  scum ;  when  this  is 
removed,  sulphur  is  again  thrown  in,  and  the  skin  which  forms  is  again  taken 
off  ;  this  is  frequently  repeated,  in  fact  until  all  the  lead  is  turned  into 
powder.  There  is  a  powerful  flux  compound  which  is  made  from  one  uncia 
each  of  prepared  saltpetre,  melted  salt,  glass-gall,  and  argol,  and  one-third 
of  an  uncia  of  litharge  and  a  bes  of  glass  ground  to  powder ;  this  flux,  being 
added  to  an  equal  weight  of  ore,  liquefies  it.  A  more  powerful  flux  is  made  by 
placing  together  in  a  pot,  smeared  on  the  inside  with  litharge,  equal  portions 
of  white  argol,  common  salt,  and  prepared  saltpetre,  and  these  are  heated 
until  a  white  powder  is  obtained  from  them,  and  this  is  mixed  with  as  much 
litharge  ;  one  part  of  this  compound  is  mixed  with  two  parts  of  the  ore  which 
is  to  be  assayed.  A  still  more  powerful  flux  than  this  is  made  out  of  ashes 
of  black  lead,  saltpetre,  orpiment,  stibium,  and  dried  lees  of  the  aqua  with 
which  gold  workers  separate  gold  from  silver.  The  ashes  of  lead23  are  made  from 
one  pound  of  lead  and  one  pound  of  sulphur  ;  the  lead  is  flattened  out  into 
sheets  by  pounding  with  a  hammer,  and  placed  alternately  with  sulphur  in  a 
crucible  or  pot,  and  they  are  heated  together  until  the  fire  consumes  the 
sulphur  and  the  lead  turns  to  ashes.  One  libra  of  crushed  saltpetre  is  mixed 
with  one  libra  of  orpiment  similarly  ground  to  powder,  and  the  two  are  cooked 
in  an  iron  pan  until  they  liquefy  ;  they  are  then  poured  out,  and  after  cool- 
ing are  again  ground  to  powder.  A  libra  of  stibium  and  a  bes  of  the 
dried  lees  (of  what  ?)  are  placed  alternately  in  a  crucible  and  heated  to  the 
point  at  which  they  form  a  button,  which  is  similarly  reduced  to  powder. 
A  bes  of  this  powder  and  one  libra  of  the  ashes  of  lead,  as  well  as  a  libra  of 
powder  made  out  of  the  saltpetre  and  orpiment,  are  mixed  together  and  a 

including  Loehneys,  Ercker  and  Cramner,  and  used  even  yet.  The  "  powerful  flux  "  would  be  a 
reducing,  desulphurizing,  and  an  acid  flux.  The  "  more  powerful  "  would  be  a  basic  flux 
in  which  the  reducing  action  of  the  argols  would  be  largely  neutralized  by  the  nitre.  The 
"  still  more  powerful  "  would  be  a  strongly  sulphurizing  basic  flux,  while  the  "  most  powerful  " 
would  be  a  still  more  sulphurizing  flux,  but  it  is  badly  mixed  as  to  its  oxidation  and  basic 
properties.  (See  also  note  19  on  sal  arlificiosus). 

22Lead    ash    (Cinis     Plumbi.      Glossary,     Pleyasch). — This    was    obviously,    from 
the  method  of  making,  an  artificial  lead  sulphide. 

23Ashes  of  lead  (Nigri  plumbi  cinis).  This,  as  well  as  lead  ash,  was  also 
an  artificial  lead  sulphide.  Such  substances  were  highly  valued  by  the  Ancients  for  medicinal 
purposes.  Dioscorides  (v,  56)  says  :  "  Burned  lead  (Molybdos  cecaumenos)  is  made  in  this 
way :  Sprinkle  sulphur  over  some  very  thinnest  lead  plates  and  put  them  into  a  new 
earthen  pot,  add  other  layers,  putting  sulphur  between  each  layer  until  the  pot  is  full ;  set 
it  alight  and  stir  the  melted  lead  with  an  iron  rod  until  it  is  entirely  reduced  to  ashes  and 
until  none  of  the  lead  remains  unburned.  Then  take  it  off,  first  stopping  up  your  nose, 
because  the  fumes  of  burnt  lead  are  very  injurious.  Or  burn  the  lead  filings  in  a  pot  with 
sulphur  as  aforesaid."  Pliny  (xxxiv.,  50)  gives  much  the  same  directions. 


238  BOOK    VII. 

powder  is  made  from  them,  one  part  of  which  added  to  two  parts  of  ore 
liquefies  it  and  cleanses  it  of  dross.  But  the  most  powerful  flux  is  one  which 
has  two  drachmae  of  sulphur  and  as  much  glass-galls,  and  half  an  uncia  of  each  of 
the  following, — stibium,  salt  obtained  from  boiled  urine,  melted  common  salt, 
prepared  saltpetre,  litharge,  vitriol,  argol,  salt  obtained  from  ashes  of  musk  ivy, 
dried  lees  of  the  aqua  by  which  gold-workers  separate  gold  from  silver, 
alum  reduced  by  fire  to  powder,  and  one  uncia  of  camphor24  combined  with 
sulphur  and  ground  into  powder.  A  half  or  whole  portion  of  this  mixture, 
as  the  necessity  of  the  case  requires,  is  mixed  with  one  portion  of  the  ore 
and  two  portions  of  lead,  and  put  in  a  scorifier ;  it  is  sprinkled  with  powder 
of  crushed  Venetian  glass,  and  when  the  mixture  has  been  heated  for  an  hour 
and  a  half  or  two  hours,  a  button  will  settle  in  the  bottom  of  the  scorifier,  and 
from  it  the  lead  is  soon  separated. 

There  is  also  a  flux  which  separates  sulphur,  orpiment  and  realgar  from 
metalliferous  ore.  This  flux  is  composed  of  equal  portions  of  iron  slag, 
white  tophus,  and  salt.  After  these  juices  have  been  secreted,  the  ores 
themselves  are  melted,  with  argol  added  to  them.  There  is  one  flux  which 
preserves  stibium  from  the  fire,  that  the  fire  may  not  consume  it,  and 
which  preserves  the  metals  from  the  stibium  ;  and  this  is  composed  of  equal 
portions  of  sulphur,  prepared  saltpetre,  melted  salt,  and  vitriol,  heated 
together  in  lye  until  no  odour  emanates  from  the  sulphur,  which  occurs  after 
a  space  of  three  or  four  hours.25 

It  is  also  worth  while  to  substitute  certain  other  mixtures.  Take  two 
portions  of  ore  properly  prepared,  one  portion  of  iron  filings,  and  likewise 
one  portion  of  salt,  and  mix  ;  then  put  them  into  a  scorifier  and  place  them 
in  a  muffle  furnace ;  when  they  are  reduced  by  the  fire  and  run  together,  a 
button  will  settle  in  the  bottom  of  the  scorifier.  Or  else  take  equal  portions 
of  ore  and  of  lead  ochre,  and  mix  with  them  a  small  quantity  of  iron  filings, 
and  put  them  into  a  scorifier,  then  scatter  iron  filings  over  the  mixture.  Or 
else  take  ore  which  has  been  ground  to  powder  and  sprinkle  it  in  a  crucible, 
and  then  sprinkle  over  it  an  equal  quantity  of  salt  that  has  been  three  or 
four  times  moistened  with  urine  and  dried  ;  then,  again  and  again  alternately, 
powdered  ore  and  salt ;  next,  after  the  crucible  has  been  covered  with  a 
lid  and  sealed,  it  is  placed  upon  burning  charcoal.  Or  else  take  one  portion  of 
ore,  one  portion  of  minute  lead  granules,  half  a  portion  of  Venetian  glass, 
and  the  same  quantity  of  glass-galls.  Or  else  take  one  portion  of  ore,  one 
portion  of  lead  granules,  half  a  portion  of  salt,  one-fourth  of  a  portion  of  argol, 
and  the  same  quantity  of  lees  of  the  aqua  which  separates  gold  from  silver. 
Or  else  take  equal  portions  of  prepared  ore  and  a  powder  in  which  there 

"Camphor  (campkora).  This  was  no  doubt  the  well-known  gum.  Agricola,  how- 
ever, believed  that  camphor  (De  Nat.  Fossilium,  p.  224)  was  a  species  of  bitumen,  and  he 
devotes  considerable  trouble  to  the  refutation  of  the  statements  by  the  Arabic  authors  that 
it  was  a  gum.  In  any  event,  it  would  be  a  useful  reducing  agent. 

"Inasmuch  as  orpiment  and  realgar  are  both  arsenical  sulphides,  the  use  of  iron  "  slag," 
if  it  contains  enough  iron,  would  certainly  matte  the  sulphur  and  arsenic.  Sulphur  and 
arsenic  are  the  "  juices  "  referred  to  (see  note  4,  p.  i).  It  is  difficult  to  see  the  object 
of  preserving  the  antimony  with  such  a  sulphurizing  "  addition,"  unless  it  was  desired  to 
secure  a  regulus  of  antimony  alone  from  a  given  antimonial  ore. 


BOOK    VII. 


239 


are  equal  portions  of  very  minute  lead  granules,  melted  salt,  stibium  and 
iron  slag.  Or  else  take  equal  portions  of  gold  ore,  vitriol,  argol,  and  of  salt. 
So  much  for  the  fluxes. 

In  the  assay  furnace,  when  it  has  been  prepared  in  the  way  in  which  I 
have  described,  is  first  placed  a  muffle.  Then  selected  pieces  of  live  charcoals 
are  laid  on  it,  for,  from  pieces  of  inferior  quality ,  a  great  quantity  of  ash  collects 
around  the  muffle  and  hinders  the  action  of  the  fire.  Then  the  scorifiers  are 
placed  under  the  muffle  with  tongs,  and  glowing  coals  are  placed  under  the 
fore  part  of  the  muffle  to  warm  the  scorifiers  more  quickly  ;  and  when  the  lead 
or  ore  is  to  be  placed  in  the  scorifiers,  they  are  taken  out  again  with  the 
tongs.  When  the  scorifiers  glow  in  the  heat,  first  of  all  the  ash  or  small 
charcoals,  if  any  have  fallen  into  them,  should  be  blown  away  with  an  iron 
pipe  two  feet  long  and  a  digit  in  diameter ;  this  same  thing  must  be  done 
if  ash  or  small  coal  has  fallen  into  the  cupels.  Next,  put  in  a  small  ball  of  lead 
with  the  tongs,  and  when  this  lead  has  begun  to  be  turned  into  fumes  and 
consumed,  add  to  it  the  prepared  ore  wrapped  in  paper.  It  is  preferable  that 
the  assayer  should  wrap  it  in  paper,  and  in  this  way  put  it  in  the  scorifier, 
than  that  he  should  drop  it  in  with  a  copper  ladle ;  for  when  the 
scorifiers  are  small,  if  he  uses  a  ladle  he  frequently  spills  some  part  of  the 
ore.  When  the  paper  is  burnt,  he  stirs  the  ore  with  a  small  charcoal  held  in 
the  tongs,  so  that  the  lead  may  absorb  the  metal  which  is  mixed  in  the  ore  ; 
when  this  mixture  has  taken  place,  the  slag  partly  adheres  by  its  cir- 
cumference to  the  scorifier  and  makes  a  kind  of  black  ring,  and  partly 
floats  on  the  lead  in  which  is  mixed  the  gold  or  silver  ;  then  the  slag  must 
be  removed  from  it. 

The  lead  used  must  be  entirely  free  from  every  trace  of  silver,  as  is  that 
which  is  known  as  Villacense.26  But  if  this  kind  is  not  obtainable,  the  lead 
must  be  assayed  separately,  to  determine  with  certainty  that  proportion  of 
silver  it  contains,  so  that  it  may  be  deducted  from  the  calculation  of  the 
ore,  and  the  result  be  exact ;  for  unless  such  lead  be  used,  the  assay  will  be 
false  and  misleading.  The  lead  balls  are  made  with  a  pair  of  iron  tongs, 
about  one  foot  long  ;  its  iron  claws  are  so  formed  that  when  pressed 
together  they  are  egg-shaped ;  each  claw  contains  a  hollow  cup,  and  when 
the  claws  are  closed  there  extends  upward  from  the  cup  a  passage,  so  there 
are  two  openings,  one  of  which  leads  to  each  hollow  cup.  And  so  when  the 
molten  lead  is  poured  in  through  the  openings,  it  flows  down  into  the  hollow 
cup,  and  two  balls  are  formed  by  one  pouring. 

In  this  place  I  ought  not  to  omit  mention  of  another  method  of  assaying 
employed  by  some  assayers.  They  first  of  all  place  prepared  ore  in  the 
scorifiers  and  heat  it,  and  afterward  they  add  the  lead.  Of  this  method  I 
cannot  approve,  for  in  this  way  the  ore  frequently  becomes  cemented,  and 
for  this  reason  it  does  not  stir  easily  afterward,  and  is  very  slow  in  mixing 
with  the  lead. 

"The  lead  free  from  silver,  called  villacense,  was  probably  from  Bleyberg,  not  far  from 
Villach  in  Upper  Austria,  this  locality  having  been  for  centuries  celebrated  for  its  pure  lead. 
These  mines  were  worked  prior  to,  and  long  after,  Agricola's  time. 


240 


BOOK    VII. 


If  the  whole  space  of  the  furnace  covered  by  the  muffle  is  not  filled  with 
scorifiers,  cupels  are  put  in  the  empty  space,  in  order  that  they  may  become 
warmed  in  the  meantime.  Sometimes,  however,  it  is  filled  with  scorifiers, 
when  we  are  assaying  many  different  ores,  or  many  portions  of  one  ore  at  the 
same  time.  Although  the  cupels  are  usually  dried  in  one  hour,  yet  smaller 
ones  are  done  more  quickly,  and  the  larger  ones  more  slowly.  Unless  the 
cupels  are  heated  before  the  metal  mixed  with  lead  is  placed  in  them,  they 


A — CLAWS  OF  THE  TONGS.     B — IRON,  GIVING  FORM  OF  AN  EGG.     C — OPENING. 

frequently  break,  and  the  lead  always  sputters  and  sometimes  leaps  out  of  them  ; 
if  the  cupel  is  broken  or  the  lead  leaps  out  of  it,  it  is  necessary  to  assay 
another  portion  of  ore ;  but  if  the  lead  only  sputters,  then  the  cupels  should 
be  covered  with  broad  thin  pieces  of  glowing  charcoal,  and  when  the  lead 
strikes  these,  it  falls  back  again,  and  thus  the  mixture  is  slowly  exhaled. 
Further,  if  in  the  cupellation  the  lead  which  is  in  the  mixture  is  not  con- 
sumed, but  remains  fixed  and  set,  and  is  covered  by  a  kind  of  skin,  this  is  a 
sign  that  it  has  not  been  heated  by  a  sufficiently  hot  fire  ;  put  into  the 
mixture,  therefore,  a  dry  pine  stick,  or  a  twig  of  a  similar  tree,  and  hold  it 
in  the  hand  in  order  that  it  can  be  drawn  away  when  it  has  been  heated. 
Then  take  care  that  the  heat  is  sufficient  and  equal  ;  if  the  heat  has  not 
passed  all  round  the  charge,  as  it  should  when  everything  is  done  rightly, 
but  causes  it  to  have  a  lengthened  shape,  so  that  it  appears  to  have  a  tail, 
this  is  a  sign  that  the  heat  is  deficient  where  the  tail  lies.  Then  in  order 
that  the  cupel  may  be  equally  heated  by  the  fire,  turn  it  around  with  a  small 
iron  hook,  whose  handle  is  likewise  made  of  iron  and  is  a  foot  and  a  half  long. 


SMALL  IRON  HOOK. 


Next,  if  the  mixture  has  not  enough  lead,  add  as  much  of  it  as  is  required 
with  the  iron  tongs,  or  with  the  brass  ladle  to  which  is  fastened  a  very  long 
handle.  In  order  that  the  charge  may  not  be  cooled,  warm  the  lead  beforehand. 


BOOK    VII. 


241 


But  it  is  better  at  first  to  add  as  much  lead  as  is  required  to  the  ore  which 
needs  melting,  rather  than  afterward  when  the  melting  has  been  half  finished, 
that  the  whole  quantity  may  not  vanish  in  fumes,  but  part  of  it  remain 
fast.  When  the  heat  of  the  fire  has  nearly  consumed  the  lead,  then  is  the 
time  when  the  gold  and  silver  gleam  in  their  varied  colours,  and  when  all  the 
lead  has  been  consumed  the  gold  or  silver  settles  in  the  cupel.  Then  as 
soon  as  possible  remove  the  cupel  out  of  the  furnace,  and  take  the  button  out 
of  it  while  it  is  still  warm,  in  order  that  it  does  not  adhere  to  the  ashes.  This 
generally  happens  if  the  button  is  already  cold  when  it  is  taken  out.  If  the 
ashes  do  adhere  to  it,  do  not  scrape  it  with  a  knife,  lest  some  of  it  be  lost  and 
the  assay  be  erroneous,  but  squeeze  it  with  the  iron  tongs,  so  that  the  ashes 
drop  off  through  the  pressure.  Finally,  it  is  of  advantage  to  make  two  or 
three  assays  of  the  same  ore  at  the  same  time,  in  order  that  if  by  chance 
one  is  not  successful,  the  second,  or  in  any  event  the  third,  may  be  certain. 
While  the  assayer  is  assaying  the  ore,  in  order  to  prevent  the  great  heat 
of  the  fire  from  injuring  his  eyes,  it  will  be  useful  for  him  always  to  have 
ready  a  thin  wooden  tablet,  two  palms  wide,  with  a  handle  by  which  it  may 
be  held,  and  with  a  slit  down  the  middle  in  order  that  he  may  look  through 
it  as  through  a  crack,  since  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  look  frequently  within 
and  carefully  to  consider  everything. 


A — HANDLE  OF  TABLET.     B — ITS  CRACK. 

Now  the  lead  which  has  absorbed  the  silver  from  a  metallic  ore  is  con- 
sumed in  the  cupel  by  the  heat  in  the  space  of  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  When 
the  assays  are  completed  the  muffle  is  taken  out  of  the  furnace,  and  the 
ashes  removed  with  an  iron  shovel,  not  only  from  the  brick  and  iron  furnaces, 
but  also  from  the  earthen  one,  so  that  the  furnace  need  not  be  removed  from 
its  foundation. 

From  ore  placed  in  the  triangular  crucible  a  button  is  melted  out,  from 
which  metal  is  afterward  made.  First  of  all,  glowing  charcoal  is  put  into 
the  iron  hoop,  then  is  put  in  the  triangular  crucible,  which  contains  the  ore 
together  with  those  things  which  can  liquefy  it  and  purge  it  of  its  dross  ; 
then  the  fire  is  blown  with  the  double  bellows,  and  the  ore  is  heated  until 
the  button  settles"  in  the  bottom  of  the  crucible.  We  have  explained  that 
there  are  two  methods  of  assaying  ore, — one,  by  which  the  lead  is  mixed 


242 


BOOK     VII. 


with  ore  in  the  scorifier  and  afterward  again  separated  from  it  in  the  cupel ; 
the  other,  by  which  it  is  first  melted  in  the  triangular  earthen  crucible  and 
afterward  mixed  with  lead  in  the  scorifier,  and  later  separated  from  it  in  the 
cupel.  Now  let  us  consider  which  is  more  suitable  for  each  ore,  or,  if  neither 
is  suitable,  by  what  other  method  in  one  way  or  another  we  can  assay  it. 

We  justly  begin  with  a  gold  ore,  which  we  assay  by  both  methods,  for 
if  it  is  rich  and  seems  not  to  be  strongly  resistant  to  fire,  but  to  liquefy  easily, 
one  centumpondium  of  it  (known  to  us  as  the  lesser  weights),27  together  with 
one  and  a  half,  or  two  undue  of  lead  of  the  larger  weights,  are  mixed  together 
and  placed  in  the  scorifier,  and  the  two  are  heated  in  the  fire  until  they  are 
well  mixed.  But  since  such  an  ore  sometimes  resists  melting,  add  a  little 
salt  to  it,  either  sal  torrefactus  or  sal  artificiosus,  for  this  will  subdue  it,  and 
prevent  the  alloy  from  collecting  much  dross  ;  stir  it  frequently  with  an  iron 
rod,  in  order  that  the  lead  may  flow  around  the  gold  on  every  side,  and  absorb 
it  and  cast  out  the  waste.  When  this  has  been  done,  take  out  the  alloy  and 
cleanse  it  of  slag ;  then  place  it  in  the  cupel  and  heat  it  until  it  exhales  all 
the  lead,  and  a  bead  of  gold  settles  in  the  bottom. 

If  the  gold  ore  is  seen  not  to  be  easily  melted  in  the  fire,  roast  it  and 
extinguish  it  with  brine.  Do  this  again  and  again,  for  the  more  often  you 
roast  it  and  extinguish  it,  the  more  easily  the  ore  can  be  crushed  fine,  and  the 
more  quickly  does  it  melt  in  the  fire  and  give  up  whatever  dross  it  possesses. 


"This  method  of  proportionate  weights  for  assay  charges  is  simpler  than  the 
modern  English  "  assay  ton,"  both  because  of  the  use  of  100  units  in  the  standard  of 
weight  (the  centumpondium),  and  because  of  the  lack  of  complication  between  the 
Avoirdupois  and  Troy  scales.  For  instance,  an  ore  containing  a  libra  of  silver  to  the 
centumpondium  would  contain  i  /zooth  part,  and  the  same  ratio  would  obtain,  no  matter 
what  the  actual  weight  of  a  centumpondium  of  the  "  lesser  weight "  might  be.  To  follow 
the  matter  still  further,  an  uncia  being  1/1,200  of  a  centumpondium,  if  the  ore 'ran  one 
"  uncia  of  the  lesser  weight  "  to  the  "  centumpondium  of  the  lesser  weight,"  it  would  also  run 
one  actual  uncia  to  the  actual  centumpondium ;  it  being  a  matter  of  indifference  what 
might  be  the  actual  weight  of  the  centumpondium  upon  which  the  scale  of  lesser  weights 
is  based.  In  fact  Agricola's  statement  (p.  261)  indicates  that  it  weighed  an  actual  drachma. 
We  have,  in  some  places,  interpolated  the  expressions  "  lesser  "  and  "  greater  "  weights 
for  clarity. 

This  is  not  the  first  mention  of  this  scheme  of  lesser  weights,  as  it  appears  in  the 
Probierbuchlein  (1500  ?  see  Appendix  B)  and  Biringuccio  (1540).  For  a  more  complete  dis- 
cussion of  weights  and  measures  see  Appendix  C.  For  convenience,  we  repeat  here  the  Roman 
scale,  although,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  Appendix,  Agricola  used  the  Latin  terms  in  many 
places  merely  as  nomenclature  equivalents  of  the  old  German  scale. 

Troy 
Grains. 


i  Siliqua 

•  •             .  .               .  . 

2.87     P 

6  Siliquae 

=  i  Scripulum 

17.2 

4  Scripula 

=  i  Sextula 

68.7 

6  Sextulae 

=  i   Uncia 

412.2 

12  Unciae 

=  i  Libra 

4946.4 

100  Librae 

=  I  Centumpondium 

494640.0 

However 

Agricola  may  occasionally  use 

16  Unciae 

=  I  Libra 

6592.0  (?) 

100  Librae 

=  i  Centumpondium 

659200.0  (?) 

Also 

i  Scripulum 

17.2       1 

3  Scripula 

=  i  Drachma 

51-5 

2  Drachmae 

=  I  Sicilicus 

103.0 

4  Sicilici 

=  i  Uncia 

412.2 

8  Unciae 

=  i  Bes  .. 

3297.6 

Per  Ceniumpondium 


Ozs.  dwts.  gr. 
per  short  ton. 

039 
i       o 

i 

6 
13 


4 
24 

291 


6 
o 

2 

8 


Per  Centumpondium 


Oz.  dwts.  gr. 
per  short  ton. 

i 

3 
6 

24 

194 


o 
o 

i 
6 

12 


6 
19 
15 

12 
0 


BOOK    VII.  243 

Mix  one  part  of  this  ore,  when  it  has  been  roasted,  crushed,  and  washed,  with 
three  parts  of  some  powder  compound  which  melts  ore,  and  six  parts  of  lead. 
Put  the  charge  into  the  triangular  crucible,  place  it  in  the  iron  hoop  to  which 
the  double  bellows  reaches,  and  heat  first  in  a  slow  fire,  and  afterward 
gradually  in  a  fiercer  fire,  till  it  melts  and  flows  like  water.  If  the  ore  does 
not  melt,  add  to  it  a  little  more  of  these  fluxes,  mixed  with  an  equal  portion 
of  yellow  litharge,  and  stir  it  with  a  hot  iron  rod  until  it  all  melts.  Then 
take  the  crucible  out  of  the  hoop,  shake  off  the  button  when  it  has  cooled, 
and  when  it  has  been  cleansed,  melt  first  in  the  scorifier  and  afterward  in 
the  cupel.  Finally,  rub  the  gold  which  has  settled  in  the  bottom  of  the  cupel, 
after  it  has  been  taken  out  and  cooled,  on  the  touchstone,  in  order  to  find  out 
what  proportion  of  silver  it  contains.  Another  method  is  to  put  a  centum- 
pondium  (of  the  lesser  weights)  of  gold  ore  into  the  triangular  crucible,  and 
add  to  it  a  drachma  (of  the  larger  weights)  of  glass-galls.  If  it  resists  melting, 
add  half  a  drachma  of  roasted  argol,  and  if  even  then  it  resists,  add  the 
same  quantity  of  roasted  lees  of  vinegar,  or  lees  of  the  aqua  which  separates 
gold  from  silver,  and  the  button  will  settle  in  the  bottom  of  the  crucible. 
Melt  this  button  again  in  the  scorifier  and  a  third  time  in  the  cupel. 

We  determine  in  the  following  way,  before  it  is  melted  in  the  muffle 
furnace,  whether  pyrites  contains  gold  in  it  or  not :  if,  after  being  three  times 
roasted  and  three  times  quenched  in  sharp  vinegar,  it  has  not  broken  nor 
changed  its  colour,  there  is  gold  in  it.  The  vinegar  by  which  it  is  quenched 
should  be  mixed  with  salt  that  is  put  in  it,  and  frequently  stirred  and  dissolved 
for  three  days.  Nor  is  pyrites  devoid  of  gold,  when,  after  being  roasted  and 
then  rubbed  on  the  touchstone,  it  colours  the  touchstone  in  the  same  way  that 
it  coloured  it  when  rubbed  in  its  crude  state.  Nor  is  gold  lacking  in  that, 
whose  concentrates  from  washing,  when  heated  in  the  fire,  easily  melt,  giving 
forth  little  smell  and  remaining  bright ;  such  concentrates  are  heated  in  the 
fire  in  a  hollowed  piece  of  charcoal  covered  over  with  another  charcoal. 

We  also  assay  gold  ore  without  fire,  but  more  often  its  sand  or  the  con- 
centrates which  have  been  made  by  washing,  or  the  dust  gathered  up  by 
some  other  means.  A  little  of  it  is  slightly  moistened  with  water  and  heated 
until  it  begins  to  exhale  an  odour,  and  then  to  one  portion  of  ore  are  placed 
two  portions  of  quicksilver28  in  a  wooden  dish  as  deep  as  a  basin.  They  are 
mixed  together  with  a  little  brine,  and  are  then  ground  with  a  wooden  pestle 
for  the  space  of  two  hours,  until  the  mixture  becomes  of  the  thickness  of  dough, 
and  the  quicksilver  can  no  longer  be  distinguished  from  the  concentrates 
made  by  the  washing,  nor  the  concentrates  from  the  quicksilver.  Warm,  or 
at  least  tepid,  water  is  poured  into  the  dish  and  the  material  is  washed  until 
the  water  runs  out  clear.  Afterward  cold  water  is  poured  into  the  same  dish, 
and  soon  the  quicksilver,  which  has  absorbed  all  the  gold,  runs  together 
into  a  separate  place  away  from  the  rest  of  the  concentrates  made  by 
washing.  The  quicksilver  is  afterward  separated  from  the  gold  by  means 
of  a  pot  covered  with  soft  leather,  or  with  canvas  made  of  woven 
threads  of  cotton  ;  the  amalgam  is  poured  into  the  middle  of  the  cloth  or 

a8The  amalgamation  of  gold  ores  is  fully  discussed  in  note  12,  p.  297. 


244  BOOK     VII. 

leather,  which  sags  about  one  hand's  breadth  ;  next,  the  leather  is  folded 
over  and  tied  with  a  waxed  string,  and  the  dish  catches  the  quicksilver 
which  is  squeezed  through  it.  As  for  the  gold  which  remains  in  the  leather, 
it  is  placed  in  a  scorifier  and  purified  by  being  placed  near  glowing  coals.  Others 
do  not  wash  away  the  dirt  with  warm  water,  but  with  strong  lye  and  vinegar, 
for  they  pour  these  liquids  into  the  pot,  and  also  throw  into  it  the  quicksilver 
mixed  with  the  concentrates  made  by  washing.  Then  they  set  the  pot  in  a 
warm  place,  and  after  twenty-four  hours  pour  out  the  liquids  with  the  dirt,  and 
separate  the  quicksilver  from  the  gold  in  the  manner  which  I  have  described. 
Then  they  pour  urine  into  a  jar  set  in  the  ground,  and  in  the  jar  place  a 
pot  with  holes  in  the  bottom,  and  in  the  pot  they  place  the  gold  ;  then  the 
lid  is  put  on  and  cemented,  and  it  is  joined  with  the  jar ;  they  afterward  heat 
it  till  the  pot  glows  red.  After  it  has  cooled,  if  there  is  copper  in  the  gold 
they  melt  it  with  lead  in  a  cupel,  that  the  copper  may  be  separated  from  it ; 
but  if  there  is  silver  in  the  gold  they  separate  them  by  means  of  the  aqua 
which  has  the  power  of  parting  these  two  metals.  There  are  some  who, 
when  they  separate  gold  from  quicksilver,  do  not  pour  the  amalgam  into 
a  leather,  but  put  it  into  a  gourd-shaped  earthen  vessel,  which  they  place 
hi  the  furnace  and  heat  gradually  over  burning  charcoal ;  next,  with  an  iron 
plate,  they  cover  the  opening  of  the  operculum,  which  exudes  vapour,  and  as 
soon  as  it  has  ceased  to  exude,  they  smear  it  with  lute  and  heat  it  for  a  short 
time  ;  then  they  remove  the  operculum  from  the  pot,  and  wipe  off  the 
quicksilver  which  adheres  to  it  with  a  hare's  foot,  and  preserve  it  for  future 
use.  By  the  latter  method,  a  greater  quantity  of  quicksilver  is  lost,  and  by 
the  former  method,  a  smaller  quantity. 

If  an  ore  is  rich  in  silver,  as  is  rudis  silver29,  frequently  silver  glance, 
or  rarely  ruby  silver,  gray  silver,  black  silver,  brown  silver,  or  yellcw  silver, 
as  soon  as  it  is  cleansed  and  heated,  a  centumpondium  (of  the  lesser  weights)  of 
it  is  placed  in  an  uncia  of  molten  lead  in  a  cupel,  and  is  heated  until  the  lead 
exhales.  But  if  the  ore  is  of  poor  or  moderate  quality,  it  must  first  be  dried, 
then  crushed,  and  then  to  a  centumpondium  (of  the  lesser  weights)  an  uncia 
of  lead  is  added,  and  it  is  heated  in  the  scorifier  until  it  melts.  If  it  is  not 
soon  melted  by  the  fire,  it  should  be  sprinkled  with  a  little  powder  of  the 
first  order  of  fluxes,  and  if  then  it  does  not  melt,  more  is  added  little  by  little 
until  it  melts  and  exudes  its  slag ;  that  this  result  may  be  reached  sooner, 
the  powder  which  has  been  sprinkled  over  it  should  be  stirred  in  with  an  iron 
rod.  When  the  scorifier  has  been  taken  out  of  the  assay  furnace,  the  alloy 
should  be  poured  into  a  hole  in  a  baked  brick  ;  and  when  it  has  cooled  and  been 
cleansed  of  the  slag,  it  should  be  placed  in  a  cupel  and  heated  until  it  exhales 
all  its  lead ;  the  weight  of  silver  which  remains  in  the  cupel  indicates  what 
proportion  of  silver  is  contained  in  the  ore. 

We  assay  copper  ore  without  lead,  for  if  it  is  melted  with  it,  the  copper 
usually  exhales  and  is  lost.  Therefore,  a  certain  weight  of  such  an  ore 

*9For  discussion  of  the  silver  ores,  see  note  8,  p.  108.  Rudis  silver  was  a  fairly 
pure  silver  mineral,  the  various  coloured  silvers  were  partly  horn-silver  and  partly  alteration 
products. 


BOOK     VII.  245 

is  first  roasted  in  a  hot  fire  for  about  six  or  eight  hours  ;  next,  when  it  has 
cooled,  it  is  crushed  and  washed  ;  then  the  concentrates  made  by  washing 
are  again  roasted,  crushed,  washed,  dried,  and  weighed.  The  portion  which 
it  has  lost  whilst  it  is  being  roasted  and  washed  is  taken  into  account,  and 
these  concentrates  by  washing  represent  the  cake  which  will  be  melted  out 
of  the  copper  ore.  Place  three  centumpondia  (lesser  weights)  of  this,  mixed 
with  three  centumpondia  (lesser  weights)  each  of  copper  scales30,  saltpetre, 
and  Venetian  glass,  mixed,  into  the  triangular  crucible,  and  place  it  in  the  iron 
hoop  which  is  set  on  the  hearth  in  front  of  the  double  bellows.  Cover  the  crucible 
with  charcoal  in  such  a  way  that  nothing  may  fall  into  the  ore  which  is  to  be 
melted,  and  so  that  it  may  melt  more  quickly.  At  first  blow  a  gentle  blast  with 
the  bellows  in  order  that  the  ore  may  be  heated  gradually  in  the  fire ;  then 
blow  strongly  till  it  melts,  and  the  fire  consumes  that  which  has  been  added  to 
it,  and  the  ore  itself  exudes  whatever  slag  it  possesses.  Next,  cool 
the  crucible  which  has  been  taken  out,  and  when  this  is  broken  you  will  find 
the  copper  ;  weigh  this,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  great  a  portion  of  the  ore 
the  fire  has  consumed.  Some  ore  is  only  once  roasted,  crushed,  and  washed ; 
and  of  this  kind  of  concentrates,  three  centumpondia  (lesser  weights)  are 
taken  with  one  centumpondium  each  of  common  salt,  argol  and  glass- 
galls.  Heat  them  in  the  triangular  crucible,  and  when  the  mixture  has 
cooled  a  button  of  pure  copper  will  be  found,  if  the  ore  is  rich  in  this  metal. 
If,  however,  it  is  less  rich,  a  stony  lump  results,  with  which  the  copper  is 
intermixed  ;  this  lump  is  again  roasted,  crushed,  and,  after  adding  stones 
which  easily  melt  and  saltpetre,  it  is  again  melted  in  another  crucible,  and 
there  settles  in  the  bottom  of  the  crucible  a  button  of  pure  copper.  If  you 
wish  to  know  what  proportion  of  silver  is  in  this  copper  button,  melt  it  in  a 
cupel  after  adding  lead.  With  regard  to  this  test  I  will  speak  later. 

Those  who  wish  to  know  quickly  what  portion  of  silver  the  copper  ore 
contains,  roast  the  ore,  crush  and  wash  it,  then  mix  a  little  yellow  litharge 
with  one  centumpondium  (lesser  weights)  of  the  concentrates,  and  put  the 
mixture  into  a  scorifier,  which  they  place  under  the  muffle  in  a  hot  furnace  for 
the  space  of  half  an  hour.  When  the  slag  exudes,  by  reason  of  the  melting  force 
rtiich  is  in  the  litharge,  they  take  the  scorifier  out ;  when  it  has  cooled,  they 
cleanse  it  of  slag  and  again  crush  it,  and  with  one  centumpondium  of  it  they 
mix  one  and  a  half  undue  of  lead  granules.  They  then  put  it  into  another 
scorifier,  which  they  place  under  the  muffle  in  a  hot  furnace,  adding  to  the 
mixture  a  little  of  the  powder  of  some  one  of  the  fluxes  which  cause  ore  to 
melt ;  when  it  has  melted  they  take  it  out,  and  after  it  has  cooled,  cleanse 
it  of  slag  ;  lastly,  they  heat  it  in  the  cupel  till  it  has  exhaled  all  of  the  lead, 
and  only  silver  remains. 

Lead  ore  may  be  assayed  by  this  method  :  crush  half  an  uncia  of 
pure  lead-stone  and  the  same  quantity  of  the  chrysocolla  which  they  call 
borax,  mix  them  together,  place  them  in  a  crucible,  and  put  a  glowing  coal 

solt  is  difficult  to  see  why  copper  scales  (squamae  aeris — copper  oxide  ?)  are  added, 
unless  it  be  to  collect  a  small  ratio  of  copper  in  the  ore.  This  additional  copper  is  not 
mentioned  again,  however.  The  whole  of  this  statement  is  very  confused. 


246 


BOOK    VII. 


in  the  middle  of  it.  As  soon  as  the  borax  crackles  and  the  lead-stone  melts, 
which  soon  occurs,  remove  the  coal  from  the  crucible,  and  the  lead  will  settle 
to  the  bottom  of  it ;  weigh  it  out,  and  take  account  of  that  portion  of  it 
which  the  fire  has  consumed.  If  you  also  wish  to  know  what  portion  of  silver 
is  contained  in  the  lead,  melt  the  lead  in  the  cupel  until  all  of  it  exhales. 

Another  way  is  to  roast  the  lead  ore,  of  whatsoever  quality  it  be,  wash 
it,  and  put  into  the  crucible  one  centumpondium  of  the  concentrates,  together 
with  three  centumpondia  of  the  powdered  compound  which  melts  ore,  mixed 
together,  and  place  it  in  the  iron  hoop  that  it  may  melt  ;  when  it  has  cooled, 
cleanse  it  of  its  slag,  and  complete  the  test  as  I  have  already  said.  Another  way  is 
to  take  two  unciae  of  prepared  ore,  five  drachmae  of  roasted  copper,  one  uncia  of 
glass,  or  glass-galls  reduced  to  powder,  a  semi-uncia  of  salt,  and  mix  them.  Put 
the  mixture  into  the  triangular  crucible,  and  heat  it  over  a  gentle  fire  to 
prevent  it  from  breaking  ;  when  the  mixture  has  melted,  blow  the  fire 
vigorously  with  the  bellows  ;  then  take  the  crucible  off  the  live  coals  and 
let  it  cool  in  the  open  air  ;  do  not  pour  water  on  it,  lest  the  lead  button  being 
acted  upon  by  the  excessive  cold  should  become  mixed  with  the  slag,  and  the 
assay  in  this  way  be  erroneous.  When  the  crucible  has  cooled,  you  will  find 
in  the  bottom  of  it  the  lead  button.  Another  way  is  to  take  two  unciae  of 
ore,  a  semi-uncia  of  litharge,  two  drachmae  of  Venetian  glass  and  a  semi-uncia 
of  saltpetre.  If  there  is  difficulty  in  melting  the  ore,  add  to  it  iron  filings, 
which,  since  they  increase  the  heat,  easily  separate  the  waste  from  lead  and 
other  metals.  By  the  last  way,  lead  ore  properly  prepared  is  placed  in  the 
crucible,  and  there  is  added  to  it  only  the  sand  made  from  stones  which  easily 
melt,  or  iron  filings,  and  then  the  assay  is  completed  as  formerly. 

You  can  assay  tin  ore  by  the  following  method.  First  roast  it,  then 
crush,  and  afterward  wash  it ;  the  concentrates  are  again  roasted,  cfushed, 
and  washed.  Mix  one  and  a  half  centumpondia  of  this  with  one  centum- 
pondium of  the  chrysocolla  which  they  call  borax ;  from  the  mixture, 
when  it  has  been  moistened  with  water,  make  a  lump.  Afterwards, 
perforate  a  large  round  piece  of  charcoal,  making  this  opening  a  palm  deep, 
three  digits  wide  on  the  upper  side  and  narrower  on  the  lower  side  ;  when 
the  charcoal  is  put  in  its  place  the  latter  should  be  on  the  bottom  and  the 
former  uppermost.  Let  it  be  placed  in  a  crucible,  and  let  glowing  coal  be 
put  round  it  on  all  sides  ;  when  the  perforated  piece  of  coal  begins  to  burn, 
the  lump  is  placed  in  the  upper  part  of  the  opening,  and  it  is  covered  with  a 
wide  piece  of  glowing  coal,  and  after  many  pieces  of  coal  have  been  put  round 
it,  a  hot  fire  is  blown  up  with  the  bellows,  until  all  the  tin  has  run  out 
of  the  lower  opening  of  the  charcoal  into  the  crucible.  Another  way  is  to 
take  a  large  piece  of  charcoal,  hollow  it  out,  and  smear  it  with  lute,  that  the 
ore  may  not  leap  out  when  white  hot.  Next,  make  a  small  hole  through  the 
middle  of  it,  then  fill  up  the  large  opening  with  small  charcoal,  and  put  the 
ore  upon  this  ;  put  fire  in  the  small  hole  and  blow  the  fire  with  the  nozzle  of 
a  hand  bellows  ;  place  the  piece  of  charcoal  in  a  small  crucible,  smeared 
with  lute,  in  which,  when  the  melting  is  finished,  you  will  find  a  button 
of  tin. 


BOOK    VII.  247 

In  assaying  bismuth  ore,  place  pieces  of  ore  in  the  scorifier,  and  put 
it  under  the  muffle  in  a  hot  furnace  ;  as  soon  as  they  are  heated,  they 
drip  with  bismuth,  which  runs  together  into  a  button. 

Quicksilver  ore  is  usually  tested  by  mixing  one  part  of  broken  ore 
with  three-parts  of  charcoal  dust  and  a  handful  of  salt.  Put  the  mixture  into 
a  crucible  or  a  pot  or  a  jar,  cover  it  with  a  lid,  seal  it  with  lute,  place  it  on 
glowing  charcoal,  and  as  soon  as  a  burnt  cinnabar  colour  shows  in  it,  take 
out  the  vessel ;  for  if  you  continue  the  heat  too  long  the  mixture  exhales  the 
quicksilver  with  the  fumes.  The  quicksilver  itself,  when  it  has  become  cool,  is 
found  in  the  bottom  of  the  crucible  or  other  vessel.  Another  way  is  to  place 
broken  ore  in  a  gourd-shaped  earthen  vessel,  put  it  in  the  assay  furnace, 
and  cover  with  an  operculum  which  has  a  long  spout ;  under  the  spout,  put 
an  ampulla  to  receive  the  quicksilver  which  distills.  Cold  water  should  be 
poured  into  the  ampulla,  so  that  the  quicksilver  which  has  been  heated  by  the 
fire  may  be  continuously  cooled  and  gathered  together,  for  the  quicksilver 
is  borne  over  by  the  force  of  the  fire,  and  flows  down  through  the  spout  of 
the  operculum  into  the  ampulla.  We  also  assay  quicksilver  ore  in  the  very 
same  way  in  which  we  smelt  it.  This  I  will  explain  in  its  proper  place. 

Lastly,  we  assay  iron  ore  in  the  forge  of  a  blacksmith.  Such  ore  is  burned, 
crushed,  washed,  and  dried  ;  a  magnet  is  laid  over  the  concentrates,  and 
the  particles  of  iron  are  attracted  to  it ;  these  are  wiped  off  with  a  brush, 
and  are  caught  in  a  crucible,  the  magnet  being  continually  passed  over  the 
concentrates  and  the  particles  wiped  off,  so  long  as  there  remain  any  particles 
which  the  magnet  can  attract  to  it.  These  particles  are  heated  in  the  crucible 
with  saltpetre  until  they  melt,  and  an  iron  button  is  melted  out  of  them. 
If  the  magnet  easily  and  quickly  attracts  the  particles  to  it,  we  infer  that  the 
ore  is  rich  in  iron  ;  if  slowly,  that  it  is  poor  ;  if  it  appears  actually  to  repel 
the  ore,  then  it  contains  little  or  no  iron.  This  is  enough  for  the  assaying  of 
ores. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  assaying  of  the  metal  alloys.  This  is  done  both 
by  coiners  and  merchants  who  buy  and  sell  metal,  and  by  miners,  but  most 
of  all  by  the  owners  and  mine  masters,  and  by  the  owners  and  masters  of 
the  works  in  which  the  metals  are  smelted,  or  in  which  one  metal  is  parted 
from  another. 

First  I  will  describe  the  way  assays  are  usually  made  to  ascertain  what 
portion  of  precious  metal  is  contained  in  base  metal.  Gold  and  silver  are 
now  reckoned  as  precious  metals  and  all  the  others  as  base  metals.  Once 
upon  a  time  the  base  metals  were  burned  up,  in  order  that  the  precious  metals 
should  be  left  pure  ;  the  Ancients  even  discovered  by  such  burning  what 
portion  of  gold  was  contained  in  silver,  and  in  this  way  all  the  silver  was 
consumed,  which  was  no  small  loss.  However,  the  famous  mathematician, 
Archimedes31,  to  gratify  King  Hiero,  invented  a  method  of  testing  the  silver, 

81This  old  story  runs  that  Hiero,  King  of  Syracuse,  asked  Archimedes  to  tell  him 
whether  a  crown  made  for  him  was  pure  gold  or  whether  it  contained  some  proportion  of 
silver.  Archimedes  is  said  to  have  puzzled  over  it  until  he  noticed  the  increase  in  water- 
level  upon  entering  his  bath.  Whereupon  he  determined  the  matter  by  immersing  bars  of 
pure  gold  and  pure  silver,  and  thus  determining  the  relative  specific  weights.  The  best 


248  BOOK    VII. 

which  was  not  very  rapid,  and  was  more  accurate  for  testing  a  large  mass 
than  a  small  one.  This  I  will  explain  in  my  commentaries.  The 
alchemists  have  shown  us  a  way  of  separating  silver  from  gold  by  which 
neither  of  them  is  lost32. 

Gold  which  contains  silver,33  or  silver  which  contains  gold,  is  first  rubbed 
on  the  touchstone.  Then  a  needle  in  which  there  is  a  similar  amount  of 
gold  or  silver  is  rubbed  on  the  same  touchstone,  and  from  the  lines  which  are 
produced  in  this  way,  is  perceived  what  portion  of  silver  there  is  in  the  gold, 
or  what  portion  of  gold  there  is  in  the  silver.  Next  there  is  added  to  the 
silver  which  is  in  the  gold,  enough  silver  to  make  it  three  times  as  much  as  the 
gold.  Then  lead  is  placed  in  a  cupel  and  melted ;  a  little  later,  a  small 
amount  of  copper  is  put  in  it,  in  fact,  half  an  uncia  of  it,  or  half  an  uncia  and 
a  sicilicus  (of  the  smaller  weights)  if  the  gold  or  silver  does  not  contain  any 
copper.  The  cupel,  when  the  lead  and  copper  are  wanting,  attracts  the  particles 
of  gold  and  silver,  and  absorbs  them.  Finally,  one-third  of  a  libra  of  the  gold, 
and  one  libra3*  of  the  silver  must  be  placed  together  in  the  same  cupel  and 
melted  ;  for  if  the  gold  and  silver  were  first  placed  in  the  cupel  and  melted,  as  I 
have  already  said,  it  absorbs  particles  of  them,  and  the  gold,  when  separated 
from  the  silver,  will  not  be  found  pure.  These  metals  are  heated  until  the 
lead  and  the  copper  are  consumed,  and  again,  the  same  weight  of  each  is  melted 
in  the  same  manner  in  another  cupel.  The  buttons  are  pounded  with  a 
hammer  and  flattened  out,  and  each  little  leaf  is  shaped  in  the  form  of  a 
tube,  and  each  is  put  into  a  small  glass  ampulla.  Over  these  there  is  poured 
one  uncia  and  one  drachma  (of  the  large  weight)  of  the  third  quality  aqua 
valens,  which  I  will  describe  in  the  Tenth  Book.  This  is  heated  over  a  slow 
fire,  and  small  bubbles,  resembling  pearls  in  shape,  will  be  seen  to  adhere 
to  the  tubes.  The  redder  the  aqua  appears,  the  better  it  is  judged  feo  be ; 
when  the  redness  has  vanished,  small  white  bubbles  are  seen  to  be  resting 
on  the  tubes,  resembling  pearls  not  only  in  shape,  but  also  in  colour.  After 
a  short  time  the  aqua  is  poured  off  and  other  is  poured  on  ;  when  this  has 
again  raised  six  or  eight  small  white  bubbles,  it  is  poured  off  and  the  tubes  are 
taken  out  and  washed  four  or  five  times  with  spring  water  ;  or  if  they  are 
heated  with  the  same  water,  when  it  is  boiling,  they  will  shine  more  brilliantly. 
Then  they  are  placed  in  a  saucer,  which  is  held  in  the  hand  and  gradually 
dried  by  the  gentle  heat  of  the  fire  ;  afterward  the  saucer  is  placed  over  glowing 
charcoal  and  covered  with  a  charcoal,  and  a  moderate  blast  is  blown  upon  it 

ancient  account  of  this  affair  is  to  be  found  in  Vitruvius,  ix,  Preface.  The  story  does  not  seem 
very  probable,  seeing  that  Theophrastus,  who  died  the  year  Archimedes  was  born,  described 
the  touchstone  in  detail,  and  that  it  was  of  common  knowledge  among  the  Greeks  before 
(see  note  37).  In  any  event,  there  is  not  sufficient  evidence  in  this  story  on  which  to  build 
the  conclusion  of  Meyer  (Hist,  of  Chemistry,  p.  14)  and  others,  that,  inasmuch  as  Archimedes 
was  unable  to  solve  the  problem  until  his  discovery  of  specific  weights,  therefore  the 
Ancients  could  not  part  gold  and  silver.  The  probability  that  he  did  not  want  to  injure  the 
King's  jewellery  would  show  sufficient  reason  for  his  not  parting  these  metals.  It  seems  probable 
that  the  Ancients  did  part  gold  and  silver  by  cementation.  (See  note  on  p.  458). 

32The  Alchemists  (with  whose  works  Agricola  was  familiar — vide  preface)  were  the 
inventors  of  nitric  acid  separation.     (See  note  on  p.  460). 

"Parting  gold  and  silver  by  nitric  acid  is  more  exhaustively  discussed  in  Book 
and  notes  10,  p.  443. 

84The  lesser  weights,  probably. 


BOOK    VII.  249 

with  the  mouth  and  then  a  blue  flame  will  be  emitted.  In  the  end  the  tubes 
are  weighed,  and  if  their  weights  prove  equal,  he  who  has  undertaken  this  work 
has  not  laboured  in  vain.  Lastly,  both  are  placed  in  another  balance-pan  and 
weighed  ;  of  each  tube  four  grains  must  not  be  counted,  on  account  of  the 
silver  which  remains  in  the  gold  and  cannot  be  separated  from  it.  From  the 
weight  of  the  tubes  we  learn  the  weight  both  of  the  gold  and  of  the  silver 
which  is  in  the  button.  If  some  assayer  has  omitted  to  add  so  much  silver  to 
the  gold  as  to  make  it  three  times  the  quantity,  but  only  double,  or  two  and  a 
half  times  as  much,  he  will  require  the  stronger  quality  of  aqua  which 
separates  gold  from  silver,  such  as  the  fourth  quality.  Whether  the  aqua 
which  he  employs  for  gold  and  silver  is  suitable  for  the  purpose,  or  whether 
it  is  more  or  less  strong  than  is  right,  is  recognised  by  its  effect.  That  of 
medium  strength  raises  the  little  bubbles  on  the  tubes  and  is  found  to  colour 
the  ampulla  and  the  operculum  a  strong  red  ;  the  weaker  one  is  found  to 
colour  them  a  light  red,  and  the  stronger  one  to  break  the  tubes.  To  pure 
silver  in  which  there  is  some  portion  of  gold,  nothing  should  be  added  when 
they  are  being  heated  in  the  cupel  prior  to  their  being  parted,  except  a  bes 
of  lead  and  one-fourth  or  one-third  its  amount  of  copper  of  the  lesser  weights. 
If  the  silver  contains  in  itself  a  certain  amount  of  copper,  let  it  be  weighed, 
both  after  it  has  been  melted  with  the  lead,  and  after  the  gold  has  been  parted 
from  it ;  by  the  former  we  learn  how  much  copper  is  in  it,  by  the  latter  how 
much  gold.  Base  metals  are  burnt  up  even  to-day  for  the  purpose  of  assay, 
because  to  lose  so  little  of  the  metal  is  small  loss,  but  from  a  large  mass  of 
base  metal,  the  precious  metal  is  always  extracted,  as  I  will  explain  in 
Books  X.  and  XL 

We  assay  an  alloy  of  copper  and  silver  in  the  following  way.  From  a 
few  cakes  of  copper  the  assayer  cuts  out  portions,  small  samples  from  small 
cakes,  medium  samples  from  medium  cakes,  and  large  samples  from  large 
cakes  ;  the  small  ones  are  equal  in  size  to  half  a  hazel  nut,  the  large 
ones  do  not  exceed  the  size  of  half  a  chestnut,  and  those  of  medium  size  come 
between  the  two.  He  cuts  out  the  samples  from  the  middle  of  the 
bottom  of  each  cake.  He  places  the  samples  in  a  new,  clean,  triangular 
crucible  and  fixes  to  them  pieces  of  paper  upon  which  are  written  the  weight 
of  the  cakes  of  copper,  of  whatever  size  they  may  be  ;  for  example,  he  writes, 
'  These  samples  have  been  cut  from  copper  which  weighs  twenty  centum- 
fiondia."  When  he  wishes  to  know  how  much  silver  one  centumpondium  of 
copper  of  this  kind  has  in  it,  first  of  all  he  throws  glowing  coals  into  the 
iron  hoop,  then  adds  charcoal  to  it.  When  the  fire  has  become  hot,  the  paper 
is  taken  out  of  the  crucible  and  put  aside,  he  then  sets  that  crucible  on  the 
fire  and  gradually  heats  it  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  until  it  becomes  red  hot. 
Then  he  stimulates  the  fire  by  blowing  with  a  blast  from  the  double  bellows 
for  half  an  hour,  because  copper  which  is  devoid  of  lead  requires  this  time  to 
become  hot  and  to  melt ;  copper  not  devoid  of  lead  melts  quicker.  When 
he  has  blown  the  bellows  for  about  the  space  of  time  stated,  he  removes  the 
glowing  charcoal  with  the  tongs,  and  stirs  the  copper  with  a  splinter  of  wood, 
which  he  grasps  with  the  tongs.  If  it  does  not  stir  easily,  it  is  a  sign  that  the 


250 


BOOK    VII. 


copper  is  not  wholly  liquefied  ;  if  he  finds  this  is  the  case,  he  again  places  a 
large  piece  of  charcoal  in  the  crucible,  and  replaces  the  glowing  charcoal  which 
had  been  removed,  and  again  blows  the  bellows  for  a  short  time.  When  all 
the  copper  has  melted  he  stops  using  the  bellows,  for  if  he  were  to  continue 
to  use  them,  the  fire  would  consume  part  of  the  copper,  and  then  that  which 
remained  would  be  richer  than  the  cake  from  which  it  had  been  cut ;  this  is 
no  small  mistake.  Therefore,  as  soon  as  the  copper  has  become  sufficiently 
liquified,  he  pours  it  out  into  a  little  iron  mould,  which  may  be  large  or  small, 
according  as  more  or  less  copper  is  melted  in  the  crucible  for  the  purpose  of  the 
assay.  The  mould  has  a  handle,  likewise  made  of  iron,  by  which  it  is  held 
when  the  copper  is  poured  in,  after  which,  he  plunges  it  into  a  tub  of  water 
placed  near  at  hand,  that  the  copper  may  be  cooled.  Then  he  again  dries  the 
copper  by  the  fire,  and  cuts  off  its  point  with  an  iron  wedge  ;  the  portion 
nearest  the  point  he  hammers  on  an  anvil  and  makes  into  a  leaf,  which  he 
cuts  into  pieces. 


A — IRON  MOULD.     B— ITS  HANDLE. 

Others  stir  the  molten  copper  with  a  stick  of  linden  tree  charcoal,  and 
then  pour  it  over  a  bundle  of  new  clean  birch  twigs,  beneath  which  is  placed 
a  wooden  tub  of  sufficient  size  and  full  of  water,  and  in  this  manner  the  copper 
is  broken  up  into  little  granules  as  small  as  hemp  seeds.  Others  employ  straw 
in  place  of  twigs.  Others  place  a  broad  stone  in  a  tub  and  pour  in  enough 
water  to  cover  the  stone,  then  they  run  out  the  molten  copper  from  the 
crucible  on  to  the  stone,  from  which  the  minute  granules  roll  off  ;  others 
pour  the  molten  copper  into  water  and  stir  it  until  it  is  resolved  into  granules. 
The  fire  does  not  easily  melt  the  copper  in  the  cupel  unless  it  has  been  poured 
and  a  thin  leaf  made  of  it,  or  unless  it  has  been  resolved  into  granules  or 
made  into  filings  ;  and  if  it  does  not  melt,  all  the  labour  has  been  undertaken 
in  vain.  In  order  that  they  may  be  accurately  weighed  out,  silver  and  lead 
are  resolved  into  granules  in  the  same  manner  as  copper.  But  to  return 
to  the  assay  of  copper.  When  the  copper  has  been  prepared  by  these 
methods,  if  it  is  free  of  lead  and  iron,  and  rich  in  silver,  to  each  centumpon- 
dium  (lesser  weights)  add  one  and  a  half  undue  of  lead  (larger  weights).  If, 
however,  the  copper  contains  some  lead,  add  one  uncia  of  lead  ;  if  it  contains 
iron,  add  two  undue.  First  put  the  lead  into  a  cupel,  and  after  it  begins 
to  smoke,  add  the  copper  ;  the  fire  generally  consumes  the  copper,  together 
with  the  lead,  in  about  one  hour  and  a  quarter.  When  this  is  done,  the  silver 


BOOK     VII.  251 

will  be  found  in  the  bottom  of  the  cupel.  The  fire  consumes  both  of  those 
metals  more  quickly  if  they  are  heated  in  that  furnace  which  draws  in  air.  It 
is  better  to  cover  the  upper  half  of  it  with  a  lid,  and  not  only  to  put  on  the 
muffle  door,  but  also  to  close  the  window  of  the  muffle  door  with  a  piece  of 
charcoal,  or  with  a  piece  of  brick.  If  the  copper  be  such  that  the  silver  can 
only  be  separated  from  it  with  difficulty,  then  before  it  is  tested  with  fire  in 
the  cupel,  lead  should  first  be  put  into  the  scorifier,  and  then  the  copper  should 
be  added  with  a  moderate  quantity  of  melted  salt,  both  that  the  lead  may 
absorb  the  copper  and  that  the  copper  may  be  cleansed  of  the  dross  which 
abounds  in  it. 

Tin  which  contains  silver  should  not  at  the  beginning  of  the  assay  be 
placed  in  a  cupel,  lest  the  silver,  as  often  happens,  be  consumed  and  converted 
into  fumes,  together  with  the  tin.  As  soon  as  the  lead35  has  begun  to  fume 
in  the  scorifier,  then  add  that36  to  it.  In  this  way  the  lead  will  take  the 
silver  and  the  tin  will  boil  and  turn  into  ashes,  which  may  be  removed  with  a 
wooden  splinter.  The  same  thing  occurs  if  any  alloy  is  melted  in  which  there 
is  tin.  When  the  lead  has  absorbed  the  silver  which  was  in  the  tin,  then, 
and  not  till  then,  it  is  heated  in  the  cupel.  First  place  the  lead  with  which 
the  silver  is  mixed,  in  an  iron  pan,  and  stand  it  on  a  hot  furnace  and  let  it 
rnelt ;  afterward  pour  this  lead  into  a  small  iron  mould,  and  then  beat  it 
out  with  a  hammer  on  an  anvil  and  make  it  into  leaves  in  the  same  way  as 
the  copper.  Lastly,  place  it  in  the  cupel,  which  assay  can  be  carried  out  in 
the  space  of  half  an  hour.  A  great  heat  is  harmful  to  it,  for  which  reason 
there  is  no  necessity  either  to  cover  the  half  of  the  furnace  with  a  lid  or  to 
close  up  its  mouth. 

The  minted  metal  alloys,  which  are  known  as  money,  are  assayed  in  the 
following  way.  The  smaller  silver  coins  which  have  been  picked  out  from 
the  bottom  and  top  and  sides  of  a  heap  are  first  carefully  cleansed  ;  then,  after 
they  have  been  melted  in  the  triangular  crucible,  they  are  either  resolved 
into  granules,  or  made  into  thin  leaves.  As  for  the  large  coins  which  weigh 
a  drachma,  a  sicilicus,  half  an  uncia,  or  an  uncia,  beat  them  into  leaves. 
Then  take  a  bes  of  the  granules,  or  an  equal  weight  of  the  leaves,  and  likewise 
take  another  bes  in  the  same  way.  Wrap  each  sample  separately  in  paper, 
and  afterwards  place  two  small  pieces  of  lead  in  two  cupels  which  have  first 
been  heated.  The  more  precious  the  money  is,  the  smaller  portion  of  lead 
do  we  require  for  the  assay,  the  more  base,  the  larger  is  the  portion  required  ; 
for  if  a  bes  of  silver  is  said  to  contain  only  half  an  uncia  or  one  uncia  of  copper, 
we  add  to  the  bes  of  granules  half  an  uncia  of  lead.  If  it  is  composed  of  equal 
parts  of  silver  and  copper,  we  add  an  uncia  of  lead,  but  if  in  a  bes  of  copper 
there  is  only  half  an  uncia  or  one  uncia  of  silver,  we  add  an  uncia  and  a  half 
of  lead.  As  soon  as  the  lead  has  begun  to  fume,  put  into  each  cupel  one  of 
the  papers  in  which  is  wrapped  the  sample  of  silver  alloyed  with  copper,  and 
close  the  mouth  of  the  muffle  with  charcoal.  Heat  them  with  a  gentle  fire 
until  all  the  lead  and  copper  are  consumed,  for  a  hot  fire  by  its  heat  forces  the 

8BLead  and  Tin  seem  badly  mixed  in  this  paragraph. 
88It  is  not  clear  what  is  added. 


252 


BOOK    VII. 


silver,  combined  with  a  certain  portion  of  lead,  into  the  cupel,  in  which  way 
the  assay  is  rendered  erroneous.  Then  take  the  beads  out  of  the  cupel  and 
clean  them  of  dross.  If  neither  depresses  the  pan  of  the  balance  in  which  it 
is  placed,  but  their  weight  is  equal,  the  assay  has  been  free  from  error  ;  but 
if  one  bead  depresses  its  pan,  then  there  is  an  error,  for  which  reason  the 
assay  must  be  repeated.  If  the  bes  of  coin  contains  but  seven  unciae  of 
pure  silver  it  is  because  the  King,  or  Prince,  or  the  State  who  coins  the  money, 
has  taken  one  uncia,  which  he  keeps  partly  for  profit  and  partly  for  the 
expense  of  coining,  he  having  added  copper  to  the  silver.  Of  all  these 
matters  I  have  written  extensively  in  my  book  De  Precio  Metallorum  et 
Monetis. 

We  assay  gold  coins  in  various  ways.  If  there  is  copper  mixed  with 
the  gold,  we  melt  them  by  fire  in  the  same  way  as  silver  coins  ;  if  there  is 
silver  mixed  with  the  gold,  they  are  separated  by  the  strongest  aqua  valens  ; 
if  there  is  copper  and  silver  mixed  with  the  gold,  then  in  the  first  place,  after 
the  addition  of  lead,  they  are  heated  in  the  cupel  until  the  fire  consumes  the 
copper  and  the  lead,  and  afterward  the  gold  is  parted  from  the  silver. 

It  remains  to  speak  of  the  touchstone37  with  which  gold  and  silver  are 
tested,  and  which  was  also  used  by  the  Ancients.  For  although  the  assay  made 
by  fire  is  more  certain,  still,  since  we  often  have  no  furnace,  nor  muffle,  nor 
crucibles,  or  some  delay  must  be  occasioned  in  using  them,  we  can  always 
rub  gold  or  silver  on  the  touchstone,  which  we  can  have  in  readiness. 
Further,  when  gold  corns  are  assayed  in  the  fire,  of  what  use  are  they  after- 
ward ?  A  touchstone  must  be  selected  which  is  thoroughly  black  and  free 
of  sulphur,  for  the  blacker  it  is  and  the  more  devoid  of  sulphur,  the  better  it 


"HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  TOUCHSTONE  (Coticula.  Interpretatio, — Goldstein).  Theophrastus 
is,  we  believe,  the  first  to  describe  the  touchstone,  although  it  was  generally  known  to  the 
Greeks,  as  is  evidenced  by  the  metaphors  of  many  of  the  poets, — Pindar,  Theognis,  Euripides,  etc. 
The  general  knowledge  of  the  constituents  of  alloys  which  is  implied,  raises  the  question  as 
to  whether  the  Greeks  did  not  know  a  great  deal  more  about  parting  metals,  than  has  been 
attributed  to  them.  Theophrastus  says  (78-80)  :  "  The  nature  of  the  stone  which  tries 
'  gold  is  also  very  wonderful,  as  it  seems  to  have  the  same  power  with  fire  ;  which  is  also 
'  a  test  of  that  metal.  Some  people  have  for  this  reason  questioned  the  truth  of  this  power 
'  in  the  stone,  but  their  doubts  are  ill-founded,  for  this  trial  is  not  of  the  same  nature  or 
'  made  in  the  same  manner  as  the  other.  The  trial  by  fire  is  by  the  colour  and  by  the 
'  quantity  lost  by  it ;  but  that  by  the  stone  is  made  only  by  rubbing  the  metal  on  it ;  the 
'  stone  seeming  to  have  the  power  to  receive  separately  the  distinct  particles  of  different 
'  metals.  It  is  said  also  that  there  is  a  much  better  kind  of  this  stone  now  found  out,  than 
'  that  which  was  formerly  used  ;  insomuch  that  it  now  serves  not  only  for  the  trial  of  refined 
'  gold,  but  also  of  copper  or  silver  coloured  with  gold  ;  and  shows  how  much  of  the 
'  adulterating  matter  by  weight  is  mixed  with  gold  ;  this  has  signs  which  it  yields  from 
'  the  smallest  weight  of  the  adulterating  matter,  which  is  a  grain,  from  thence  a  colybus, 
'  and  thence  a  quadrans  or  semi-obolus,  by  which  it  is  easy  to  distinguish  if,  and  in  what 
'  degree,  that  metal  is  adulterated.  All  these  stones  are  found  in  the  River  Tmolus  ;  their 
'  texture  is  smooth  and  like  that  of  pebbles  ;  their  figure  broad,  not  round  ;  and  their 
'  bigness  twice  that  of  the  common  larger  sort  of  pebbles.  In  their  use  in  the  trial  of  metals 
'  there  is  a  difference  in  power  between  their  upper  surface,  which  has  lain  toward  the  sun, 
'  and  their  under,  which  has  been  to  the  earth  ;  the  upper  performing  its  office  the  more 
'  nicely  ;  and  this  is  consonant  to  reason,  as  the  upper  part  is  dryer  ;  for  the  humidity  of 
'  the  other  surface  hinders  its  receiving  so  well  the  particles  of  metals  ;  for  the  same  reason 
'  also  it  does  not  perform  its  office  as  well  in  hot  weather  as  in  colder,  for  in  the  hot  it  emits 
'  a  kind  of  humidity  out  of  its  substance,  which  runs  all  over  it.  This  hinders  the  metalline 
'  particles  from  adhering  perfectly,  and  makes  mistakes  in  the  trials.  This  exudation  of  a 
'  humid  matter  is  also  common  to  many  other  stones,  among  others,  to  those  of  which 
'  statues  are  made  ;  and  this  has  been  looked  on  as  peculiar  to  the  statue."  (Based  on 


BOOK    VII. 


253 


generally  is  ;  I  have  written  elsewhere  of  its  nature38.  First  the  gold  is 
rubbed  on  the  touchstone,  whether  it  contains  silver  or  whether  it  is  obtained 
from  the  mines  or  from  the  smelting  ;  silver  also  is  rubbed  in  the  same 
way.  Then  one  of  the  needles,  that  we  judge  by  its  colour  to  be  of  similar 
composition,  is  rubbed  on  the  touchstone  ;  if  this  proves  too  pale,  another 
needle  which  has  a  stronger  colour  is  rubbed  on  the  touchstone  ;  and  if  this 
proves  too  deep  in  colour,  a  third  which  has  a  little  paler  colour  is  used.  For 
this  will  show  us  how  great  a  proportion  of  silver  or  copper,  or  silver  and 
copper  together,  is  in  the  gold,  or  else  how  great  a  proportion  of  copper  is  in 
silver. 

These  needles  are  of  four  kinds.39  The  first  kind  are  made  of  gold  and 
silver,  the  second  of  gold  and  copper,  the  third  of  gold,  silver,  and  copper, 
and  the  fourth  of  silver  and  copper.  The  first  three  kinds  of  needles  are 
used  principally  for  testing  gold,  and  the  fourth  for  silver.  Needles  of  this 
kind  are  prepared  in  the  following  ways.  The  lesser  weights  correspond 
proportionately  to  the  larger  weights,  and  both  of  them  are  used,  not 
only  by  mining  people,  but  by  coiners  also.  The  needles  are  made  in 
accordance  with  the  lesser  weights,  and  each  set  corresponds  to  a  bes, 
which,  in  our  own  vocabulary,  is  called  a  mark.  The  bes,  which  is  employed 
by  those  who  coin  gold,  is  divided  into  twenty-four  double  sextulae,  which 


Hill's  trans.)     This  humid  "exudation  of  fine-grained  stones  in  summer"  would  not  sound 

abnormal    if   it    were    called  condensation.      Pliny   (xxxm,   43)  says:    "The  mention    of 

'  gold   and   silver   should   be    accompanied  by  that  of  the  stone  called  coticula.     Formerly, 

'  according  to  Theophrastus,  it  was  only  to  be  found  in  the  river  Tmolus   but  now  found  in 

'  many  parts,  it  was  found  in  small  pieces  never  over  four  inches  long  by  two  broad.       That 

'  side  which  lay  toward  the  sun  is  better  than  that  toward  the  ground.     Those  experienced 

'  with  the  coticula  when  they  rub  ore  (vena)  with  it,  can  at  once  say  how  much  gold  it  contains, 

'  how  much  silver  or  copper.     This  method  is  so  accurate  that  they  do  not  mistake  it  to  a 

'  scruple."     This  purported  use  for  determining  values  of  ore  is   of  about  Pliny's  average 

accuracy.     The  first  detailed  account  of  touchneedles  and  their  manner  of  making,  which  we 

have  been  able  to  find,  is  that  of  the  Probierbuchlein  (1527?  see  Appendix)  where  many  of  the 

tables  given  by  Agricola  may  be  found. 

3*De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  267)  and  De  Ortu  et  Causis  Subterraneorum  (p.  59).  The 
author  does  not  add  any  material  mineralogical  information  to  the  quotations  from 
Theophrastus  and  Pliny  given  above. 

39In  these  tables  Agricola  has  simply  adopted  Roman  names  as  equivalents  of  the 
old  German  weights,  but  as  they  did  not  always  approximate  in  proportions,  he  coined  terms 
such  as  "  units  of  4  siliquae,"  etc.  It  might  seem  more  desirable  to  have  introduced 
the  German  terms  into  this  text,  but  while  it  would  apply  in  this  instance,  as  we  have 
discussed  on  p.  259,  the  actual  values  of  the  Roman  weights  are  very  different  from  the 
German,  and  as  elsewhere  in  the  book  actual  Roman  weights  are  applied,  we  have  con- 
sidered it  better  to  use  the  Latin  terms  consistently  throughout.  Further,  the  obsolete 
German  would  be  to  most  readers  but  little  improvement  upon  the  Latin.  For  convenience 
of  readers  we  set  out  the  various  scales  as  used  by  Agricola,  together  with  the  German  : — 
ROMAN  SCALE.  OLD  GERMAN  SCALE. 


6  Siliquae 
4  Scripula 
2  Sextulae 
24  Duellae 


3  Scripula 
2  'Drachmae          « 
2  Sicilici 

16  Semunciae         » 
The  term  "  nummus, 


i  Scripulum     . .         3  Grenlin  =  i  Gran 

i  Sextula  . .         4  Gran  =  I  Krat 

i  Duella  . .       24  Kratt  =  i  Mark 

i  Bes  or 

24  Grenlin  =  i  "  Nummus  " 

12  "  Nummi  "     =  i  Mark. 
Also  the  following  scales  are  applied  to  fineness  by  Agricola  : — 

i  Drachma        . .         4  Pfennige  =  i  Quintlein 

I  Sicilicus         . .         4  Quintlein          =  i  Loth 

i  Semuncia      . .       16  Loth  =  i  Mark 

I  Bes 
a  coin,  given  above  and  in  the  text,  appears  in  the  German 


ranslation  as  pfennig  as  applied  to  both  German  scales,  but  as  they  are  of  different  values, 
'9 


254 


BOOK    VII. 


are  now  called  after  the  Greek  name  ceratia  ;  and  each  double  sextula  is 
divided  into  four  semi-sextulae,  which  are  called  granas  ;  and  each  semi-sextula 
is  divided  into  three  units  of  four  siliquae  each,  of  which  each  unit  is  called 
a  grenlin.  If  we  made  the  needles  to  be  each  four  siliquae,  there  would  be 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  in  a  bes,  but  if  each  were  made  to  be  a  semi-sextula 
or  a  double  scripula,  then  there  would  be  ninety-six  in  a  bes.  By  these  two 
methods  too  many  needles  would  be  made,  and  the  majority  of  them,  by  reason 
of  the  small  difference  in  the  proportion  of  the  gold,  would  indicate  nothing, 
therefore  it  is  advisable  to  make  them  each  of  a  double  sextula  ;  in  this  waj 
twenty-four  needles  are  made,  of  which  the  first  is  made  of  twenty-three 
duellae  of  silver  and  one  of  gold.  Fannius  is  our  authority  that  the  Ancients 
called  the  double  sextula  a  duella.  When  a  bar  of  silver  is  rubbed  on  the 
touchstone  and  colours  it  just  as  this  needle  does,  it  contains  one  duella  of  gold. 
In  this  manner  we  determine  by  the  other  needles  what  proportion  of  gold 
there  is,  or  when  the  gold  exceeds  the  silver  in  weight,  what  proportion  of 
silver. 

The  needles  are  made*0 : — 

The    ist  needle  of   23  duellae  of  silver  and    i  duella  of  gold. 


2nd 
3rd 
4th 
5th 
6th 
7th 
8th 


22 
21 
20 

19 

18 

17 
16 


2  duellae  of  gold. 

O  »  M 

4  »  » 

D  ii  »> 

6 

7  »  » 
8 


Roman  Term. 
Siliqua 
"  Unit  of  4  Siliquae  " 


we  have  left  Agricola's  adaptation  in  one  scale  to  avoid  confusion.     The  Latin  terms  adopted 
by  Agricola  are  given  below,  together  with  the  German  : — 

Number  in  one  Value  in 

German  Term.  Mark  or  Bes.  Siliquae. 

1152          ..  I 

Grenlin  . .  288         . .               4 

Pfennig  . .  256 

Scruple  (?)  ..  192 

Gran  . .            96 

Quintlein  . .             64 

Halb  Kraf  ..            48 

Halb  Loth  ..             32 

Krai  . .             24 

Loth  16 


Scripulum 

Semi-sextula 

Drachma 

Sextula 

Sicilicus 

Duella 

Semuncia 

"  Unit  of  5  Drachmae  <§•  i 

Scripulum  " 
Uncia 
Bes 


6 

12 

18 

24 
36 

48 
72 


96 

144 

1152 


"  Nummus  "       . .  12 

Untzen  . .  8 

Mark  . .  i 

While  the  proportions  in  a  bes  or  mark  are  the  same  in  both  scales,  the  actual  weight 
values  are  vastly  different — for  instance,  the  mark  contained  about  3609.6,  and  the  bes 
3297  Troy  Grains.  Agricola  also  uses  : 

Selibra  Halb-pfundt 

Libra  Pfundt 

Centumpondium       Centner. 

As  the  Roman  libra  contains  12  unciae  and  the  German  pfundt  16  untzen,  the  actual  weights  of 
these  latter  quantities  are  still  further  apart — the  former  4946  and  the  latter  7219  Troy 
grains. 

There  are  no  tables  in  the  Latin  text,  the  whole  having  been  written  out  in  extenso, 
but  they  have  now  been  arranged  as  above,  as  being  in  a  much  more  convenient  and  expressive 
form. 


BOOK    VII. 

The  gth  needle  of  15  duellae  of  silver  and    9  duellae  of  gold. 


255 


II 

II 


loth 

M 

14 

nth 

99 

13 

1  2th 

99 

12 

I3th 

99 

II 

I4th 

99 

IO 

I5th 

99 

9 

i6th 

99 

8 

i7th 

99 

7 

i8th 

99 

6 

igth 

99 

5 

20th 

99 

4 

2ISt 

99 

3 

22nd 

99 

2 

23rd 

99 

I 

24th 

,, 

P1 

II 
II 


II 
II 


II 
II 


10 
ii 

12 
13 
14 
15 

16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 
23 


II 
II 
II 
II 


II 
II 


II 
II 


» 

l> 


pure  gold 


By  the  first  eleven  needles,  when  they  are  rubbed  on  the  touchstone,  we 
test  what  proportion  of  gold  a  bar  of  silver  contains,  and  with  the  remaining 
thirteen  we  test  what  proportion  of  silver  is  in  a  bar  of  gold ;  and  also  what 
proportion  of  either  may  be  in  money. 

Since  some  gold  coins  are  composed  of  gold  and  copper,  thirteen  needles 
of  another  kind  are  made  as  follows  : — 


256 


BOOK     VII. 


The    ist  of  12  duellae  of  gold  and  12  duellae  of  copper. 


10 


» 

»• 


9 

O 

7 

5 
4 


2nd  ,,  13 

,,      3rd  „  14 

„      4th  „  15 
5th  „  16 

„      6th  „   17 

„      7th  ,,  18 

„      8th  „  IQ 

„      gth  „  20 

„     loth  „  21 

„     nth  „  22 

„     i2th  „  23 

„     I3th  „  pure  gold. 

These  needles  are  not  much  used,  because  gold  coins  of  that  kind  are 
somewhat  rare  ;  the  ones  chiefly  used  are  those  in  which  there  is  much 
copper.  Needles  of  the  third  kind,  which  are  composed  of  gold,  silver,  and 
copper,  are  more  largely  used,  because  such  gold  coins  are  common.  But  since 
with  the  gold  there  are  mixed  equal  or  unequal  portions  of  silver  and  copper, 
two  sorts  of  needles  are  made.  If  the  proportion  of  silver  and  copper  is 
equal,  the  needles  are  as  follows  : — 

Gold.  Silver. 

The    ist  of     12  duellae     6  duellae  o  sextula 


» 
t> 


2nd  „  13  „  5 

3rd  „  14  „  5 

4th  „  15  „  4 

5th  „  16  „  4 

6th  „  17  „  3 

7th  „  18  „  3 

8th  „  19  „  2 

gth  „  20  „  2 

loth  ,,  21  ,,  i 

Ilth    „  22  „  I 

I2th  „  23  i 

I3th  „  pure  gold. 


Copper. 

6  duellae  o  sextula 

5  „        i 

5  „ 

4  „        i 

4  ,, 

3  .,        i 

3  tt 

2  „        i 

2 

I  „      I 

I 


Some  make  twenty-five  needles,  in  order  to  be  able  to  detect  the  two 
scripula  of  silver  or  copper  which  are  in  a  bes  of  gold.  Of  these  needles,  the 
first  is  composed  of  twelve  duellae  of  gold  and  six  of  silver,  and  the  same 
number  of  copper.  The  second,  of  twelve  duellae  and  one  sextula  of  gold,  and 
five  duellae  and  one  and  a  half  sextulae  of  silver,  and  the  same  number  of 
duellae  and  one  and  a  half  sextulae  of  copper.  The  remaining  needles  are 
made  in  the  same  proportion. 

Pliny  is  our  authority  that  the  Romans  could  tell  to  within  one  scripulum 
how  much  gold  was  in  any  given  alloy,  and  how  much  silver  or  copper. 

Needles  may  be  made  in  either  of  two  ways,  namely,  in  the  ways  of  which 
I  have  spoken,  and  in  the  ways  of  which  I  am  now  about  to  speak.  If 


BOOK     VII.  257 

unequal  portions  of  silver  and  copper  have  been  mixed  with  the  gold,  thirty- 
seven  needles  are  made  in  the  following  way  : — 


Gold. 

Silver. 

Copper. 

Duellae.              Duellat 

r    ^  "  Siliquae. 
ulae 

Duellae 

«S£  ' 

>iliqt 

The 

ISt 

of 

12 

9 

o 

0 

3 

o 

0 

ii 

2nd 

ii 

12 

8 

o 

0 

4 

0 

0 

" 

3rd 

1  1 

12 

7 

5 

11 

4th 

11 

13 

8 

^ 

2 

1 

ii 

5th 

1  1 

13 

7 

$ 

4 

3 

I 

8 

i  t 

6th 

>  i 

13 

6 

* 

8 

4 

I 

4 

7th 

1  1 

14 

7 

i 

2 

I 

,, 

8th 

,; 

14 

6 

i 

8 

3 

i 

4 

»  i 

9th 

» 

14 

5 

Ii 

4 

4 

8 

1  1 

loth 

11 

15 

6 

Ii 

2 

} 

t  » 

nth 

1  1 

15 

6 

3 

ii 

I2th 

11 

15 

5 

* 

3 

ii 

„ 

I3th 

11 

16 

6 

2 

»i 

I4th 

11 

16 

5 

1 

4 

2 

i 

8 

1  1 

i5th 

II 

16 

4 

i 

8 

3 

\ 

4 

tt 

i6th 

tt 

17 

5 

| 

0 

I 

i£ 

tt 

i7th 

tt 

17 

4 

i 

8 

2 

I 

4 

tt 

i8th 

it 

17 

4 

4 

2 

ii 

8 

tt 

1  9th 

1  1 

18 

4 

i 

I 

i 

1  1 

2Oth 

i  > 

18 

4 

0 

2 

i 

•' 

2ISt 

if 

18 

3 

r 

2 

11 

22nd 

ii 

19 

2 

ii 

I 

1 

it 

23rd 

1  1 

19 

3 

| 

4 

I 

i 

8 

tt 

24th 

» 

19 

2 

?i 

8 

2 

4 

t  > 

25th 

ii 

20 

3 

I 

tt 

26th 

1  1 

2O 

2 

i 

8 

I 

I 

4 

" 

27th 

1  1 

2O 

2 

* 

4 

I 

i 

8 

tt 

28th 

11 

21 

2 

I 

l| 

tt 

2gth 

,, 

21 

2 

I 

tt 

30th 

tt 

21 

I 

ii 

I 

* 

tt 

3  ist 

tt 

22 

I 

i 

I 

tt 

32nd 

tt 

22 

I 

\ 

4 

0 

i 

8 

1  1 

33rd 

1  1 

22 

I 

8 

ij 

4 

M 

34th 

it 

23 

ii 

| 

11 

35th 

it 

23 

i 

8 

£ 

4 

1  1 

36th 

1  1 

23 

i 

4 

\ 

8 

37th  „    pure  gold. 


258 


BOOK    VII. 


Since  it  is  rarely  found  that  gold,  which  has  been  coined,  does  not  amount  to 
at  least  fifteen  duellae  of  gold  in  a  bes,  some  make  only  twenty -eight  needles,  and 
some  make  them  different  from  those  already  described,  inasmuch  as  the 
alloy  of  gold  with  silver  and  copper  is  sometimes  differently  proportioned. 


These  needles  are  made  : — 
Gold. 


Silver. 


The    ist  of 
„      2nd  „ 

,,      3rd  „ 

»  4th  „ 
„  5th  „ 
„  6th  „ 

„      7th  „ 

„  8th  „ 
„  9th  „ 

„    loth  „ 

„    nth  „ 

I2th  „ 


I4th  „ 


i6th 


i8th  „ 

igth  „ 

2Oth  „ 

2ISt  „ 

22nd  „ 

23rd  „ 

24th  „ 

25th  „ 

26th  „ 

27th  „ 

28th  „ 


Duellae. 

15 
15 
15 

16 
16 
16 

17 
17 
17 

18 
18 
18 

19 
19 

19 

20 
20 
20 

21 
21 
21 

22 

22 
22 

23 
23 
23 

pure  gold 


Duellae  ^Si 

%wa 

6          i 

8 

6 

4 

5            i 

6           i 

5         i 

8 

4          i£ 

8 

5          i 

4 

5 

4 

4          i 

4 

4          i 

4 

3          i 

3          i* 

4 

3           i 

4 

2             Ii 

4 

3 

2 

2 

2               i 

4 

I             ij 

4 

I             I 

8 

I             I 

8 

I             I 

I                i 

4 

4 

4 

I 

8 

Copper. 


Duellae     j~  Stiiquae. 


2 

2 

3 

I 

2 

3 

I 
I 

2 

I 
2 
2 

I 
I 

I 
I 
2 

I 
I 


8 

i 


4 

i 

8 


4 

8 


4 
4 

8 
8 
8 


8 
8 


8 
8 
4 


8 
4 


Next  follows  the  fourth  kind  of  needles,  by  which  we  test  silver  coins 
which  contain  copper,  or  copper  coins  which  contain  silver.  The  bes  by 
which  we  weigh  the  silver  is  divided  in  two  different  ways.  It  is  either 
divided  twelve  times,  into  units  of  five  drachmae  and  one  scripulum  each, 


BOOK    VII. 


259 


which  the  ordinary  people  call  nummi*1 ;  each  of  these  units  we  again  divide 
into  twenty-four  units  of  four  siliquae  each,  which  the  same  ordinary  people 
call  a  grenlin ;  or  else  the  bes  is  divided  into  sixteen  semunciae  which 
are  called  loths,  each  of  which  is  again  divided  into  eighteen  units  of  four 
siliquae  each,  which  they  call  grenlin.  Or  else  the  bes  is  divided  into 
sixteen  semunciae,  of  which  each  is  divided  into  four  drachmae,  and 
each  drachma  into  four  pfennige.  Needles  are  made  in  accordance  with 
each  method  of  dividing  the  bes.  According  to  the  first  method,  to  the 
number  of  twenty-four  half  nummi  ;  according  to  the  second  method,  to  the 
number  of  thirty-one  half  semunciae,  that  is  to  say  a  sicilicus  ;  for  if  the 
needles  were  made  to  the  number  of  the  smaller  weights,  the  number  of 
needles  would  again  be  too  large,  and  not  a  few  of  them,  by  reason  of  the 
small  difference  in  proportion  of  silver  or  copper,  would  have  no  significance. 
We  test  both  bars  and  coined  money  composed  of  silver  and  copper  by  both 
scales.  The  one  is  as  follows  :  the  first  needle  is  made  of  twenty-three 
parts  of  copper  and  one  part  silver ;  whereby,  whatsoever  bar  or  coin,  when 
rubbed  on  the  touchstone,  colours  it  just  as  this  needle  does,  in  that  bar  or 
money  there  is  one  twenty-fourth  part  of  silver,  and  so  also,  in  accordance 
with  the  proportion  of  silver,  is  known  the  remaining  proportion  of  the  copper. 


The    ist  needle  is  made  of  23  parts  of  copper  and  i  of  silver. 


2nd 
3rd 
4th 

5th 
6th 

7th 

8th 

9th 

zoth 

nth 

i2th 


i6th 


II 
II 
II 
II 
II 
II 


i8th 
igth 

20th 
2ISt 

22nd 
23rd 
24th  of  pure  silver. 


22 
21 
20 

19 

18 

17 
16 

15 
14 
13 

12 

II 
10 

9 
8 

7 
6 

5 
4 
3 

2 

I 


2 

3 
4 
5 
6 

7 
8 

9 
10 

ii 

12 

13 
14 
15 

16 

17 
18 

19 

20 
21 
22 
23 


41See  note  39  above. 


260 


BOOK    VII. 


The  other  method  of  making  needles  is  as  follows  : — 

Copper. 


Silver. 


Semunciae  SiciUci. 

fhe 

ist       is 

of 

15 

„ 

2nd      „ 

tt 

14 

I 

a 

3rd 

tt 

14 

4th       „ 

99 

13 

I 

„ 

5th      „ 

99 

13 

., 

6th      „ 

99 

12 

I 

7th      „ 

t  t 

12 

,, 

8th      „ 

j  ) 

II 

I 

» 

9th      „ 

tt 

II 

t> 

loth      „ 

tt 

IO 

I 

,, 

nth 

tt 

IO 

» 

i2th      „ 

9 

9 

I 

i3th      „ 

99 

9 

il 

I4th      „ 

99 

8 

I 

1C  t  M 

8 

i> 

"}  L  J  1                  |  ( 

99 

II 

i6th      „ 

99 

7 

I 

it 

i7th      „ 

99 

7 

ii 

i8th      „ 

tt 

6 

I 

ii 

igth     „ 

tt 

6 

ii 

20th        „ 

99 

5 

I 

ii 

2ISt 

99 

5 

ii 

22nd      „ 

t  ) 

4 

I 

ii 

23rd 

tt 

4 

ii 

24th 

tt 

3 

I 

it 

25th      „ 

j  t 

3 

ii 

26th         „ 

tt 

2 

I 

ii 

27th      „ 

tt 

2 

ii 

28th         „ 

tt 

I 

I 

ii 

2Qth        „ 

tt 

I 

it 

30th       „ 

tt 

I 

11 

3ist  of  pure 

silver. 

Semunciae  Sicilici 

I 

1  I 

2 

2  I 
3 

3  i 


5 
6 
6 

7 

7 
8 

8 

9 
9 

10 
10 
ii 

ii 

12 
12 

13 
13 
14 

14 
15 
15 


So  much  for  this.  Perhaps  I  have  used  more  words  than  those  most 
highly  skilled  in  the  art  may  require,  but  it  is  necessary  for  the  understanding 
of  these  matters. 

I  will  now  speak  of  the  weights,  of  which  I  have  frequently  made  mention. 
Among  mining  people  these  are  of  two  kinds,  that  is,  the  greater  weights  and 
the  lesser  weights.  The  centumpondium  is  the  first  and  largest  weight,  and  of 


BOOK     VII. 


261 


course   consists   of   one   hundred   librae,    and    for   that    reason    is    called  a 
hundred  weight. 

The  various  weights  are  :— 

ist   =  100  librae  =  centumpondium. 

2nd  =     50 

3rd  =     52       „ 


4th  = 

5th  = 

6th  = 

7th  = 

8th  = 


16 
8 

4 
2 
i 


libra. 


This  libra  consists  of  sixteen  unciae,  and  the  half  part  of  the  libra  is 
the  selibra,  which  our  people  call  a  mark,  and  consists  of  eight  unciae,  or,  as 
they  divide  it,  of  sixteen  semunciae  :— 


o,th  = 
loth  = 
nth  = 

I2th   =   2 

I3th  =  I 
I4th  =  i 
1  5th  =  i 
i6th  =  i 


8  unciae. 
8  semunciae. 
4 


semunca. 

sicilicus. 

drachma. 

dimidi-drachma. 

The  above  is  how  the  "greater"  weights  are  divided.  The  "lesser" 
weights  are  made  of  silver  or  brass  or  copper.  Of  these,  the  first  and  largest 
generally  weighs  one  drachma,  for  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  weigh,  not  only 
ore,  but  also  metals  to  be  assayed,  and  smaller  quantities  of  lead.  The  first 
of  these  weights  is  called  a  centumpondium  and  the  number  of  librae  in  it 
corresponds  to  the  larger  scale,  being  likewise  one  hundred42. 
The  ist  is  called  i  centumpondium. 


50  librae. 

25      „ 

16  „ 
,,  8  ,, 
»  4  » 

»  2        ,, 

»  -^        j> 

,,          i  selibra. 
,,  8  semunciae. 

,,  4  » 

»  2  ,, 

ti  -^  j* 

1 4th        „          i  sicilicus. 
The  fourteenth  is  the  last,  for  the  proportionate  weights  which  correspond 
with  a  drachma  and  half  a  drachma  are  not  used.     On  all  these  weights  of 
the  lesser  scale,  are  written  the  numbers  of  librae  and  of  semunciae.      Some 


2nd 

3rd 

4th 

5th 

6th 

7th 

8th 

9th 

loth 

nth 

i2th 


42See  note  27,  p.  242,  for  discussion  of  this  "  Assay  ton  "  arrangement. 


262 


BOOK    VII. 


copper  assayers  divide  both  the  lesser  and  greater  scale  weights  into  divisions 
of  a  different  scale.  Their  largest  weight  of  the  greater  scale  weighs  one 
hundred  and  twelve  librae,  which  is  the  first  unit  of  measurement. 


ist 

2nd 

3rd 

4th 

5th 

6th 

yth 

8th 

gth 

loth 

nth 

I2th 


112  librae. 
64     „ 

32      „ 

16     „ 

8     „ 

4  „ 
2  „ 
i  „ 

1  selibra  or  sixteen  semunciae. 
8  semunciae. 

4 

2  „ 


100 


IB 


As  for  the  selibra  of  the  lesser  weights,  which  our  people,  as  I  have  often 
said,  call  a  mark,  and  the  Romans  call  a  bes,  coiners  who  coin  gold,  divide  it 
just  like  the  greater  weights  scale,  into  twenty-four  units  of  two  sextulae 
each,  and  each  unit  of  two  sextulae  is  divided  into  four  semi-sextulae  and 
each  semi-sextula  into  three  units  of  four  siliquae  each.  Some  also  divide 
the  separate  units  of  four  siliquae  into  four  individual  siliquae,  but  most, 
omitting  the  semi-sextulae,  then  divide  the  double  sextula  into  twelve  units  of 
four  siliquae  each,  and  do  not  divide  these  into  four  individual  siliquae.  Thus 
the  first  and  greatest  unit  of  measurement,  which  is  the  bes,  weighs  twenty- 
four  double  sextulae. 


BOOK    VII. 


263 


The    2nd  =  12  double  sextulae. 

„      3rd  =  6      „ 

„      4th  =  3       „ 

„      5th  =  2       „ 

6th  =  i 

„      7th  =  2  semi-sextulae  or  four  semi-sextulae. 

,,      8th  =  i  semi-sextula  or  3  units  of  4  siliquae  each. 

„      gth  =  2  units  of  four  siliquae  each. 

„     loth  =  i 

Coiners  who  mint  silver  also  divide  the  bes  of  the  lesser  weights  in  the  same 
way  as  the  greater  weights  ;  our  people,  indeed,  divide  it  into  sixteen  sem- 
unciae,  and  the  semuncia  into  eighteen  units  of  four  siliquae  each. 

There  are  ten  weights  which  are  placed  in  the  other  pan  of  the  balance, 
when  they  weigh  the  silver  which  remains  from  the  copper  that  has  been 
consumed,  when  they  assay  the  alloy  with  fire. 
The    ist    =  16  semunciae  =  i  bes. 
„      2nd  =8 
„      3rd    =4 
„      4th    =2 

„      5th    =i          „          or  18  units  of  4  siliquae  each. 
,,      6th    =    9  units  of  4  siliquae  each. 
7th    =    6 
8th    =    3 
„      gth    =    2 
„    loth   =    i 

The  corners  of  Nuremberg  who  mint  silver,  divide  the  bes  into  sixteen  sem- 
unciae, but  divide  the  semuncia  into  four  drachmae,  and  the  drachma  into 
four  pfennige.     They  employ  nine  weights. 
The  ist   =  16  semunciae. 

„     2nd  =8          „ 

„     3rd  =4 

„     4th  =2 

„     5th  =    i 

For  they  divide  the  bes  in  the  same  way  as  our  own  people,  but  since  they 
divide  the  semuncia  into  four  drachmae, 

the  6th  weight    =  2  drachmae. 

„     7th      „         =i  drachma  or  4  pfennige. 

„     8th      „         =2  pfennige. 

„     gth      „         =i  pfennig 

The  men  of  Cologne  and  Antwerp43  divide  the  bes  into  twelve  units  of 
five  drachmae  and  one  scripulum,  which  weights  they  call  nummi.  Each 
of  these  they  again  divide  into  twenty-four  units  of  four  siliquae  each, 
which  they  call  grenlins.  They  have  ten  weights,  of  which 


t3Agrippinenses  and  Antugrpiani. 


264 


BOOK     VII. 


=  i  bes. 


12  numm 
6 
3 
2 

1  ^24  units  of  4  siliquae  each. 
12  units  of  4  siliquae  each. 

6       „  ,, 

3       „ 

2  „ 


sicilici. 


the  ist 

„     2nd 

„     3rd 

„     4th 

„     5th 

„     6th 

„     7th 

„     8th 

„     gth 

„  loth     =     i 

And  so  with  them,  just  as  with  our  own  people,  the  mark  is  divided  into 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  grenlins,  and  by  the  people  of  Nuremberg  it  is 
divided  into  two  hundred  and  fifty-six  pfennige.  Lastly,  the  Venetians  divide 
the  bes  into  eight  undue.  The  uncia  into  four  sicilici,  the  sicilicus  into 
thirty-six  siliquae.  They  make  twelve  weights,  which  they  use  whenever  they 
wish  to  assay  alloys  of  silver  and  copper.  Of  these 
the  ist  =  8  unciae  =  i  bes. 

„      2nd  = 

,.      3rd  = 

,,      4th  = 

„      5th  = 

„      6th  = 

„      7th  - 

„      8th  - 

„      9th  = 

„    loth  = 

„    nth  = 

„    i2th  = 

Since  the  Venetians  divide  the  bes  into  eleven  hundred  and  fifty-two  siliquae, 
or  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  units  of  4  siliquae  each,  into  which  number 
our  people  also  divide  the  bes,  they  thus  make  the  same  number  of  siliquae, 
and  both  agree,  even  though  the  Venetians  divide  the  bes  into  smaller 
divisions. 

This,  then,  is  the  system  of  weights,  both  of  the  greater  and  the  lesser  kinds, 
which  metallurgists  employ,  and  likewise  the  system  of  the  lesser  weights 
which  coiners  and  merchants  employ,  when  they  are  assaying  metals  and 
coined  money.  The  bes  of  the  larger  weight  with  which  they  provide  them- 
selves when  they  weigh  large  masses  of  these  things,  I  have  explained  in  my 
work  De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus,  and  in  another  book,  De  Precio  Metallorum 
et  Monetis. 

There  are  three  small  balances  by  which  we  weigh  ore,  metals,  and 
fluxes.  The  first,  by  which  we  weigh  lead  and  fluxes,  is  the  largest  among  these 
smaller  balances,  and  when  eight  unciae  (of  the  greater  weights)  are  placed  in 
one  of  its  pans,  and  the  same  number  in  the  other,  it  sustains  no  damage. 
The  second  is  more  delicate,  and  by  this  we  weigh  the  ore  or  the  metal,  which 
is  to  be  assayed  ;  this  is  well  able  to  carry  one  centumpondium  of  the  lesser 


4       » 

2         „ 

1  „       or  4 

2  sicilici. 

1  sicilicus. 
1 8  siliquae. 

9       ., 
6       „ 

3  » 

2  „ 

i 


BOOK    VII. 


265 


weights  in  one  pan,  and  in  the  other,  ore  or  metal  as  heavy  as  that  weight. 
The  third  is  the  most  delicate,  and  by  this  we  weigh  the  beads  of  gold  or 
silver,  which,  when  the  assay  is  completed,  settle  in  the  bottom  of  the  cupel. 
But  if  anyone  weighs  lead  in  the  second  balance,  or  an  ore  in  the  third,  he 
will  do  them  much  injury. 

Whatsoever  small  amount  of  metal  is  obtained  from  a  centumpondium 
of  the  lesser  weights  of  ore  or  metal  alloy,  the  same  greater  weight  of  metal 
is  smelted  from  a  centumpondium  of  the  greater  weight  of  ore  or  metal  alloy. 


A— FIRST  SMALL  BALANCE.     B — SECOND.    C — THIRD,  PLACED  IN  A  CASE. 


END     OF    BOOK    VII. 


BOOK    VIII. 

UESTIONS  of  assaying  were  explained  in  the  last 
Book,  and  I  have  now  come  to  a  greater  task,  that 
is,  to  the  description  of  how  we  extract  the  metals. 
First  of  all  I  will  explain  the  method  of  preparing 
the  ore1 ;  for  since  Nature  usually  creates  metals 
in  an  impure  state,  mixed  with  earth,  stones,  and 
solidified  juices,  it  is  necessary  to  separate  most  of 
these  impurities  from  the  ores  as  far  as  can  be, 
before  they  are  smelted,  and  therefore  I  will  now 
describe  the  methods  by  which  the  ores  are  sorted,  broken  with  hammers, 
burnt,  crushed  with  stamps,  ground  into  powder,  sifted,  washed,  roasted, 
and  calcined2. 


xAs  would  be  expected,  practically  all  the  technical  terms  used  by  Agricola  in  this 
chapter  are  adaptations.  The  Latin  terms,  canalis,  area,  lacus,  vasa,  cribrum,  and  fossa, 
have  had  to  be  pressed  into  service  for  many  different  devices,  largely  by  extemporised 
combinations.  Where  the  devices  described  have  become  obsolete,  we  have  adopted  the 
nomenclature  of  the  old  works  on  Cornish  methods.  The  following  examples  may  be  of 
interest : — 

Simple  buddle    =  Canalis  simplex  Short  strake      =     Area  curia 

Divided  buddle  =  Canalis  tabellis  distinctus  Canvas  strake    =    Area  linleis  extensis  coniecta 
Ordinary  strake  =  Canalis  devexus  Limp  =     Radius. 

The  strake  (or  streke)  when  applied  to  alluvial  tin,  would  have  been  termed  a  "  tye  " 
in  some  parts  of  Cornwall,  and  the  "  short  strake  "  a  "  gounce."  In  the  case  of  the  stamp 
mill,  inasmuch  as  almost  every  mechanical  part  has  its  counterpart  in  a  modern  mill,  we 
have  considered  the  reader  will  have  less  difficulty  if  the  modern  designations  are  used 
instead  of  the  old  Cornish.  The  following  are  the  essential  terms  in  modern,  old  Cornish, 


and  Latin  :— 

Stamp  . .  Stamper 

Stamp-stem . .  Lifter 


Shoes 


Mortar-box  . .  Box 
Cam-shaft    . .  Barrell 


. .  Stamp-heads . .  Capita 


Denies 

Pili  denies 

Laminae  foraminum  plenat 

Lacus 

Cribrum  anguslum 


.  Pilum        Cams  . .  Caps 

.Pilum       Tappets  ..Tongues 

Screens  . .  Crate 

. .  Capsa       Settling  pit     . .  Catchers 
.  .Axis         Jigging  sieve  .  .Dilleugher 

'Agricola  uses  four  Latin  verbs  in  connection  with  heat  operations  at  temperatures 
under  the  melting  point :  Calefacio,  uro,  lorreo,  and  cremo.  The  first  he  always  uses  in  the 
sense  of  "to  warm"  or  "to  heat,"  but  the  last  three  he  uses  indiscriminately  in  much  the 
same  way  as  the  English  verbs  burn,  roast,  and  calcine  are  used  ;  but  in  general  he  uses  the 
Latin  verbs  in  the  order  given  to  indicate  degrees  of  heat.  We  have  used  the  English 
verbs  in  their  technical  sense  as  indicated  by  the  context. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  say  when  roasting  began  as  a  distinct  and  separate  metal- 
lurgical step  in  sulphide  ore  treatment.    The  Greeks  and  Romans  worked  both  lead  and 
copper  sulphides  (see  note  on  p.  391,  and  note  on  p.  403),  but  neither  in  the  remains  of  old 
works  nor  in  their  literature  is  there  anything  from  which  satisfactory  details  of  such  a  step 
can  be  obtained.    The  Ancients,  of  course,  understood  lime-burning,  and  calcined  several 
salts  to  purify  them  or  to  render  them  more  caustic.     Practically  the  only  specific  mention  is 
by  Pliny  regarding  lead  ores  (see  p.  391).     Even  the  statement  of  Theophilus  (1050-1100,  A.D.), 
may  refer  simply  to  rendering  ore  more  fragile,  for  he  says  (p.  305)  in  regard  to  copper  ore  : 
"  This  stone  dug  up  in  abundance  is  placed  upon  a  pile  and  burned  (comburiiur)  after  the 
"  manner  of  lime.     Nor  does  it  change  colour,  but  loses  its  hardness  and  can  be  broken  up, 
"  and   afterward   it   is   smelted."     The  Probierbiichlein  casually  mentions  roasting  prior  to 
assaying,  and  Biringuccio   (in,  2)  mentions    incidentally  that  "  dry  and  ill-disposed  ores 
"  before  everything  must  be  roasted  in  an  open  oven  so  that  the  air  can  get  in."     He  gives 
no  further  information  ;    and  therefore  this  account  of  Agricola's  becomes  practically  the 
first.    Apparently  roasting,  as  a  preliminary  to  the  treatment  of  copper  sulphides,  did  not  come 
into  use  in  England  until  some  time  later  than  Agricola,  for  in  Col.  Grant  Francis'  "  Smelting 
of  Copper  in  the  Swansea  District  "  (London,  1881,  p.  29),  a  report  is  set  of  the  "  Doeinges  of 
Jochim  Ganse  " — an  imported  German — at  the   "  Mynes  by  Keswicke  in  Cumberland, 
A.D.,  1581,"  wherein  the  delinquencies  of  the  then  current  practice  are  described  :    "  Thei 
never  coulde,  nether  yet  can  make  (copper)  under  XXH.  tymes  passinge  thro  the  fire,  and 
xxn.  weekes  doeing  thereof  ane  sometyme  more.     But  now  the  nature  of  these  ix.  hurtfull 
humors  abovesaid  being  discovered  and  opened  by  Jochim's  way  of  doeing,  we  can,  by  his 
order  of  workeinge,  so  correct  theim,  that  parte  of  theim  beinge  by  nature  hurtfull  to  the 


268 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — LONG  TABLE.     B — TRAY.    C — TUB. 

I  will  start  at  the  beginning  with  the  first  sort  of  work.  Experienced 
miners,  when  they  dig  the  ore,  sort  the  metalliferous  material  from  earth, 
stones,  and  solidified  juices  before  it  is  taken  from  the  shafts  and  tunnels, 
and  they  put  the  valuable  metal  in  trays  and  the  waste  into  buckets.  But 
if  some  miner  who  is  inexperienced  in  mining  matters  has  omitted  to  do  this, 
or  even  if  some  experienced  miner,  compelled  by  some  unavoidable  necessity, 
has  been  unable  to  do  so,  as  soon  as  the  material  which  has  been  dug  out 
has  been  removed  from  the  mine,  all  of  it  should  be  examined,  and  that  part  of 
the  ore  which  is  rich  in  metal  sorted  from  that  part  of  it  which  is  devoid  of 
metal,  whether  such  part  be  earth,  or  solidified  juices,  or  stones.  To  smelt 
waste  together  with  an  ore  involves  a  loss,  for  some  expenditure  is  thrown 
away,  seeing  that  out  of  earth  and  stones  only  empty  and  useless  slags  are 

'  copper  in  wasteinge  of  it,  ar  by  arte  maide  freindes,  and  be  not  onely  an  encrease  to  the 
'  copper,  but  further  it  in  smeltinge  ;  and  the  rest  of  the  other  evill  humors  shalbe  so 
'  corrected,  and  their  humors  so  taken  from  them,  that  by  once  rosteinge  and  once  smeltinge 
'  the  ure  (which  shalbe  done  in  the  space  of  three  dayes),  the  same  copper  ure  shall  yeeld  us 
'  black  copper."  Jochim  proposed  by  '  rostynge  '  to  be  rid  of  "  sulphur,  arsineque,  and 
'  antimony." 


BOOK    VIII. 


269 


melted  out,  and  further,  the  solidified  juices  also  impede  the  smelting  of  the 
metals  and  cause  loss.  The  rock  which  lies  contiguous  to  rich  ore  should  also  be 
broken  into  small  pieces,  crushed,  and  washed,  lest  any  of  the  mineral  should 
be  lost.  When,  either  through  ignorance  or  carelessness,  the  miners  while 
excavating  have  mixed  the  ore  with  earth  or  broken  rock,  the  work  of  sorting 
the  crude  metal  or  the  best  ore  is  done  not  only  by  men,  but  also  by  boys  and 
women.  They  throw  the  mixed  material  upon  a  long  table,  beside  which  they 
sit  for  almost  the  whole  day,  and  they  sort  out  the  ore  ;  when  it  has  been 
sorted  out,  they  collect  it  in  trays,  and  when  collected  they  throw  it  into 
tubs,  which  are  carried  to  the  works  in  which  the  ores  are  smelted. 

The  metal  which  is  dug  out  in  a  pure  or  crude  state,  to  which  class  belong 
native  silver,  silver  glance,  and  gray  silver,  is  placed  on  a  stone  by  the 
mine  foreman  and  flattened  out  by  pounding  with  heavy  square  hammers. 
These  masses,  when  they  have  been  thus  flattened  out  like  plates,  are  placed 
either  on  the  stump  of  a  tree,  and  cut  into  pieces  by  pounding  an  iron  chisel 
into  them  with  a  hammer,  or  else  they  are  cut  with  an  iron  tool  similar  to  a 
pair  of  shears.  One  blade  of  these  shears  is  three  feet  long,  and  is  firmly 
fixed  in  a  stump,  and  the  other  blade  which  cuts  the  metal  is  six  feet  long. 


A — MASSES  OF  METAL.     B- 


-HAMMER.     C — CHISEL.    D — TREE  STUMPS. 

SIMILAR   TO    A    PAIR    OF    SHEARS. 


E — IRON  TOOL 


270 


BOOK    VIII. 


These  pieces  of  metal  are  afterward  heated  in  iron  basins  and  smelted  in  the 
cupellation  furnace  by  the  smelters. 

Although  the  miners,  in  the  shafts  or  tunnels,  have  sorted  over  the 
material  which  they  mine,  still  the  ore  which  has  been  broken  down  and  carried 
out  must  be  broken  into  pieces  by  a  hammer  or  minutely  crushed,  so  that 
the  more  valuable  and  better  parts  can  be  distinguished  from  the  inferior  and 
worthless  portions.  This  is  of  the  greatest  importance  in  smelting  ore,  for 
if  the  ore  is  smelted  without  this  separation,  the  valuable  part  frequently 
receives  great  damage  before  the  worthless  part  melts  in  the  fire,  or  else  the 
one  consumes  the  other ;  this  latter  difficulty  can,  however,  be  partly 
avoided  by  the  exercise  of  care  and  partly  by  the  use  of  fluxes.  Now,  if  a 
vein  is  of  poor  quality,  the  better  portions  which  have  been  broken  down  and 
carried  out  should  be  thrown  together  in  one  place,  and  the  inferior  portion 
and  the  rock  thrown  away.  The  sorters  place  a  hard  broad  stone  on  a  table ; 
the  tables  are  generally  four  feet  square  and  made  of  joined  planks,  and  to 
the  edge  of  the  sides  and  back  are  fixed  upright  planks,  which  rise  about  a 
foot  from  the  table  ;  the  front,  where  the  sorter  sits,  is  left  open.  The 


A— TABLES.    B — UPRIGHT  PLANKS.    C— HAMMER.    D— QUADRANGULAR  HAMMER. 
E — DEEPER  VESSEL.    F — SHALLOWER  VESSEL.    G — IRON  ROD. 


BOOK    VIII. 


271 


lumps  of  ore,  rich  in  gold  or  silver,  are  put  by  the  sorters  on  the  stone  and 
broken  up  with  a  broad,  but  not  thick,  hammer  ;  they  either  break  them  into 
pieces  and  throw  them  into  one  vessel,  or  they  break  and  sort — whence  they 
get  their  name — the  more  precious  from  the  worthless,  throwing  and  collecting 
them  separately  into  different  vessels.  Other  men  crush  the  lumps  of  ore 
less  rich  in  gold  or  silver,  which  have  likewise  been  put  on  the  stone,  with  a 
broad  thick  hammer,  and  when  it  has  been  well  crushed,  they  collect  it  and 
throw  it  into  one  vessel.  There  are  two  kinds  of  vessels  ;  one  is  deeper,  and  a 
little  wider  in  the  centre  than  at  the  top  or  bottom  ;  the  other  is  not  so  deep 
though  it  is  broader  at  the  bottom,  and  becomes  gradually  a  little  narrower 
toward  the  top.  The  latter  vessel  is  covered  with  a  lid,  while  the  former  is  not 
covered  ;  an  iron  rod  through  the  handles,  bent  over  on  either  end,  is 
grasped  in  the  hand  when  the  vessel  is  carried.  But,  above  all,  it  behooves 
the  sorters  to  be  assiduous  in  their  labours. 

By  another  method  of  breaking  ore  with  hammers,  large  hard  frag- 
ments of  ore  are  broken  before  they  are  burned.  The  legs  of  the  workmen 
—at  all  events  of  those  who  crush  pyrites  in  this  manner  with  large  hammers 
in  Goslar — are  protected  with  coverings  resembling  leggings,  and  their  hands 


A— PYRITES.    B — LEGGINGS.    C — GLOVES.    D— HAMMER. 


272 


BOOK    VIII. 


are  protected  with  long  gloves,  to  prevent  them  from  being  injured  by  the 
chips  which  fly  away  from  the  fragments. 

In  that  district  of  Greater  Germany  which  is  called  Westphalia  and  in 
that  district  of  Lower  Germany  which  is  named  Eifel,  the  broken  ore  which 
has  been  burned,  is  thrown  by  the  workmen  into  a  round  area  paved  with  the 
hardest  stones,  and  the  fragments  are  pounded  up  with  iron  tools,  which  are 
very  much  like  hammers  in  shape  and  are  used  like  threshing  sledges.  This 
tool  is  a  foot  long,  a  palm  wide,  and  a  digit  thick,  and  has  an  opening  in  the 
middle  just  as  hammers  have,  in  which  is  fixed  a  wooden  handle  of  no  great 
thickness,  but  up  to  three  and  a  half  feet  long,  in  order  that  the  workmen 
can  pound  the  ore  with  greater  force  by  reason  of  its  weight  falling  from  a 
greater  height.  They  strike  and  pound  with  the  broad  side  of  the  tool,  in  the 
same  way  as  corn  is  pounded  out  on  a  threshing  floor  with  the  threshing 
sledges,  although  the  latter  are  made  of  wood  and  are  smooth  and  fixed  to 
poles.  When  the  ore  has  been  broken  into  small  pieces,  they  sweep  it 
together  with  brooms  and  remove  it  to  the  works,  where  it  is  washed 


A — AREA  PAVED  WITH  STONES.    B — BROKEN  ORE.    C — AREA  COVERED  WITH  BROKEN  ORE. 
D — IRON  TOOL.    E — ITS  HANDLE.    F — BROOM.    G — SHORT  STRAKE.    H — WOODEN  HOE. 


BOOK    VIII.  273 

in  a  short  strake,  at  the  head  of  which  stands  the  washer,  who  draws  the  water 
upward  with  a  wooden  hoe.  The  water  running  down  again,  carries  all 
the  light  particles  into  a  trough  placed  underneath.  I  shall  deal  more  fully 
with  this  method  of  washing  a  little  later. 

Ore  is  burned  for  two  reasons  ;  either  that  from  being  hard,  it  may  become 
soft  and  more  easily  broken  and  more  readily  crushed  with  a  hammer  or 
stamps,  and  then  can  be  smelted ;  or  that  the  fatty  things,  that  is  to  say, 
sulphur,  bitumen,  orpiment,  or  realgar3  may  be  consumed.  Sulphur  is 
frequently  found  in  metallic  ores,  and,  generally  speaking,  is  more  harmful 
to  the  metals,  except  gold,  than  are  the  other  things.  It  is  most  harmful  of 
all  to  iron,  and  less  to  tin  than  to  bismuth,  lead,  silver,  or  copper. 
Since  very  rarely  gold  is  found  in  which  there  is  not  some  silver,  even  gold 
ores  containing  sulphur  ought  to  be  roasted  before  they  are  smelted,  because, 
in  a  very  vigorous  furnace  fire,  sulphur  resolves  metal  into  ashes  and  makes 
slag  of  it.  Bitumen  acts  in  the  same  way,  in  fact  sometimes  it  consumes 
silver,  which  we  may  see  in  bituminous  cadmia*. 

I  now  come  to  the  methods  of  roasting,  and  first  of  all  to  that  one  which 
is  common  to  all  ores.  The  earth  is  dug  out  to  the  required  extent,  and 
thus  is  made  a  quadrangular  area  of  fair  size,  open  at  the  front,  and  above 
this,  firewood  is  laid  close  together,  and  on  it  other  wood  is  laid  trans- 
versely, likewise  close  together,  for  which  reason  our  countrymen  call  this 
pile  of  wood  a  crate  ;  this  is  repeated  until  the  pile  attains  a  height  of  one 
or  two  cubits.  Then  there  is  placed  upon  it  a  quantity  of  ore  that  has  been 
broken  into  small  pieces  with  a  hammer ;  first  the  largest  of  these  pieces, 
next  those  of  medium  size,  and  lastly  the  smallest,  and  thus  is  built  up  a 
gently  sloping  cone.  To  prevent  it  from  becoming  scattered,  fine  sand  of  the 

*0rpiment  and  realgar  are  the  red  and  yellow  arsenical  sulphides.     (See  note  on  p.  in). 

*Cadmia  biiuminosa.     The  description  of  this  substance  by  Agricola,  given  below, 

indicates  that  it  was  his  term  for  the  complex  copper-zinc-arsenic-cobalt  minerals  found  in 

the  well-known,  highly  bituminous,  copper  schists  at  Mannsfeld.     The  later  Mineralogists, 

Wallerius  (Miner alogia,  Stockholm,  1747),  Valmont  De  Bomare  (Mineralogie,  Paris,   1762), 

and  others  assume  Agricola's  cadmia  biiuminosa  to  be  "  black  arsenic  "  or  "  arsenic  noir," 

but  we  see  no  reason  for  this  assumption.     Agricola's  statement  (De  Nat.  Foss.,  p.  369)  is 

.     .     .     .     the  schistose  stone  dug  up  at  the  foot  of  the  Melibocus  Mountains,  or  as  they  are 

now  called  the  Harz  (Hercynium),  near  Eisleben,  Mannsfeld,  and  near  Hettstedt,  is  similar 

to  spinos  (a  bituminous  substance  described  by  Theophrastus),  if  not  identical  with  it. 

This  is  black,  bituminous,  and  cupriferous,  and  when  first  extracted  from  the  mine  it  is  thrown 

out  into  an  open  space  and  heaped  up  in  a  mound.     Then  the  lower  part  of  the  mound  is 

surrounded  by  faggots,  on  to  which  are  likewise  thrown  stones  of  the  same  kind.     Then 

the  faggots  are  kindled  and  the  fire  soon   spreads  to  the  stones  placed  upon  them  ;    by 

these  the  fire  is  communicated  to  the  next,  which  thus  spreads  to  the  whole  heap.     This 

easy  reception  of  fire  is  a  characteristic  which  bitumen  possesses  in  common  with  sulphur. 

Yet  the  small,  pure  and  black  bituminous  ore  is  distinguished  from  the  stones  as  follows  : 

when    they  burn  they  emit  the  kind  of  odour  which  is  usually  given  off  by  burning 

bituminous  coal,  and  besides,  if  while  they  are  burning  a  small  shower  of  rain  should  fall,  they 

burn  more  brightly  and  soften  more  quickly.     Indeed,  when  the  wind  carries  the  fumes 

so    that    they   descend   into    nearby   standing   waters,    there    can   be  seen  floating  in  it 

something  like  a  bituminous  liquid,  either  black,  or  brown,  or  purple,  which  is  sufficient  to 

indicate  that  those  stones  were  bituminous.     And  that  genus  of  stones  has  been  recently 

found  in  the  Harz  in  layers,  having  occasionally  gold-coloured  specks  of  pyrites  adhering 

to  them,  representing  various  flat  sea-fish  or  pike  or  perch  or  birds,  and  poultry  cocks, 

and  sometimes  salamanders." 


274 


BOOK    VIII. 


A— AREA.      B— WOOD.      C— ORE.      D — CONE-SHAPED  PILES.      E— CANAL. 

same  ore  is  soaked  with  water  and  smeared  over  it  and  beaten  on  with  shovels  ; 
some  workers,  if  they  cannot  obtain  such  fine  sand,  cover  the  pile  with  char- 
coal-dust, just  as  do  charcoal-burners.  But  at  Goslar,  the  pile,  when  it  has 
been  built  up  in  the  form  of  a  cone,  is  smeared  with  air  amentum  sutorium 
rubrum5,  which  is  made  by  the  leaching  of  roasted  pyrites  soaked  with  water. 
In  some  districts  the  ore  is  roasted  once,  in  others  twice,  in  others  three  times, 
as  its  hardness  may  require.  At  Goslar,  when  pyrites  is  roasted  for  the  third 
time,  that  which  is  placed  on  the  top  of  the  pyre  exudes  a  certain  greenish, 
dry,  rough,  thin  substance,  as  I  have  elsewhere  written6  ;  this  is  no  more 
easily  burned  by  the  fire  than  is  asbestos.  Very  often  also,  water  is  put  on 


*  At*  amentum  sutorium  rubrum.  Literally,  this  would  be  red  vitriol.  The  German 
translation  gives  rot  kupferwasser ,  also  red  vitriol.  We  must  confess  that  we  cannot  make 
this  substance  out,  nor  can  we  find  it  mentioned  in  the  other  works  of  Agricola.  It  may  be 
the  residue  from  leaching  roasted  pyrites  for  vitriol,  which  would  be  reddish  oxide  of  iron. 

6The  statement  "  elsewhere  "  does  not  convey  very  much  more  information.  It 
is  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  p.  253) :  "  When  Goslar  pyrites  and  Eisleben  (copper)  schists  are  placed  on 
"  the  pyre  and  roasted  for  the  third  time,  they  both  exude  a  certain  substance  which  is  of  a 
"greenish  colour,  dry,  rough,  and  fibrous  (tenue).  This  substance,  like  asbestos,  is  not 
"  consumed  by  the  fire.  The  schists  exude  it  more  plentifully  than  the  pyrites."  The 
Interpretatio  gives  federwis,  as  the  German  equivalent  of  amiantus  (asbestos).  This  term  was 
used  for  the  feathery  alum  efflorescence  on  aluminous  slates. 


BOOK     VIII. 


275 


to  the  ore  which  has  been  roasted,  while  it  is  still  hot,  in  order  to  make 
it  softer  and  more  easily  broken  ;  for  after  fire  has  dried  up  the  moisture 
in  the  ore,  it  breaks  up  more  easily  while  it  is  still  hot,  of  which  fact  burnt 
limestone  affords  the  best  example. 

By  digging  out  the  earth  they  make  the  areas  much  larger,  and  square  ; 
walls  should  be  built  along  the  sides  and  back  to  hold  the  heat  of  the 
fire  more  effectively,  and  the  front  should  be  left  open.  In  these  compart- 
ments tin  ore  is  roasted  in  the  following  manner.  Fust  of  all  wood  about 
twelve  feet  long  should  be  laid  in  the  area  in  four  layers,  alternately  straight 
and  transverse.  Then  the  larger  pieces  of  ore  should  be  laid  upon  them,  and 
on  these  again  the  smaller  ones,  which  should  also  be  placed  around  the  sides  ; 
the  fine  sand  of  the  same  ore  should  also  be  spread  over  the  pile  and  pounded 
with  shovels,  to  prevent  the  pile  from  falling  before  it  has  been  roasted  ;  the 
wood  should  then  be  fired. 


A — LIGHTED  PYRE. 


B — PYRE  WHICH  is  BEING  CONSTRUCTED. 

E — PILE    OF   THE    SAME    WOOD. 


C— ORE.    D— WOOD. 


Lead  ore,  if  roasting  is  necessary,  should  be  piled  in  an  area  just  like  the 
last,  but  sloping,  and  the  wood  should  be  placed  over  it.  A  tree  trunk  should 
be  laid  right  across  the  front  of  the  ore  to  prevent  it  from  falling  out.  The 
ore,  being  roasted  in  this  way,  becomes  partly  melted  and  resembles  slag. 


276 


BOOK    VIII. 


Thuringian  pyrites,  in  which  there  is  gold,  sulphur,  and  vitriol,  after  the  last 
particle  of  vitriol  has  been  obtained  by  heating  it  in  water,  is  thrown  into  a 
furnace,  in  which  logs  are  placed.  This  furnace  is  very  similar  to  an  oven 
in  shape,  in  order  that  when  the  ore  is  roasted  the  valuable  contents  may  not 
fly  away  with  the  smoke,  but  may  adhere  to  the  roof  of  the  furnace.  In  this 
way  sulphur  very  often  hangs  like  icicles  from  the  two  openings  of  the  roof 
through  which  the  smoke  escapes. 


A — BURNING  PYRE  WHICH  is  COMPOSED  OF  LEAD  ORE  WITH  WOOD  PLACED  ABOVE  IT. 
B — WORKMAN    THROWING    ORE    INTO    ANOTHER    AREA.        C — OVEN-SHAPED    FURNACE. 
D — OPENINGS  THROUGH  WHICH  THE  SMOKE  ESCAPES. 

If  pyrites  or  cadmia,  or  any  other  ore  containing  metal,  possesses  a  good 
deal  of  sulphur  or  bitumen,  it  should  be  so  roasted  that  neither  is  lost.  For 
this  purpose  it  is  thrown  on  an  iron  plate  full  of  holes,  and  roasted  with  char- 
coal placed  on  top  ;  three  walls  support  this  plate,  two  on  the  sides  and  the 
third  at  the  back.  Beneath  the  plate  are  placed  pots  containing  water,  into 
which  the  sulphurous  or  bituminous  vapour  descends,  and  in  the  water  the 
fat  accumulates  and  floats  on  the  top.  If  it  is  sulphur,  it  is  generally  of  a 
yellow  colour ;  if  bitumen,  it  is  black  like  pitch.  If  these  were  not  drawn 
out  they  would  do  much  harm  to  the  metal,  when  the  ore  is  being  smelted. 
When  they  have  thus  been  separated  they  prove  of  some  service  to  man, 
especially  the  sulphurous  kind.  From  the  vapour  which  is  carried  down,  not 


BOOK    VIII. 


277 


A— IRON  PLATES  FULL  OF  HOLES.     B — WALLS.    C — PLATE  ON  WHICH  ORE  is  PLACED. 
D — BURNING  CHARCOAL  PLACED  ON  THE  ORE.    E — POTS.    F — FURNACE.    G — MIDDLE 

PART   OF   UPPER  CHAMBER.       H — THE   OTHER  TWO  COMPARTMENTS.       I — DIVISIONS   OF  THE 
LOWER  CHAMBER.       K — MIDDLE  WALL.       L — POTS  WHICH  ARE  FILLED  WITH  ORE.       M — LlDS 

OF   SAME    POTS.       N — GRATING. 


278 


BOOK  Will. 


into  the  water,  but  into  the  ground,  there  is  created  a  sulphurous  or  a 
bituminous  substance  resembling  pompholyx1,  and  so  light  that  it  can  be 
blown  away  with  a  breath.  Some  employ  a  vaulted  furnace,  open  at  the 
front  and  divided  into  two  chambers.  A  wall  built  in  the  middle  of  the 
furnace  divides  the  lower  chamber  into  two  equal  parts,  in  which  are  set  pots 
containing  water,  as  above  described.  The  upper  chamber  is  again  divided 
into  three  parts,  the  middle  one  of  which  is  always  open,  for  in  it  the  wood 
is  placed,  and  it  is  not  broader  than  the  middle  wall,  of  which  it  forms  the 
topmost  portion.  The  other  two  compartments  have  iron  doors  which  are 
closed,  and  which,  together  with  the  roof,  keep  in  the  heat  when  the  wood 
is  lighted.  In  these  upper  compartments  are  iron  bars  which  take  the  place 
of  a  floor,  and  on  these  are  arranged  pots  without  bottoms,  having  in 
place  of  a  bottom,  a  grating  made  of  iron  wire,  fixed  to  each,  through 
the  openings  of  which  the  sulphurous  or  bituminous  vapours  roasted  from 
the  ore  run  into  the  lower  pots.  Each  of  the  upper  pots  holds  a  hundred 


A— HEAP  OF  CUPRIFEROUS  STONES.    B — KINDLED  HEAP. 

THE    BEDS    OF    FAGGOTS. 


C — STONES  BEING  TAKEN  TO 


'Bearing  in  mind  that  bituminous  cadmia  contained  arsenical-cobalt  minerals,  this 
substance  "  resembling  pompholyx "  would  probably  be  arsenic  oxide.  In  De  Nalura 
Fossilium  (p.  368),  Agricola  discusses  the  pompholyx  from  cadmia  at  length  and  pronounces 
it  to  be  of  remarkably  "  corrosive  "  quality.  (See  also  note  on  p.  112.) 


BOOK    VIII. 


279 


pounds  of  ore  ;  when  they  are  filled  they  are  covered  with  lids  and  smeared 
with  lute. 

In  Eisleben  and  the  neighbourhood,  when  they  roast  the  schistose 
stone  from  which  copper  is  smelted,  and  which  is  not  free  from  bitumen, 
they  do  not  use  piles  of  logs,  but  bundles  of  faggots.  At  one  time,  they  used 
to  pile  this  kind  of  stone,  when  extracted  from  the  pit,  on  bundles  of 
faggots  and  roast  it  by  firing  the  faggots ;  nowadays,  they  first  of  all 
carry  these  same  stones  to  a  heap,  where  they  are  left  to  lie  for  some  time  in 
such  a  way  as  to  allow  the  air  and  rain  to  soften  them.  Then  they  make  a 
bed  of  faggot  bundles  near  the  heap,  and  carry  the  nearest  stones  to  this 
bed ;  afterward  they  again  place  bundles  of  faggots  in  the  empty  place 
from  which  the  first  stones  have  been  removed,  and  pile  over  this  extended 
bed,  the  stones  which  lay  nearest  to  the  first  lot ;  and  they  do  this  right  up  to 
the  end,  until  all  the  stones  have  been  piled  mound-shape  on  a  bed  of  faggots. 
Finally  they  fire  the  faggots,  not,  however,  on  the  side  where  the  wind  is 
blowing,  but  on  the  opposite  side,  lest  the  fire  blown  up  by  the  force  of  the 
wind  should  consume  the  faggots  before  the  stones  are  roasted  and  made  soft ; 
by  this  method  the  stones  which  are  adjacent  to  the  faggots  take  fire  and 
communicate  it  to  the  next  ones,  and  these  again  to  the  adjoining  ones,  and 
in  this  way  the  heap  very  often  burns  continuously  for  thirty  days  or  more. 
This  schist  rock  when  rich  in  copper,  as  I  have  said  elsewhere,  exudes  a 
substance  of  a  nature  similar  to  asbestos. 

Ore  is  crushed  with  iron-shod  stamps,  in  order  that  the  metal  may  be 
separated  from  the  stone  and  the  hanging-wall  rock.8  The  machines  which 
miners  use  for  this  purpose  are  of  four  kinds,  and  are  made  by  the  following 
method.  A  block  of  oak  timber  six  feet  long,  two  feet  and  a  palm  square,  is 
laid  on  the  ground.  In  the  middle  of  this  is  fixed  a  mortar-box,  two  feet  and  six 
digits  long,  one  foot  and  six  digits  deep  ;  the  front,  which  might  be  called  a 


HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  CRUSHING  AND  CONCENTRATION  OF  ORES.    There  can  be  no 
question  that  the  first  step  in  the  metallurgy  of  ores  was  direct   smelting,   and  that  this 
antedates  human  records.     The  obvious  advantages  of  reducing  the  bulk  of  the  material  to 
be  smelted  by  the  elimination  of  barren  portions  of  the  ore,  must  have  appealed  to  metal- 
lurgists  at   a   very   early   date.     Logically,    therefore,    we    should  find  the  second  step   in 
metallurgy  to  be  concentration  in  some  form.     The  question  of  crushing  is  so  much  involved 
with  concentration  that  we  have  not  endeavoured  to  keep    them   separate.     The    earliest 
indication  of  these  processes  appears  to  be  certain  inscriptions   on   monuments   of  the   iv 
Dynasty  (4,000  B.C.  ?)  depicting  gold  washing  (Wilkinson,  The  Ancient  Egyptians,  London, 
1874,  n,  p.   137).     Certain   stele  of  the  xn  Dynasty  (2,400  B.C.)   in    the    British   Museum 
(144  Bay  i  and  145  Bay  6)  refer  to  gold  washing  in  the  Sudan,  and  one  of  them  appears  to 
indicate  the  working  of  gold  ore  as  distinguished  from  alluvial.     The  first  written  descrip- 
tion of  the  Egyptian  methods — and  probably  that  reflecting  the  most  ancient  technology 
of  crushing  and  concentration — is  that  of  Agatharchides,  a  Greek  geographer  of  the  second 
Century  B.C.     This  work  is  lost,  but  the  passage  in  question  is  quoted  by  Diodorus  Siculus 
(ist   Century   B.C.)   and   by    Photius    (died    891    A.D.).        We   give    Booth's  translation   of 
Diodorus   (London,   1700,  p.  89),  slightly  amended :    "  In  the  confines   of   Egypt    and   the 
'  neighbouring  countries  of   Arabia  and  Ethiopia  there  is  a  place  full  of  rich  gold  mines, 
'  out  of  which  with  much  cost  and  pains  of  many  labourers  gold  is  dug.      The  soil  here 
'  is  naturally  black,   but  in  the  body  of   the  earth  run  many  white  veins,  shining  like 
'  white   marble,   surpassing  in    lustre   all   other  bright   things.        Out    of   these   laborious 
'  mines,  those  appointed  overseers  cause  the  gold   to  be  dug  up  by  the  labour  of  a  vast 
'  multitude  of  people.        For   the    Kings   of   Egypt  condemn    to    these    mines    notorious 
'  criminals,    captives     taken     in    war,    persons    sometimes     falsely    accused,    or    against 
'  whom   the   King  is  incens'd  ;    and    not   only  they  themselves,   but  sometimes  all  their 


a8o  BOOK    VIII. 

mouth,  lies  open  ;  the  bottom  is  covered  with  a  plate  of  iron,  a  palm  thick 
and  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide,  each  end  of  which  is  wedged  into  the 
timber  with  broad  wedges,  and  the  front  and  back  part  of  it  are  fixed  to  the 
timber  with  iron  nails.  To  the  sides  of  the  mortar  above  the  block  are  fixed 
two  upright  posts,  whose  upper  ends  are  somewhat  cut  back  and  are  mor- 
tised to  the  timbers  of  the  building.  Two  and  a  half  feet  above  the  mortar 

"  kindred  and  relations  together  with  them,  are  sent  to  work  here,  both  to  punish 
"  them,  and  by  their  labour  to  advance  the  profit  and  gain  of  the  Kings.  There  are 
"  infinite  numbers  upon  these  accounts  thrust  down  into  these  mines,  all  bound  in  fetters, 
"  where  they  work  continually,  without  being  admitted  any  rest  night  or  day,  and  so 
"  strictly  guarded  that  there  is  no  possibility  or  way  left  to  make  an  escape.  For  they 
"  set  over  them  barbarians,  soldiers  of  various  and  strange  languages,  so  that  it  is  not 
"  possible  to  corrupt  any  of  the  guard  by  discoursing  one  with  another,  or  by  the  gaining 
"  insinuations  of  familiar  converse.  The  earth  which  is  hardest  and  full  of  gold  they 
"  soften  by  putting  fire  under  it,  and  then  work  it  out  with  their  hands.  The  rocks  thus 
"  soften'd  and  made  more  pliant  and  yielding,  several  thousands  of  profligate  wretches 
"  break  in  pieces  with  hammers  and  pickaxes.  There  is  one  artist  that  is  the  overseer  of  the 
"  whole  work,  who  marks  out  the  stone,  and  shows  the  labourers  the  way  and  manner 
"  how  he  would  have  it  done.  Those  that  are  the  strongest  amongst  them  that  are 
"  appointed  to  this  slavery,  provided  with  sharp  iron  pickaxes,  cleave  the  marble-shining  rock 
"  by  mere  force  and  strength,  and  not  by  arts  or  sleight-of-hand.  They  undermine  not  the 
"  rock  in  a  direct  line,  but  follow  the  bright  shining  vein  of  the  mine.  They  carry  lamps 
"  fastened  to  their  foreheads  to  give  them  light,  being  otherwise  in  perfect  darkness  in  the 
"  various  windings  and  turnings  wrought  in  the  mine  ;  and  having  their  bodies  appearing 
"  sometimes  of  one  colour  and  sometimes  of  another  (according  to  the  nature  of  the  mine 
"  where  they  work)  they  throw  the  lumps  and  pieces  of  the  stone  cut  out  of  the  rock  upon  the 
"  floor.  And  thus  they  are  employed  continually  without  intermission,  at  the  very  nod  of 
"  the  overseer,  who  lashes  them  severely  besides.  And  there  are  little  boys  who  penetrate 
"  through  the  galleries  into  the  cavities  and  with  great  labour  and  toil  gather  up  the  lumps 
"  and  pieces  hewed  out  of  the  rock  as  they  are  cast  upon  the  ground,  and  carry  them  forth 
"  and  lay  them  upon  the  bank.  Those  that  are  over  thirty  years  of  age  take  a  piece  of  the 
"  rock  of  such  a  certain  quantity,  and  pound  it  in  a  stone  mortar  with  iron  pestles  till  it  be 
"  as  small  as  a  vetch  ;  then  those  little  stones  so  pounded  are  taken  from  them  by  women 
"  and  older  men,  who  cast  them  into  mills  that  stand  together  there  near  at  hand  in  a  long 
"  row,  and  two  or  three  of  them  being  employed  at  one  mill  they  grind  a  certain  measure  given 
"  to  them  at  a  time,  until  it  is  as  small  as  fine  meal.  No  care  at  all  is  taken  of  the  bodies  of 
'  these  poor  creatures,  so  that  they  have  not  a  rag  so  much  as  to  cover  their  nakedness,  and 
'  no  man  that  sees  them  can  choose  but  commiserate  their  sad  and  deplorable  condition. 
'  For  though  they  are  sick,  maimed,  or  lame,  no  rest  nor  intermission  in  the  least  is  allowed 
'  them  ;  neither  the  weakness  of  old  age,  nor  women's  infirmities  are  any  plea  to  excuse  them  ; 
'  but  all  are  driven  to  their  work  with  blows  and  cudgelling,  till  at  length,  overborne  with 
"  the  intolerable  weight  of  their  misery,  they  drop  down  dead  in  the  midst  of  their  insufferable 
"  labours  ;  so  that  these  miserable  creatures  always  expect  the  future  to  be  more  terrible 
"  than  even  the  present,  and  therefore  long  for  death  as  far  more  desirable  than  life. 

"  At  length  the  masters  of  the  work  take  the  stone  thus  ground  to  powder,  and  carry 
"  it  away  in  order  to  perfect  it.  They  spread  the  mineral  so  ground  upon  a  broad  board,  some- 
"  what  sloping,  and  pouring  water  upon  it,  rub  it  and  cleanse  it ;  and  so  all  the  earthy  and 
"  drossy  part  being  separated  from  the  rest  by  the  water,  it  runs  off  the  board,  and  the  gold 
"  by  reason  of  its  weight  remains  behind.  Then  washing  it  several  times  again,  they  first  rub 
"  it  lightly  with  their  hands ;  afterward  they  draw  off  any  earthy  and  drossy  matter  with 
'  slender  sponges  gently  applied  to  the  powdered  dust,  till  it  be  clean,  pure  gold.  At  last 
'  other  workmen  take  it  away  by  weight  and  measure,  and  these  put  it  into  earthen  pots,  and 
'  according  to  the  quantity  of  the  gold  in  every  pot  they  mix  with  it  some  lead,  grains  of 
'  salt,  a  little  tin  and  barley  bran.  Then,  covering  every  pot  close,  and  carefully 
'  daubing  them,  over  with  clay,  they  put  them  in  a  furnace,  where  they  abide  five  days  and 
'  nights  together  ;  then  after  a  convenient  time  that  they  have  stood  to  cool,  nothing  of  the 
'  other  matter  is  to  be  found  in  the  pots  but  only  pure,  refined  gold,  some  little 
'  thing  diminished  in  the  weight.  And  thus  gold  is  prepared  in  the  borders  of  Egypt,  and 
'  perfected  and  completed  with  so  many  and  so  great  toils  and  vexations.  And,  therefore, 
'  I  cannot  but  conclude  that  nature  itself  teaches  us,  that  as  gold  is  got  with  labour  and  toil, 
'  so  it  is  kept  with  difficulty  ;  it  creates  everywhere  the  greatest  cares  ;  and  the  use  of  it  is 
'  mixed  both  with  pleasure  and  sorrow." 

The  remains  at  Mt.  Laurion  show  many  of  the  ancient  mills  and  concentration  works 
of  the  Greeks,  but  we  cannot  be  absolutely  certain  at  what  period  in  the  history  of  these 
mines  crushing  and  concentration  were  introduced.  While  the  mines  were  worked  with 


BOOK    VIII.  281 

are  placed  two  cross-beams  joined  together,  one  in  front  and  one  in  the  back, 
the  ends  of  which  are  mortised  into  the  upright  posts  already  mentioned. 
Through  each  mortise  is  bored  a  hole,  into  which  is  driven  an  iron  clavis  ; 
one  end  of  the  clavis  has  two  horns,  and  the  other  end  is  perforated  in  order 
that  a  wedge  driven  through,  binds  the  beams  more  firmly  ;  one  horn  of  the 
clavis  turns  up  and  the  other  down.  Three  and  a  half  feet  above  the  cross- 
great  activity  prior  to  500  B.C.  (see  note  6,  p.  27),  it  was  quite  feasible  for  the  ancient  miner 
to  have  smelted  these  argentiferous  lead  ores  direct.  However,  at  some  period  prior  to  the 
decadence  of  the  mines  in  the  3rd  Century  B.C.,  there  was  in  use  an  extensive  system  of  milling 
and  concentration.  For  the  following  details  we  are  indebted  mostly  to  Edouard  Ardaillon 
(Les  Mines  Du  Laurion  dans  I'Antiquite,  Chap.  iv.).  The  ore  was  first  hand-picked  (in 
1869  one  portion  of  these  rejects  was  estimated  at  7,000,000  tons)  and  afterward  it  was 
apparently  crushed  in  stone  mortars  some  16  to  24  inches  in  diameter,  and  thence  passed  to 
the  mills.  These  mills,  which  crushed  dry,  were  of  the  upper  and  lower  millstone  order,  like 
the  old-fashioned  flour  mills,  and  were  turned  by  hand.  The  stones  were  capable  of 
adjustment  in  such  a  way  as  to  yield  different  sizes.  The  sand  was  sifted  and  the  oversize 
returned  to  the  mills.  From  the  mills  it  was  taken  to  washing  plants,  which  consisted 
essentially  of  an  inclined  area,  below  which  a  canal,  sometimes  with  riffles,  lead  through  a 
series  of  basins,  ultimately  returning  the  water  again  to  near  the  head  of  the  area.  These 
washing  areas,  constructed  with  great  care,  were  made  of  stone  cemented  over  smoothly, 
and  were  so  efficiently  done  as  to  remain  still  intact.  In  washing,  a  workman  brushed 
upward  the  pulp  placed  on  the  inclined  upper  portion  of  the  area,  thus  concentrating  there  a 
considerable  proportion  of  the  galena  ;  what  escaped  had  an  opportunity  to  settle  in  the 
sequence  of  basins,  somewhat  on  the  order  of  the  buddle.  A  quotation  by  Strabo  (in,  2,  10) 
from  the  lost  work  of  Polybius  (200-125  B.C.)  also  indicates  concentration  of  lead-silver  ores  in 
Spain  previous  to  the  Christian  era  :  "  Polybius  speaking  of  the  silver  mines  of  New  Carthage, 
"  tells  us  that  they  are  extremely  large,  distant  from  the  city  about  20  stadia,  and  occupy  a 
"  circuit  of  400  stadia,  that  there  are  40,000  men  regularly  engaged  in  them,  and  that  they 
"  yield  daily  to  the  Roman  people  (a  revenue  of)  25,000  drachmae.  The  rest  of  the  process 
"  I  pass  over,  as  it  is  too  long,  but  as  for  the  silver  ore  collected,  he  tells  us  that  it  is  broken 
"  up,  and  sifted  through  sieves  over  water  ;  that  what  remains  is  to  be  again  broken,  and  the 
"  water  having  been  strained  off,  it  is  to  be  sifted  and  broken  a  third  time.  The  dregs  which 
"  remain  after  the  fifth  time  are  to  be  melted,  and  the  lead  being  poured  off,  the  silver  is 
"  obtained  pure.  These  silver  mines  still  exist ;  however,  they  are  no  longer  the  property 
"  of  the  state,  neither  these  nor  those  elsewhere,  but  are  possessed  by  private  individuals.  The 
"  gold  mines,  on  the  contrary,  nearly  all  belong  to  the  state.  Both  at  Castlon  and  other 
"  places  there  are  singular  lead  mines  worked.  They  contain  a  small  proportion  of  silver,  but 
"  not  sufficient  to  pay  for  the  expense  of  refining."  (Hamilton's  Translation,  Vol.  I.,  p.  222). 
While  Pliny  gives  considerable  information  on  vein  mining  and  on  alluvial  washing,  the 
following  obscure  passage  (xxxm,  21)  appears  to  be  the  only  reference  to  concentration  of 
ores  :  "  That  which  is  dug  out  is  crushed,  washed,  roasted,  and  ground  to  powder.  This 
"  powder  is  called  apitascudes,  while  the  silver  (lead  ?)  which  becomes  disengaged  in  the 
"  furnace  is  called  sudor  (sweat).  That  which  is  ejected  from  the  chimney  is  called  scoria 
"  as  with  other  metals.  In  the  case  of  gold  this  scoria  is  crushed  and  melted  again."  It  is 
evident  enough  from  these  quotations  that  the  Ancients  by  "washing"  and  "sifting," 
grasped  the  practical  effect  of  differences  in  specific  gravity  of  the  various  components  of 
an  ore.  Such  processes  are  barely  mentioned  by  other  mediaeval  authors,  such  as  Theo- 
philus,  Biringuccio,  etc.,  and  thus  the  account  in  this  chapter  is  the  first  tangible  technical 
description.  Lead  mining  has  been  in  active  progress  in  Derbyshire  since  the  I3th  century, 
and  concentration  was  done  on  an  inclined  board  until  the  i6th  century,  when  William 
Humpfrey  (see  below)  introduced  the  jigging  sieve.  Some  further  notes  on  this  industry  will 
be  found  in  note  i,  p.  77.  However,  the  buddle  and  strake  which  appear  at  that  time,  are 
but  modest  improvements  over  the  board  described  by  Agatharchides  in  the  quotation  above. 
The  ancient  crushing  appliances,  as  indicated  by  the  ancient  authors  and  by  the  Greek 
and  Roman  remains  scattered  over  Europe,  were  hand-mortars  and  mill-stones  of  the  same 
order  as  those  with  which  they  ground  flour.  The  stamp-mill,  the  next  advance  over 
grinding  in  mill-stones,  seems  to  have  been  invented  some  time  late  in  the  I5th  or  early 
in  the  i6th  centuries,  but  who  invented  it  is  unknown.  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions, 
n>  P-  335)  savs  :  "  In  tne  Year  I5I9  the  process  of  sifting  and  wet-stamping  was  established 
"  at  Joachimsthal  by  Paul  Grommestetter,  a  native  of  Schwarz,  named  on  that  account 
"  the  Schwarzer,  whom  Melzer  praises  as  an  ingenious  and  active  washer  ;  and  we  are 
"  told  that  he  had  before  introduced  the  same  improvements  at  Schneeberg.  Soon  after, 
"  that  is  in  1521,  a  large  stamping-work  was  erected  at  Joachimsthal,  and  the  process 
"  of  washing  was  begun.  A  considerable  saving  was  thus  made,  as  a  great  many  metallic 
"  particles  were  before  left  in  the  washed  sand,  which  was  either  thrown  away  or  used  as 
"  mortar  for  building.  In  the  year  1525,  Hans  Portner  employed  at  Schlackenwalde  the 


282  BOOK    VIII. 

beams,  two  other  cross-beams  of  the  same  kind  are  again  joined  in  a  similar 
manner  ;  these  cross-beams  have  square  openings,  in  which  the  iron-shod 
stamps  are  inserted.  The  stamps  are  not  far  distant  from  each  other,  and 
fit  closely  in  the  cross-beams.  Each  stamp  has  a  tappet  at  the  back,  which 
requires  to  be  daubed  with  grease  on  the  lower  side  that  it  can  be  raised 
more  easily.  For  each  stamp  there  are  on  a  cam-shaft,  two  cams,  rounded  on 

"  wet  method  of  stamping,  whereas  before  that  period  the  ore  there  was  ground.  In  the 
"  Harz  this  invention  was  introduced  at  Wildenmann  by  Peter  Philip,  who  was  assay- 
"  master  there  soon  after  the  works  at  the  Upper  Harz  were  resumed  by  Duke  Henry  the 
"  Younger,  about  the  year  1524.  This  we  learn  from  the  papers  of  Herdan  Hacke  or 
"  Haecke,  who  was  preacher  at  Wildenmann  in  1572." 

In  view  of  the  great  amount  of  direct  and  indirect  reference  to  tin  mining  in  Cornwall, 
covering  four  centuries  prior  to  Agricola,  it  would  be  natural  to  expect  some  statement 
bearing  upon  the  treatment  of  ore.  Curiously  enough,  while  alluvial  washing  and  smelting  of 
the  black-tin  are  often  referred  to,  there  is  nothing  that  we  have  been  able  to  find,  prior  to 
Richard  Carew's  "  Survey  of  Cornwall  "  (London,  1602,  p.  12)  which  gives  any  tangible 
evidence  on  the  technical  phases  of  ore-dressing.  In  any  event,  an  inspection  of  charters, 
tax-rolls,  Stannary  Court  proceedings,  etc.,  prior  to  that  date  gives  the  impression  that  vein 
mining  was  a  very  minor  portion  of  the  source  of  production.  Although  Carew's  work 
dates  45  years  after  Agricola,  his  description  is  of  interest :  "  As  much  almost  dooth  it 
"  exceede  credite,  that  the  Tynne,  for  and  in  so  small  quantitie  digged  up  with  so  great  toyle, 
"  and  passing  afterwards  thorow  the  managing  of  so  many  hands,  ere  it  comes  to  sale,  should 
"  be  any  way  able  to  acquite  the  cost :  for  being  once  brought  above  ground  in  the  stone, 
"  it  is  first  broken  in  peeces  with  hammers  ;  and  then  carryed,  either  in  waynes,  or  on  horses' 
"  backs,  to  a  stamping  mill,  where  three,  and  in  some  places  sixe  great  logges  of  timber, 
"  bounde  at  the  ends  with  yron,  and  lifted  up  and  downe  by  a  wheele,  driven  with  the  water, 
"  doe  break  it  smaller.  If  the  stones  be  over-moyst,  they  are  dried  by  the  fire  in  an  yron 
"  cradle  or  grate.  From  the  stamping  mill,  it  passeth  to  the  crazing  mill,  which  betweene 
'  two  grinding  stones,  turned  also  with  a  water-wheel,  bruseth  the  same  to  a  find  sand  ; 
'  howbeit,  of  late  times  they  mostly  use  wet  stampers,  and  so  have  no  need  of  the  crazing 
'  mills  for  their  best  stuffe,  but  only  for  the  crust  of  their  tayles.  The  streame,  after  it  hath 
'  forsaken  the  mill,  is  made  to  fall  by  certayne  degrees,  one  somewhat  distant  from  another  ; 
'  upon  each  of  which,  at  every  discent,  lyeth  a  greene  turfe,  three  or  foure  foote  square,  and 
'  one  foote  thick.  On  this  the  Tinner  layeth  a  certayne  portion  of  the  sandie  Tinne,  and 
'  with  his  shovel  softly  tosseth  the  same  to  and  fro,  that,  through  this  stirring,  the  water 
'  which  runneth  over  it  may  wash  away  the  light  earth  from  the  Tinne,  which  of  a  heavier 
'  substance  lyeth  fast  on  the  turfe.  Having  so  clensed  one  portion,  he  setteth  the  same 
'  aside,  and  beginneth  with  another,  until  his  labour  take  end  with  his  taske.  The  best  of 
'  those  turfes  (for  all  sorts  serve  not)  are  fetched  about  two  miles  to  the  eastwards  of  S. 
'  Michael's  Mount,  where  at  low  water  they  cast  aside  the  sand,  and  dig  them  up :  they 
'  are  full  of  rootes  of  trees,  and  on  some  of  them  nuts  have  been  found,  which  confirmeth 
'  my  former  assertion  of  the  sea's  intrusion.  After  it  is  thus  washed,  they  put  the  remnant 
'  into  a  wooden  dish,  broad,  flat,  and  round,  being  about  two  foote  over,  and  having  two 
'  handles  fastened  at  the  sides,  by  which  they  softly  shogge  the  same  to  and  fro  in  the  water 
'  betweene  their  legges,  as  they  sit  over  it,  untill  whatsoever  of  the  earthie  substance  that 
'  was  yet  left  be  flitted  away.  Some  of  later  time,  with  a  sleighter  invention,  and  lighter 
'  labour,  doe  cause  certayne  boyes  to  stir  it  up  and  down  with  their  feete,  which  worketh 
'  the  same  effect ;  the  residue,  after  this  often  clensing,  they  call  Blacke  Tynne." 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  "  wet  stampers  "  and  the  buddle — worked  with  "  boyes 
"  feete  " — are  "  innovations  of  late  times."  And  the  interesting  question  arises  as  to 
whether  Cornwall  did  not  derive  the  stamp-mill,  buddle,  and  strake,  from  the  Germans. 
The  first  adequate  detailed  description  of  Cornish  appliances  is  that  of  Pryce  (Mineralogia 
Cornubiensis,  London,  1778)  where  the  apparatus  is  identical  with  that  described  by  Agricola 
130  years  before.  The  word  "  stamper  "  of  Cornwall  is  of  German  origin,  from  sfampfer, 
or,  as  it  is  often  written  in  old  German  works,  stamper.  However,  the  pursuit  of  the  subject 
through  etymology  ends  here,  for  no  derivatives  in  German  can  be  found  for  buddle,  tye, 
strake,  or  other  collateral  terms.  The  first  tangible  evidence  of  German  influence  is  to  be 
found  in  Carew  who,  continuing  after  the  above  quotation,  states  :  "  But  sithence  I  gathered 
"  stickes  to  the  building  of  this  poore  nest,  Sir  Francis  Godolphin  (whose  kind  helpe  hath  much 
"  advanced  this  my  playing  labour)  entertained  a  Dutch  Mynerall  man,  and  taking  light  from 
"  his  experience,  but  building  thereon  farre  more  profitable  conclusions  of  his  owne  invention, 
"  hath  practised  a  more  saving  way  in  these  matters,  and  besides,  made  Tynne  with  good 
"  profit  of  that  refuse  which  Tynners  rejected  as  nothing  worth."  Beyond  this  quotation 
we  can  find  no  direct  evidence  of  the  influence  of  "  Dutch  Mynerall  men  "  in  Cornish  tin 
mining  at  this  time.  There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  in  copper  mining  in  Cornwall 
and  elsewhere  in  England,  the  "  Dutch  Mynerall  men  "  did  play  a  large  part  in  the  latter 


BOOK    VIII. 


283 


the  outer  end,  which  alternately  raise  the  stamp,  in  order  that,  by  its  dropping 
into  the  mortar,  it  may  with  its  iron  head  pound  and  crush  the  rock  which 
has  been  thrown  under  it.  To  the  cam-shaft  is  fixed  a  water-wheel  whose 
buckets  are  turned  by  water-power.  Instead  of  doors,  the  mouth  of  the 
mortar  has  a  board,  which  is  fitted  into  notches  cut  out  of  the  front  of  the  block. 
This  board  can  be  raised,  in  order  that  when  the  mouth  is  open,  the  workmen 


part  of  the  i6th  Century.     Pettus  (Fodince  Regales,  London,  1670,  p.  20)  states  that  "  about 

"  the  third  year  of  Queen  Elizabeth  (1561)  she  by  the  advice  of  her  Council  sent  over  for 

"  some  Germans  experienced  in  mines,  and  being  supplied,  she,  on  the  tenth  of  October,  in  the 

"  sixth   of  her  reign,  granted  the  mines  of  eight  counties     ....     to   Houghsetter,   a 

"  German   whose   name   and   family   still   continue   in   Cardiganshire."     Elizabeth   granted 

large  mining  rights  to  various  Germans,  and  the  opening  paragraphs  of  two  out  of  several 

Charters  may  be  quoted  in  point.    This  grant  is  dated  1565,  and  in  part  reads  :      "  ELIZABETH, 

"  by  the  Grace  of  God,  Queen  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the  Faith,  &c. 

"  To  all  Men  to  whom  these  Letters  Patents  shall  come,  Greeting.     Where  heretofore  we 

"  have  granted  Privileges  to  Cornelius  de  Voz,  for  the  Mining  and  Digging  in  our  Realm 

"  of  England,  for  Allom  and  Copperas,  and  for  divers  Ewers  of  Metals  that  were  to  be  found 

"  in  digging  for  the  said  Allom  and  Copperas,  incidently  and  consequently  without  fraud 

"  or  guile,  as  by  the  same  our  Privilege  may  appear.     And  where  we  also  moved,  by  credible 

'  Report  to  us  made,  of  one  Daniel  Houghsetter,  a  German  born,  and  of  his  Skill  and  Know- 

'  ledge  of  and  in  all  manner  of  Mines,  of  Metals  and  Minerals,  have  given  and  granted 

'  Privilege  to  Thomas  Thurland,  Clerk,  one  of  our  Chaplains,  and  Master  of  the  Hospital  of 

'  Savoy,  and  to  the  same  Daniel,  for  digging  and  mining  for  all  manner  of  Ewers  of  Gold, 

'  Silver,   Copper,   and  Quicksilver,  within  our  Counties  of  York,  Lancaster,   Cumberland, 

'  Westmorland,  Cornwall,  Devon,  Gloucester,  and  Worcester,  and  within  our  Principality 

'  of  Wales  ;   and  with  the  same  further  to  deal,  as  by  our  said  Privilege  thereof  granted  and 

'  made  to  the  said  Thomas  Thurland  and  Daniel  Houghsetter  may  appear.     And  we  now 

'  being  minded  that  the  said  Commodities,  and  all  other  Treasures  of  the  Earth,  in  all  other 

'  Places  of  our  Realm  of  England     .     .     .     ."     On  the  same  date  another  grant  reads  : 

'  ELIZABETH,  by  the  Grace  of  God,  Queen  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the 

'  Faith,  &c.     To  all  Men  to  whom  these  our  Letters  Patents  shall  come,  Greeting.     Where 

'  we  have  received  credible  Information  that  our  faithful  and  well-beloved  Subject  William 

'  Humfrey,  Saymaster  of  our  Mint  within  our  Tower  of  London,  by  his  great  Endeavour, 

'  Labour,  and  Charge,  hath  brought  into  this  our  Realm  of  England  one  Christopher  Shutz, 

'  an  Almain,  born  at  St.  Annen  Berg,  under  the  Obedience  of  the  Fleeter  of  Saxony  ;    a 

'  Workman  as  it  is  reported,  of  great  Cunning,  Knowledge,  and  Experience,  as  well  in  the 

'  finding  of  the  Calamin  Stone,  call'd  in  Latin,  lapis  calaminaris,  and  in  the  right  and  proper 

'  use  and  commodity  thereof,  for  the  Composition  of  the  mix'd  Metal  commonly  call'd 

'  latten,  etc."     Col.  Grant-Francis,  in  his  most  valuable  collection  (Smelting  of  Copper  in 

the  Swansea  District,  London,  1881)  has  published  a  collection  of  correspondence  relating 

to  early  mining  and  smelting  operations  in  Great  Britain.     And  among  them  (p.  i.,  etc.)  are 

letters  in  the  years  1583-6  from  William  Carnsewe  and  others  to  Thomas  Smyth,  with  regard 

to  the  first  smelter  erected  at  Neath,  which  was  based  upon  copper  mines  in  Cornwall.     He 

mentions  "  Mr.  Weston's  (a  partner)  provydence  in  bringynge  hys  Dutch  myners  hether 

"  to  aplye  such  businys  in  this  countrye  ys  more  to  be  commendyd  than  his  ignorance  of 

"  our  countrymen's  actyvytyes  in  suche  matters."     The  principal  "  Dutche  Mineral  Master  " 

referred  to  was  one  Ulrick  Frosse,  who  had  charge  of  the  mine  at  Perin  Sands  in  Cornwall,  and 

subsequently  of  the  smelter  at  Neath.       Further  on  is  given  (p.  25)  a  Report  by  Jochim 

Gaunse  upon  the  Smelting  of  copper  ores  at  Keswick  in  Cumberland  in  1581,  referred  to  in 

note  2,  p.  267.     The  Daniel  Hochstetter  mentioned  in  the  Charter  above,  together  with 

other  German  and  English  gentlemen,  formed  the  "  Company  of  Mines  Royal  "  and  among 

the  properties  worked  were  those  with  which  Gaunse's  report  is  concerned.      There  is  in 

the    Record  Office,   London   (Exchequer   K.R.   Com.    Derby  611.    Eliz.)   the  record  of  an 

interesting  inquisition  into  Derbyshire  methods  in  which  a  then  recent  great  improvement 

was  the  jigging  sieve,  the  introduction  of  which  was  due  to  William  Humphrey  (mentioned 

above).     It  is  possible  that  he  learned  of  it  from  the  German  with  whom  he  was  associated. 

Much  more  evidence  of  the  activity  of   the   Germans  in   English  mining  at  this  period  can 

be  adduced. 

On  the  other  hand,  Cornwall  has  laid  claims  to  having  taught  the  art  of  tin  mining 
and  metallurgy  to  the  Germans.  Matthew  Paris,  a  Benedictine  monk,  by  birth  an  English- 
man, who  died  in  1259,  relates  (Historia  Major  Angliae,  London,  1571)  that  a  Cornishman 
who  fled  to  Germany  on  account  of  a  murder,  first  discovered  tin  there  in  1241,  and  that  in 
consequence  the  price  of  tin  fell  greatly.  This  statement  is  recalled  with  great  persistence 
by  many  writers  on  Cornwall.  (Camden,  Britannia,  London,  1586  ;  Borlase,  Natural 
History  of  Cornwall,  Oxford,  1758  ;  Pryce,  Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  London,  1778,  p.  70, 
and  others). 


284 


BOOK    VIII. 


A— MORTAR.     B — UPRIGHT  POSTS.     C — CROSS-BEAMS.     D — STAMPS.    E — THEIR  HEADS. 
F— AXLE  (CAM-SHAFT).    G— TOOTH  OF  THE  STAMP  (TAPPET).     H — TEETH  OF  AXLE  (CAMS). 

can  remove  with  a  shovel  the  fine  sand,  and  likewise  the  coarse  sand  and 
broken  rock,  into  which  the  rocks  have  been  crushed  ;  this  board  can  be 
lowered,  so  that  the  mouth  thus  being  closed,  the  fresh  rock  thrown  in  may 
be  crushed  with  the  iron-shod  stamps.  If  an  oak  block  is  not  available, 
two  timbers  are  placed  on  the  ground  and  joined  together  with  iron  clamps, 
each  of  the  timbers  being  six  feet  long,  a  foot  wide,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  thick. 
Such  depth  as  should  be  allowed  to  the  mortar,  is  obtained  by  cutting  out  the 
first  beam  to  a  width  of  three-quarters  of  a  foot  and  to  a  length  of  two  and  a 
third  and  one  twenty-fourth  of  a  foot.  In  the  bottom  of  the  part  thus  dug 
out,  there  should  be  laid  a  very  hard  rock,  a  foot  thick  and  three-quarters  of  a 
foot  wide  ;  about  it,  if  any  space  remains,  earth  or  sand  should  be  filled  in 
and  pounded.  On  the  front,  this  bed  rock  is  covered  with  a  plank  ;  this 
rock  when  it  has  been  broken,  should  be  taken  away  and  replaced  by 
another.  A  smaller  mortar  having  room  for  only  three  stamps  may  also  be 
made  in  the  same  manner. 

The  stamp-stems   are  made  of  small  square  timbers  nine  feet  long  and 
half  a  foot  wide  each  way.     The  iron  head  of  each  is  made  in  the  following 


BOOK    VIII. 


285 


way ;  the  lower  part  of  the  head  is  three  palms  long  and  the  upper  part  the 
same  length.  The  lower  part  is  a  palm  square  in  the  middle  for  two  palms, 
then  below  this,  for  a  length  of  two  digits  it  gradually  spreads  until  it 
becomes  five  digits  square ;  above  the  middle  part,  for  a  length  of  two 
digits,  it  again  gradually  swells  out  until  it  becomes  a  palm  and  a  half  square. 
Higher  up,  where  the  head  of  the  shoe  is  enclosed  in  the  stem,  it  is  bored 
through  and  similarly  the  stem  itself  is  pierced,  and  through  the  opening  of 
each,  there  passes  a  broad  iron  wedge,  which  prevents  the  head  falling  off  the 
stem.  To  prevent  the  stamp  head  from  becoming  broken  by  the  constant 
striking  of  fragments  of  ore  or  rocks,  there  is  placed  around  it  a  quadrangular 
iron  band  a  digit  thick,  seven  digits  wide,  and  six  digits  deep.  Those  who 
use  three  stamps,  as  is  common,  make  them  much  larger,  and  they  are 
made  square  and  three  palms  broad  each  way;  then  the  iron  shoe 
of  each  has  a  total  length  of  two  feet  and  a  palm ;  at  the  lower  end,  it  is 
hexagonal,  and  at  that  point  it  is  seven  digits  wide  and  thick.  The  lower 
part  of  it  which  projects  beyond  the  stem  is  one  foot  and  two  palms  long  ; 
the  upper  part,  which  is  enclosed  in  the  stem,  is  three  palms  long  ;  the 


A— STAMP.       B— STEM  CUT  OUT  IN  LOWER  PART.      C — SHOE.        D — THE  OTHER  SHOE, 

BARBED     AND     GROOVED.      E — QUADRANGULAR     IRON     BAND.       F — WEDGE.      G — TAPPET. 

H — ANGULAR  CAM-SHAFT.     I — CAMS.    K — PAIR  OF  COMPASSES. 
21 


286 


BOOK    VIII. 


lower  part  is  a  palm  wide  and  thick  ;  then  gradually  the  upper  part  becomes 
narrower  and  thinner,  so  that  at  the  top  it  is  three  digits  and  a  half  wide  and 
two  thick.  It  is  bored  through  at  the  place  where  the  angles  have  been 
somewhat  cut  away ;  the  hole  is  three  digits  long  and  one  wide,  and  is  one 
digit's  distance  from  the  top.  There  are  some  who  make  that  part  of  the 
head  which  is  enclosed  in  the  stem,  barbed  and  grooved,  in  order  that  when 
the  hooks  have  been  fixed  into  the  stem  and  wedges  fitted  to  the  grooves, 
it  may  remain  tightly  fixed,  especially  when  it  is  also  held  with  two  quad- 
rangular iron  bands.  Some  divide  the  cam-shaft  with  a  compass  into  six 
sides,  others  into  nine  ;  it  is  better  for  it  to  be  divided  into  twelve  sides,  in 
order  that  successively  one  side  may  contain  a  cam  and  the  next  be  without  one. 
The  water-wheel  is  entirely  enclosed  under  a  quadrangular  box,  in  case 
either  the  deep  snows  or  ice  in  winter,  or  storms,  may  impede  its  running  and 
its  turning  around.  The  joints  in  the  planks  are  stopped  all  around  with 
moss.  The  cover,  however,  has  one  opening,  through  which  there  passes 
a  race  bringing  down  water  which,  dropping  on  the  buckets  of  the  wheel, 
turns  it  round,  and  flows  out  again  in  the  lower  race  under  the  box.  The 
spokes  of  the  water-wheel  are  not  infrequently  mortised  into  the  middle  of 


. — Box.     ALTHOUGH  THE  UPPER  PART  is  NOT  OPEN,  IT  is  SHOWN  OPEN  HERE,  THAT  THE 

WHEEL    MAY    BE    SEEN.         B — WHEEL.       C — CAM-SHAFT.       D — STAMPS. 


BOOK     VIII. 


287 


the  cam-shaft ;  in  this  case  the  cams  on  both  sides  raise  the  stamps,  which 
either  both  crush  dry  or  wet  ore,  or  else  the  one  set  crushes  dry  ore  and  the 
other  set  wet  ore,  just  as  circumstances  require  the  one  or  the  other ; 
further,  when  the  one  set  is  raised  and  the  iron  clavises  in  them  are  fixed 
into  openings  in  the  first  cross-beam,  the  other  set  alone  crushes  the  ore. 

Broken  rock  or  stones,  or  the  coarse  or  fine  sand,  are  removed  from 
the  mortar  of  this  machine  and  heaped  up,  as  is  also  done  with  the  same 
materials  when  raked  out  of  the  dump  near  the  mine.  They  are  thrown 
by  a  workman  into  a  box,  which  is  open  on  the  top  and  the  front,  and  is  three 
feet  long  and  nearly  a  foot  and  a  half  wide.  Its  sides  are  sloping  and  made 
of  planks,  but  its  bottom  is  made  of  iron  wire  netting,  and  fastened  with 
wire  to  two  iron  rods,  which  are  fixed  to  the  two  side  planks.  This  bottom 
has  openings,  through  which  broken  rock  of  the  size  of  a  hazel  nut  cannot 
pass  ;  the  pieces  which  are  too  large  to  pass  through  are  removed  by  the 
workman,  who  again  places  them  under  stamps,  while  those  which  have 
passed  through,  together  with  the  coarse  and  fine  sand,  he  collects  in  a  large 
vessel  and  keeps  for  the  washing.  When  he  is  performing  his  laborious 


A — BOX    LAID    FLAT    ON    THE    GROUND.       B — ITS    BOTTOM    WHICH    IS    MADE    OF    IRON    WIRE. 

C — BOX  INVERTED.  D — IRON  RODS.  E — BOX  SUSPENDED  FROM  A  BEAM,  THE  INSIDE 

BEING    VISIBLE.       F — BOX    SUSPENDED    FROM    A    BEAM,    THE    OUTSIDE    BEING    VISIBLE. 


288 


BOOK     VIII. 


task  he  suspends  the  box  from  a  beam  by  two  ropes.     This  box  may  rightly 
be  called  a  quadrangular  sieve,  as  may  also  that  kind  which  follows. 

Some  employ  a  sieve  shaped  like  a  wooden  bucket,  bound  with  two  iron 
hoops ;  its  bottom,  like  that  of  the  box,  is  made  of  iron  wire  netting. 
They  place  this  on  two  small  cross-planks  fixed  upon  a  post  set  in  the  ground. 
Some  do  not  fix  the  post  in  the  ground,  but  stand  it  on  the  ground  until 
there  arises  a  heap  of  the  material  which  has  passed  through  the  sieve,  and 
in  this  the  post  is  fixed.  With  an  iron  shovel  the  workman  throws  into  this 
sieve  broken  rock,  small  stones,  coarse  and  fine  sand  raked  out  of  the  dump ; 
holding  the  handles  of  the  sieve  in  his  hands,  he  agitates  it  up  and  down  in 


A — SIEVE.     B — SMALL    PLANKS.     C — POST.     D — BOTTOM    OF    SIEVE.     E — OPEN    BOX. 

F — SMALL  CROSS-BEAM.     G — UPRIGHT  POSTS. 

order  that  by  this  movement  the  dust,  fine  and  coarse  sand,  small  stones,  and 
fine  broken  rock  may  fall  through  the  bottom.  Others  do  not  use  a  sieve,  but 
an  open  box,  whose  bottom  is  likewise  covered  with  wire  netting  ;  this  they 
fix  on  a  small  cross-beam  fastened  to  two  upright  beams  and  tilt  it  backward 
and  forward. 

Some  use  a  sieve  made  of  copper,  having  square  copper  handles  on  both 
sides,  and  through  these  handles  runs  a  pole,  of  which  one  end  projects  three- 
quarters  of  a  foot  beyond  one  handle  ;  the  workman  then  places  that  end  in 
a  rope  which  is  suspended  from  a  beam,  and  rapidly  shakes  the  pole  alter- 


BOOK    VIII. 


289 


nately  backward  and  forward.  By  this  movement  the  small  particles 
fall  through  the  bottom  of  the  sieve.  In  order  that  the  end  of  the  pole 
may  be  easily  placed  in  the  rope,  a  stick,  two  palms  long,  holds  open  the 
lower  part  of  the  rope  as  it  hangs  double,  each  end  of  the  rope  being  tied  to 
the  beam  ;  part  of  the  rope,  however,  hangs  beyond  the  stick  to  a  length  of 
half  a  foot.  A  large  box  is  also  used  for  this  purpose,  of  which  the  bottom 
is  either  made  of  a  plank  full  of  holes  or  of  iron  netting,  as  are  the  other 
boxes.  An  iron  bale  is  fastened  from  the  middle  of  the  planks  which  form 
its  sides  ;  to  this  bale  is  fastened  a  rope  which  is  suspended  from  a  wooden 
beam,  in  order  that  the  box  may  be  moved  or  tilted  in  any  direction. 


A— Box.     B— BALE.     C — ROPE.     D — BEAM.     E — HANDLES.     F — FIVE-TOOTHED  RAKE. 
G — SIEVE.    H — ITS  HANDLES.    I — POLE.     K — ROPE.    L — TIMBER. 

There  are  two  handles  on  each  end,  not  unlike  the  handles  of  a  wheel- 
barrow ;  these  are  held  by  two  workmen,  who  shake  the  box  to  and  fro. 
This  box  is  the  one  principally  used  by  the  Germans  who  dwell  in  the 
Carpathian  mountains.  The  smaller  particles  are  separated  from  the  larger 
ones  by  means  of  three  boxes  and  two  sieves,  in  order  that  those  which 
pass  through  each,  being  of  equal  size,  may  be  washed  together ;  for  the 
bottoms  of  both  the  boxes  and  sieves  have  openings  which  do  not  let 
through  broken  rock  of  the  size  of  a  hazel  nut.  As  for  the  dry  remnants 


29o  BOOK    VIII. 

in  the  bottoms  of  the  sieves,  if  they  contain  any  metal  the  miners  put  them 
under  the  stamps.  The  larger  pieces  of  broken  rock  are  not  separated  from 
the  smaller  by  this  method  until  the  men  and  boys,  with  five-toothed  rakes, 
have  separated  them  from  the  rock  fragments,  the  little  stones,  the 
coarse  and  the  fine  sand  and  earth,  which  have  been  thrown  on  to  the  dumps. 
At  Neusohl,  in  the  Carpathians,  there  are  mines  where  the  veins  of  copper 
lie  in  the  ridges  and  peaks  of  the  mountains,  and  in  order  to  save  expense 
being  incurred  by  a  long  and  difficult  transport,  along  a  rough  and  sometimes 
very  precipitous  road,  one  workman  sorts  over  the  dumps  which  have  been 
thrown  out  from  the  mines,  and  another  carries  in  a  wheelbarrow  the  earth, 
fine  and  coarse  sand,  little  stones,  broken  rock,  and  even  the  poorer  ore,  and 
overturns  the  barrow  into  a  long  open  chute  fixed  to  a  steep  rock.  This 
chute  is  held  apart  by  small  cleats,  and  the  material  slides  down  a  distance  of 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  into  a  short  box,  whose  bottom  is  made  of  a 
thick  copper  plate,  full  of  holes.  This  box  has  two  handles  by  which  it  is 
shaken  to  and  fro,  and  at  the  top  there  are  two  bales  made  of  hazel  sticks, 
in  which  is  fixed  the  iron  hook  of  a  rope  hung  from  the  branch  of  a  tree  or 
from  a  wooden  beam  which  projects  from  an  upright  post.  From  time  to 
time  a  sifter  pulls  this  box  and  thrusts  it  violently  against  the  tree  or  post, 
by  which  means  the  small  particles  passing  through  its  holes  descend  down 
another  chute  into  another  short  box,  in  whose  bottom  there  are  smaller 
holes.  A  second  sifter,  in  like  manner,  thrusts  this  box  violently  against  a 
tree  or  post,  and  a  second  time  the  smaller  particles  are  received  into  a  third 
chute,  and  slide  down  into  a  third  box,  whose  bottom  has  still  smaller  holes. 
A  third  sifter,  in  like  manner,  thrusts  this  box  violently  against  a  tree  or  post, 
and  for  the  third  time  the  tiny  particles  fall  through  the  holes  upon  a  table. 
While  the  workman  is  bringing  in  the  barrow,  another  load  which  has  been 
sorted  from  the  dump,  each  sifter  withdraws  the  hooks  from  his  bale 
and  carries  away  his  own  box  and  overturns  it,  heaping  up  the  broken  rock 
or  sand  which  remains  in  the  bottom  of  it.  As  for  the  tiny  particles  which 
have  slid  down  upon  the  table,  the  first  washer — for  there  are  as  many 
washers  as  sifters — sweeps  them  off  and  in  a  tub  nearly  full  of  water,  washes 
them  through  a  sieve  whose  holes  are  smaller  than  the  holes  of  the  third  box. 
When  this  tub  has  been  filled  with  the  material  which  has  passed  through 
the  sieve,  he  draws  out  the  plug  to  let  the  water  run  away  ;  then  he  removes 
with  a  shovel  that  which  has  settled  in  the  tub  and  throws  it  upon  the  table 
of  a  second  washer,  who  washes  it  in  a  sieve  with  smaller  holes.  The  sedi- 
ment which  has  this  time  settled  in  his  tub,  he  takes  out  and  throws  on  the 
table  of  a  third  washer,  who  washes  it  in  a  sieve  with  the  smallest  holes. 
The  copper  concentrates  which  have  settled  in  the  last  tub  are  taken  out  and 
smelted  ;  the  sediment  which  each  washer  has  removed  with  a  limp  is 
washed  on  a  canvas  strake.  The  sifters  at  Altenberg,  in  the  tin  mines  of 
the  mountains  bordering  on  Bohemia,  use  such  boxes  as  I  have  described, 
hung  from  wooden  beams.  These,  however,  are  a  little  larger  and  open  in 
the  front,  through  which  opening  the  broken  rock  which  has  not  gone  through 
the  sieve  can  be  shaken  out  immediately  by  thrusting  the  sieve  against  its  post. 


BOOK     VIII. 


291 


A — WORKMAN  CARRYING  BROKEN  ROCK  IN  A  BARROW.     B — FIRST  CHUTE.    C— FIRST  BOX. 

D— ITS    HANDLES.         E — ITS    BALES.         F — ROPE.         G — BEAM.        H— POST.        I — SECOND 

CHUTE.     K — SECOND    BOX.    L — THIRD    CHUTE.     M — THIRD    BOX.    N — FIRST    TABLE. 
0 — FIRST  SIEVE.     P — FIRST  TUB.     Q — SECOND  TABLE.     R — SECOND  SIEVE.     S — SECOND 
TUB.     T — THIRD  TABLE.     V— THIRD   SIEVE.     X — THIRD  TUB.     Y — PLUGS. 


2Q2 


BOOK    VIII. 


If  the  ore  is  rich  in  metal,  the  earth,  the  fine  and  coarse  sand,  and  the 
pieces  of  rock  which  have  been  broken  from  the  hanging-wall,  are  dug  out  of 
the  dump  with  a  spade  or  rake  and,  with  a  shovel,  are  thrown  into  a  large  sieve 
or  basket,  and  washed  in  a  tub  nearly  full  of  water.  The  sieve  is  generally 
a  cubit  broad  and  half  a  foot  deep  ;  its  bottom  has  holes  of  such  size  that  the 
larger  pieces  of  broken  rock  cannot  pass  through  them,  for  this  material  rests 
upon  the  straight  and  cross  iron  wires,  which  at  their  points  of  contact  are 
bound  by  small  iron  clips.  The  sieve  is  held  together  by  an  iron  band  and  by 
two  cross-rods  likewise  of  iron ;  the  rest  of  the  sieve  is  made  of  staves  in  the 
shape  of  a  little  tub,  and  is  bound  with  two  iron  hoops  ;  some,  however, 
bind  it  with  hoops  of  hazel  or  oak,  but  in  that  case  they  use  three  of  them. 
On  each  side  it  has  handles,  which  are  held  in  the  hands  by  whoever  washes 
the  metalliferous  material.  Into  this  sieve  a  boy  throws  the  material  to  be 
washed,  and  a  woman  shakes  it  up  and  down,  turning  it  alternately  to  the 


A — SIEVE.    B — ITS  HANDLES.    C — TUB.    D — BOTTOM  OF  SIEVE  MADE  OF  IRON  WIRES. 
E — HOOP.    F — RODS.    G — HOOPS.   H — WOMAN  SHAKING  THE  SIEVE.   I — BOY  SUPPLYING 

IT   WITH    MATERIAL   WHICH    REQUIRES   WASHING.        K — MAN  WITH  SHOVEL  REMOVING  FROM 
THE  TUB   THE   MATERIAL  WHICH   HAS   PASSED   THROUGH   THE   SIEVE. 


BOOK    VIII. 


293 


right  and  to  the  left,  and  in  this  way  passes  through  it  the  smaller  pieces  of 
earth,  sand,  and  broken  rock.  The  larger  pieces  remain  in  the  sieve,  and 
these  are  taken  out,  placed  in  a  heap  and  put  under  the  stamps.  The 
mud,  together  with  fine  sand,  coarse  sand,  and  broken  rock,  which  remain 
after  the  water  has  been  drawn  out  of  the  tub,  is  removed  by  an  iron  shovel 
and  washed  in  the  sluice,  about  which  I  will  speak  a  little  later. 

The  Bohemians  use  a  basket  a  foot  and  a  half  broad  and  half  a  foot  deep, 
bound  together  by  osiers.  It  has  two  handles  by  which  it  is  grasped,  when 
they  move  it  about  and  shake  it  in  the  tub  or  in  a  small  pool  nearly  full 
of  water.  All  that  passes  through  it  into  the  tub  or  pool  they  take  out  and 
wash  in  a  bowl,  which  is  higher  in  the  back  part  and  lower  and  flat  in  the 
front ;  it  is  grasped  by  the  two  handles  and  shaken  in  the  water,  the  lighter 
particles  flowing  away,  and  the  heavier  and  mineral  portion  sinking  to  the 
bottom. 


A — BASKET.    B — ITS  HANDLES.    C — DISH.    D — ITS  BACK  PART.    E — ITS  FRONT  PART. 

F — HANDLES  OF  SAME. 

Gold  ore,  after  being  broken  with  hammers  or  crushed  by  the  stamps, 
and  even  tin  ore,  is  further  milled  to  powder.    The  upper  millstone,  which 


BOOK    VIII. 

is  turned  by  water-power,  is  made  in  the  following  way.  An  axle  is  rounded 
to  compass  measure,  or  is  made  angular,  and  its  iron  pinions  turn  in  iron 
sockets  which  are  held  in  beams.  The  axle  is  turned  by  a  water-wheel,  the 
buckets  of  which  are  fixed  to  the  rim  and  are  struck  by  the  force  of  a  stream. 


A — AXLE.    B — WATER-WHEEL.      C — TOOTHED   DRUM.     D — DRUM   MADE   OF   RUNDLES. 
E — IRON   AXLE.        F — MILLSTONE.        G — HOPPER.        H — ROUND     WOODEN     PLATE. 

I — TROUGH. 

Into  the  axle  is  mortised  a  toothed  drum,  whose  teeth  are  fixed  in  the  side 
of  the  rim.  These  teeth  turn  a  second  drum  of  rundles,  which  are  made  of 
very  hard  material.  This  drum  surrounds  an  iron  axle  which  has  a  pinion 
at  the  bottom  and  revolves  in  an  iron  cup  in  a  timber.  At  the  top  of  the 
iron  axle  is  an  iron  tongue,  dove-tailed  into  the  millstone,  and  so  when  the 
teeth  of  the  one  drum  turn  the  rundles  of  the  other,  the  millstone  is  made  to 
turn  round.  An  overhanging  machine  supplies  it  with  ore  through  a  hopper, 
and  the  ore,  being  ground  to  powder,  is  discharged  from  a  round  wooden  plate 
into  a  trough  and  flowing  away  through  it  accumulates  on  the  floor ; 
from  there  the  ore  is  carried  away  and  reserved  for  washing.  Since  this 


BOOK    VIII. 


295 


method  of  grinding  requires  the  millstone  to  be  now  raised  and  now 
lowered,  the  timber  in  whose  socket  the  iron  of  the  pinion  axle  revolves,  rests 
upon  two  beams,  which  can  be  raised  and  lowered. 

There  are  three  mills  in  use  in  milling  gold  ores,  especially  for  quartz11 
which  is  not  lacking  in  metal.  They  are  not  all  turned  by  water-power, 
but  some  by  the  strength  of  men,  and  two  of  them  even  by  the  power 
of  beasts  of  burden.  The  first  revolving  one  differs  from  the  next  only 
in  its  driving  wheel,  which  is  closed  in  and  turned  by  men  treading  it,  or  by 
horses,  which  are  placed  inside,  or  by  asses,  or  even  by  strong  goats  ;  the 
eyes  of  these  beasts  are  covered  by  linen  bands.  The  second  mill,  both 
when  pushed  and  turned  round,  differs  from  the  two  above  by  having  an 
upright  axle  in  the  place  of  the  horizontal  one  ;  this  axle  has  at  its  lower  end 
a  disc,  which  two  workmen  turn  by  treading  back  its  cleats  with  their  feet, 
though  frequently  one  man  sustains  all  the  labour  ;  or  sometimes  there 
projects  from  the  axle  a  pole  which  is  turned  by  a  horse  or  an  ass,  for  which 
reason  it  is  called  an  asinaria.  The  toothed  drum  which  is  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  axle  turns  the  drum  which  is  made  of  rundles,  and  together  with  it  the 
millstone. 

The  third  mill  is  turned  round  and  round,  and  not  pushed  by  hand  ;  but 
between  this  and  the  others  there  is  a  great  distinction,  for  the  lower 
millstone  is  so  shaped  at  the  top  that  it  can  hold  within  it  the  upper  mill- 
stone, which  revolves  around  an  iron  axle  ;  this  axle  is  fastened  in  the 
centre  of  the  lower  stone  and  passes  through  the  upper  stone.  A  workman, 
by  grasping  in  his  hand  an  upright  iron  bar  placed  in  the  upper  millstone, 
moves  it  round.  The  middle  of  the  upper  millstone  is  bored  through,  and 
the  ore,  being  thrown  into  this  opening,  falls  down  upon  the  lower  millstone 
and  is  there  ground  to  powder,  which  gradually  runs  out  through  its  opening  ; 
it  is  washed  by  various  methods  before  it  is  mixed  with  quicksilver, 
which  I  will  explain  presently. 

Some  people  build  a  machine  which  at  one  and  the  same  time  can  crush, 
grind,  cleanse,  and  wash  the  gold  ore,  and  mix  the  gold  with  quicksilver. 
This  machine  has  one  water-wheel,  which  is  turned  by  a  stream  striking  its 
buckets  ;  the  main  axle  on  one  side  of  the  water-wheel  has  long  cams,  which 
raise  the  stamps  that  crush  the  dry  ore.  Then  the  crushed  ore  is  thrown 
into  the  hopper  of  the  upper  millstone,  and  gradually  falling  through  the 
opening,  isr  ground  to  powder.  The  lower  millstone  is  square,  but  has  a  round 
depression  in  which  the  round,  upper  millstone  turns,  and  it  has  an  outlet 
from  which  the  powder  falls  into  the  first  tub.  A  vertical  iron  axle  is  dove- 
tailed into  a  cross-piece,  which  is  in  turn  fixed  into  the  upper  millstone  ; 
the  upper  pinion  of  this  axle  is  held  in  a  bearing  fixed  in  a  beam  ;  the  drum 
of  the  vertical  axle  is  made  of  rundles,  and  is  turned  by  the  toothed  drum 
on  the  main  axle,  and  thus  turns  the  millstone.  The  powder  falls  continually 
into  the  first  tub,  together  with  water,  and  from  there  runs  into  a  second  tub 
which  is  set  lower  down,  and  out  of  the  second  into  a  third,  which  is  the 
lowest  ;  from  the  third,  it  generally  flows  into  a  small  trough  hewn  out  of  a 


liquescentibus.     (See  note  15,  p.  380). 


296 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — FIRST    MILL.     B — WHEEL    TURNED    BY    GOATS.     C — SECOND    MILL.    D — Disc    OF 

UPRIGHT    AXLE.  E — ITS    TOOTHED    DRUM.          F — THIRD    MILL.  G — SHAPE    OF    LOWER 

MILLSTONE.         H — SMALL    UPRIGHT   AXLE    OF   THE    SAME.         I — ITS   OPENING.      K — LEVER 

OF   THE    UPPER    MILLSTONE.       L— ITS    OPENING. 


BOOK    VIII. 


297 


tree  trunk.  Quicksilver12  is  placed  in  each  tub,  across  which  is  fixed  a  small 
plank,  and  through  a  hole  in  the  middle  of  each  plank  there  passes  a  small 
upright  axle,  which  is  enlarged  above  the  plank  to  prevent  it  from  dropping 
into  the  tub  lower  than  it  should.  At  the  lower  end  of  the  axle  three  sets 
of  paddles  intersect,  each  made  from  two  little  boards  fixed  to  the  axle 
opposite  each  other.  The  upper  end  of  this  axle  has  a  pinion  held  by  a 
bearing  set  in  a  beam,  and  around  each  of  these  axles  is  a  small  drum  made 
of  rundles,  each  of  which  is  turned  by  a  small  toothed  drum  on  a  horizontal 


"HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  AMALGAMATION.  The  recovery  of  gold  by  the  use  of  mercury 
possibly  dates  from  Roman  times,  but  the  application  of  the  process  to  silver  does  not 
seem  to  go  back  prior  to  the  i6th  Century.  Quicksilver  was  well-known  to  the  Greeks, 
and  is  described  by  Theophrastus  (105)  and  others  (see  note  58,  p.  432,  on  quicksilver). 
However,  the  Greeks  made  no  mention  of  its  use  for  amalgamation,  and,  in  fact, 
Dioscorides  (v,  70)  says  "it  is  kept  in  vessels  of  glass,  lead,  tin  or  silver  ;  if  kept  in 
"  vessels  of  any  other  kind  it  consumes  them  and  flows  away."  It  was  used  by  them 
for  medicinal  purposes.  The  Romans  amalgamated  gold  with  mercury,  but  whether  they 
took  advantage  of  the  principle  to  recover  gold  from  ores  we  do  not  know.  Vitruvius 
(VII,  8)  makes  the  following  statement : — "  If  quicksilver  be  placed  in  a  vessel  and  a 
"  stone  of  a  hundred  pounds'  weight  be  placed  on  it,  it  will  swim  at  the  top,  and  will, 
"  notwithstanding  its  weight,  be  incapable  of  pressing  the  liquid  so  as  to  break  or  separate 
"  it.  If  this  be  taken  out,  and  only  a  single  scruple  of  gold  be  put  in,  that  will  not  swim,  but 
"  immediately  descend  to  the  bottom.  This  is  a  proof  that  the  gravity  of  a  body  does  not 
"  depend  on  its  weight,  but  on  its  nature.  Quicksilver  is  used  for  many  purposes  ;  without 
'  it,  neither  silver  nor  brass  can  be  properly  gilt.  When  gold  is  embroidered  on  a  garment 
'  which  is  worn  out  and  no  longer  fit  for  use,  the  cloth  is  burnt  over  the  fire  in  earthen  pots  ; 
'  the  ashes  are  thrown  into  water  and  quicksilver  added  to  them  ;  this  collects  all  the 
'  particles  of  gold  and  unites  with  them.  The  water  is  then  poured  off  and  the  residuum 
'  placed  in  a  cloth,  which,  when  squeezed  with  the  hands,  suffers  the  liquid  quicksilver  to 
'  pass  through  the  pores  of  the  cloth,  but  retains  the  gold  in  a  mass  within  it."  (Gwilt's 
Trans.,  p.  217).  Pliny  is  rather  more  explicit  (xxxin,  32)  :  "  All  floats  on  it  (quicksilver) 
"  except  gold.  This  it  draws  into  itself,  and  on  that  account  is  the  best  means  of  purifying  ; 
"  for,  on  being  repeatedly  agitated  in  earthen  pots  it  casts  out  the  other  things  and  the 
"  impurities.  These  things  being  rejected,  in  order  that  it  may  give  up  the  gold,  it  is  squeezed 
"  in  prepared  skins,  through  which,  exuding  like  perspiration,  it  leaves  the  gold  pure."  It 
may  be  noted  particularly  that  both  these  authors  state  that  gold  is  the  only  substance  that 
does  not  float,  and,  moreover,  nowhere  do  we  find  any  reference  to  silver  combining  with 
mercury,  although  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions,  Vol.  i,  p.  14)  not  only  states  that  the 
above  passage  from  Pliny  refers  to  silver,  but  in  further  error,  attributes  the  origin  of  silver 
amalgamation  of  ores  to  the  Spaniards  in  the  Indies. 

The  Alchemists  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  well  aware  that  silver  would  amalgamate  with 
mercury.  There  is,  however,  difficulty  in  any  conclusion  that  it  was  applied  by  them  to 
separating  silver  or  gold  from  ore.  The  involved  gibberish  in  which  most  of  their  utterances 
was  couched,  obscures  most  of  their  reactions  in  any  event.  The  School  of  Geber  (Appendix  B) 
held  that  all  metals  were  a  compound  of  "  spiritual  "  mercury  and  sulphur,  and  they  clearly 
amalgamated  silver  with  mercury,  and  separated  them  by  distillation.  The  Probierbuchlein 
(1520  ?)  describes  a  method  of  recovering  silver  from  the  cement  used  in  parting  gold  and 
silver,  by  mixing  the  cement  (silver  chlorides)  with  quicksilver.  Agricola  nowhere  in 
this  work  mentions  the  treatment  of  silver  ores  by  amalgamation,  although  he  was  familiar 
with  Biringuccio  (De  La  Pirotechnia),  as  he  himself  mentions  in  the  Preface.  This  work, 
published  at  least  ten  years  before  De  Re  Metallica,  contains  the  first  comprehensive 
account  of  silver  amalgamation.  There  is  more  than  usual  interest  in  the  description, 
because,  not  only  did  it  precede  De  Re  Metallica,  but  it  is  also  a  specific  explanation 
of  the  fundamental  essentials  of  the  Patio  Process  long  before  the  date  when  the  Spaniards 
could  possibly  have  invented  that  process  in  Mexico.  We  quote  Mr.  A.  Dick's  translation 
from  Percy  (Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Gold,  p.  560)  : 

"  He  was  certainly  endowed  with  much  useful  and  ingenious  thought  who  invented 
"  the  short  method  of  extracting  metal  from  the  sweepings  produced  by  those  arts  which  have 
"  to  do  with  gold  and  silver,  every  substance  left  in  the  refuse  by  smelters,  and  also  the 
"  substance  from  certain  ores  themselves,  without  the  labour  of  fusing,  but  by  the  sole 
"  means  and  virtue  of  mercury.  To  effect  this,  a  large  basin  is  first  constructed  of  stone  or 
"  timber  and  walled,  into  which  is  fitted  a  millstone  made  to  turn  like  that  of  a  mill.  Into  the 
"  hollow  of  this  basin  is  placed  matter  containing  gold  (della  materia  vra  che  tiene  oro),  well 
"  ground  in  a  mortar  and  afterward  washed  and  dried  ;  and,  with  the  above-mentioned 


298  BOOK    VIII. 

axle,  one  end  of  which  is  mortised  into  the  large  horizontal  axle,  and  the 
other  end  is  held  in  a  hollow  covered  with  thick  iron  plates  in  a  beam.  Thus 
the  paddles,  of  which  there  are  three  sets  in  each  tub,  turn  round,  and 
agitating  the  powder,  thoroughly  mix  it  with  water  and  separate  the  minute 
particles  of  gold  from  it,  and  these  are  attracted  by  the  quicksilver  and 
purified.  The  water  carries  away  the  waste.  The  quicksilver  is  poured 
into  a  bag  made  of  leather  or  cloth  woven  from  cotton,  and  when  this  bag  is 
squeezed,  as  I  have  described  elsewhere,  the  quicksilver  drips  through  it  into 
a  jar  placed  underneath.  The  pure  gold13  remains  in  the  bag.  Some  people 
substitute  three  broad  sluices  for  the  tubs,  each  of  which  has  an  angular  axle 
on  which  are  set  six  narrow  spokes,  and  to  them  are  fixed  the  same  number  of 
broad  paddles  ;  the  water  that  is  poured  in  strikes  these  paddles  and  turns 
them  round,  and  they  agitate  the  powder  which  is  mixed  with  the  water  and 
separate  the  metal  from  it.  If  the  powder  which  is  being  treated  contains 
gold  particles,  the  first  method  of  washing  is  far  superior,  because  the  quick- 
silver in  the  tubs  immediately  attracts  the  gold  ;  if  it  is  powder  in  which 
are  the  small  black  stones  from  which  tin  is  smelted,  this  latter  method  is 
not  to  be  despised.  It  is  very  advantageous  to  place  interlaced  fir  boughs 
in  the  sluices  in  which  such  tin-stuff  is  washed,  after  it  has  run  through  the 
launders  from  the  mills,  because  the  fine  tin-stone  is  either  held  back  by  the 
twigs,  or  if  the  current  carries  them  along  they  fall  away  from  the  water 
and  settle  down. 

millstone,  it  is  ground  while  being  moistened  with  vinegar,  or  water,  in  which  has  been 
dissolved  corrosive  sublimate  (solimato),  verdigris  (verde  rame),  and  common  salt.  Over 
these  materials  is  then  put  as  much  mercury  as  will  cover  them  ;  they  are  then  stirred  for 
an  hour  or  two,  by  turning  the  millstone,  either  by  hand,  or  horse-power,  according 
to  the  plan  adopted,  bearing  in  mind  that  the  more  the  mercury  and  the  materials  are 
bruised  together  by  the  millstone,  the  more  the  mercury  may  be  trusted  to  have  taken  up 
the  substance  which  the  materials  contain.  The  mercury,  in  this  condition,  can  then  be 
separated  from  the  earthy  matter  by  a  sieve,  or  by  washing,  and  thus  you  will  recover 
the  auriferous  mercury  (el  vro  mer curio).  After  this,  by  driving  off  the  mercury  by 
means  of  a  flask  (i.e.,  by  heating  in  a  retort  or  an  alembic),  or  by  passing  it  through  a  bag, 
there  will  remain,  at  the  bottom,  the  gold,  silver,  or  copper,  or  whatever  metal  was  placed 
in  the  basin  under  the  millstone  to  be  ground.  Having  been  desirous  of  knowing  this 
secret,  I  gave  to  him  who  taught  it  to  me  a  ring  with  a  diamond  worth  25  ducats  ;  he  also 
required  me  to  give  him  the  eighth  part  of  any  profit  I  might  make  by  using  it.  This  I 
wished  to  tell  you,  not  that  you  should  return  the  ducats  to  me  for  teaching  you  the  secret, 
but  in  order  that  you  should  esteem  it  all  the  more  and  hold  it  dear." 

In  another  part  of  the  treatise  Biringuccio  states  that  washed  (concentrated)  ores  may 
be  ultimately  reduced  either  by  lead  or  mercury.  Concerning  these  silver  concentrates 
he  writes :  "  Afterward  drenching  them  with  vinegar  in  which  has  been  put  green 
"  copper  (i.e.,  verdigris) ;  or  drenching  them  with  water  in  which  has  been  dissolved  vitriol 
"  and  green  copper.  .  .  ."  He  next  describes  how  this  material  should  be  ground  with 
mercury.  The  question  as  to  who  was  the  inventor  of  silver  amalgamation  will  probably 
never  be  cleared  up.  According  to  Ulloa  (Relation  Historica  Del  Viage  a  la  America 
Meridional,  Madrid,  1748)  Dom  Pedro  Fernandes  De  Velasco  discovered  the  process  in  Mexico 
in  1566.  The  earliest  technical  account  is  that  of  Father  Joseph  De  Acosta  (Historia  Natural 
y  Moral  de  las  Indias,  Seville,  1590,  English  trans.  Edward  Grimston,  London,  1604,  re- 
published  by  the  Hakluyt  Society,  1880).  Acosta  was  born  in  1540,  and  spent  the  years 
1570  to  1585  in  Peru,  and  1586  in  Mexico.  It  may  be  noted  that  Potosi  was  discovered 
in  1545.  He  states  that  refining  silver  with  mercury  was  introduced  at  Potosi  by  Pedro 
Fernandes  de  Velasco  from  Mexico  in  1571,  and  states  (Grimston's  Trans.,  Vol.  i,  p.  219) : 
"...  They  put  the  powder  of  the  metall  into  the  vessels  upon  furnaces,  whereas  they 
"  anoint  it  and  mortifie  it  with  brine,  putting  to  every  fiftie  quintalles  of  powder  five 
"  quintalles  of  salt.  And  this  they  do  for  that  the  salt  separates  the  earth  and  filth,  to  the 
"  end  the  quicksilver  may  the  more  easily  draw  the  silver  unto  it.  After,  they  put  quick- 

13Aurum  in  ea  remanet  purum.  This  same  error  of  assuming  squeezed  amalgam  to 
be  pure  gold  occurs  in  Pliny :  see  previous  footnote. 


BOOK     VIII. 


299 


life 


A — WATER-WHEEL.     B — AXLE.     C — STAMP.      D — HOPPER  IN  THE   UPPER  MILLSTONE. 
E — OPENING    PASSING   THROUGH    THE    CENTRE.        F — LOWER    MILLSTONE.         G — ITS 

ROUND  DEPRESSION.      H — ITS  OUTLET.       I — IRON  AXLE.       K — ITS  CROSSPIECE.       L — BEAM. 

M — DRUM  OF  RUNDLES  ON  THE  IRON  AXLE.     N — TOOTHED  DRUM  OF  MAIN  AXLE.    0 — TUBS. 

P — THE    SMALL    PLANKS.        Q— SMALL     UPRIGHT    AXLES.        R — ENLARGED    PART    OF    ONE. 

S — THEIR   PADDLES.    T — THEIR   DRUMS   WHICH   ARE    MADE   OF   RUNDLES.    V — SMALL 

HORIZONTAL    AXLE    SET    INTO    THE    END    OF    THE    MAIN    AXLE.       X — ITS    TOOTHED    DRUMS. 

Y— THREE    SLUICES,    Z— THEIR    SMALL   AXLES.     AA — SPOKES.     BB — PADDLES. 


300  BOOK     VIII. 

Seven  methods  of  washing  are  in  common  use  for  the  ores  of  many 
metals ;  for  they  are  washed  either  in  a  simple  buddle,  or  in  a  divided  huddle, 
or  in  an  ordinary  strake,  or  in  a  large  tank,  or  in  a  short  strake,  or  in  a  canvas 
strake,  or  in  a  jigging  sieve.  Other  methods  of  washing  are  either  peculiar 
to  some  particular  metal,  or  are  combined  with  the  method  of  crushing  wet 
ore  by  stamps. 

A  simple  buddle  is  made  in  the  following  way.  In  the  first  place,  the  head 
is  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  buddle,  and  is  three  feet  long  and  a  foot  and  a  half 
broad  ;  this  head  is  made  of  planks  laid  upon  a  timber  and  fastened,  and 
on  both  sides,  side-boards  are  set  up  so  as  to  hold  the  water,  which  flows  in 
through  a  pipe  or  trough,  so  that  it  shall  fall  straight  down.  The  middle  of 
the  head  is  somewhat  depressed  in  order  that  the  broken  rock  and  the  larger 
metallic  particles  may  settle  into  it.  The  buddle  is  sunk  into  the  earth  to  a 
depth  of  three-quarters  of  a  foot  below  the  head,  and  is  twelve  feet  long  and 
a  foot  and  a  half  wide  and  deep  ;  the  bottom  and  each  side  are  lined  with 
planks  to  prevent  the  earth,  when  it  is  softened  by  the  water,  from  falling 
in  or  from  absorbing  the  metallic  particles.  The  lower  end  of  the  buddle  is 
obstructed  by  a  board,  which  is  not  as  high  as  the  sides.  To  this  straight 
buddle  there  is  joined  a  second  transverse  buddle,  six  feet  long  and  a  foot 
and  a  half  wide  and  deep,  similarly  lined  with  planks ;  at  the  lower 

'  silver  into  a  piece  of  holland  and  presse  it  out  upon  the  metall,  which  goes  forth  like  a  dewe, 

'  alwaies  turning  and  stirring  the  metall,  to  the  end  it  may  be  well  incorporate.    Before  the 

'  invention  of  these  furnaces  of  fire,  they  did  often  mingle  their  metall  with  quicksilver  in 

'  great  troughes,  letting  it  settle  some  daies,  and  did  then  mix  it  and  stirre  it  againe,  until 

'  they  thought  all  the  quicksilver  were  well  incorporate  with  the  silver,  the  which  continued 

'  twentie  daies  and  more,  and  at  least  nine  daies."     Frequent  mention  of  the  different 

methods  of  silver  amalgamation  is  made  by  the  Spanish  writers  subsequent  to  this  time,  the 

best  account  being  that  of  Alonso  Barba,  a  priest.     Barba  was  a  native  of  Lepe,  in  Andalusia, 

and  followed  his  calling  at  various  places  in  Peru  from  about  1600  to  about  1630,  and  at  one 

time  held  the  Curacy  of  St.  Bernard  at  Potosi.     In  1640  he  published  at  Madrid  his  Arte  de 

los  Melales,  etc.,  in  five  books.     The  first  two  books  of  this  work  were  translated  into  English 

by  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  and  published  in  London  in  1674,  under  the  title  "  The  First  Book  of 

the  Art  of  Metals."     This  translation  is  equally  wretched  with  those  in  French  and  German, 

as  might  be  expected  from  the  translators'  total  lack  of  technical  understanding.     Among 

the  methods  of  silver  amalgamation  described  by  Barba  is  one  which,  upon  later  "discovery" 

at  Virginia  City,  is  now  known  as  the  "  Washoe  Process."     None  of   the  Spanish  writers, 

so   far  as  we   know,   make    reference   to   Biringuccio's  account,   and   the   question    arises 

whether  the  Patio  Process  was  an  importation  from  Europe  or  whether  it  was  re-invented 

in  Mexico.     While  there  is  no  direct  evidence  on  the  point,  the  presumption  is  in  favour  of 

the  former. 

The  general  introduction  of  the  amalgamation  of  silver  ores  into  Central  Europe 
seems  to  have  been  very  slow,  and  over  200  years  elapsed  after  its  adoption  in  Peru  and  Mexico 
before  it  received  serious  attention  by  the  German  Metallurgists.  Ignaz  Elder  v.  Born 
was  the  first  to  establish  the  process  effectually  in  Europe,  he  having  in  1784  erected  a 
"  quick-mill "  at  Glasshutte,  near  Shemnitz.  He  published  an  elaborate  account  of  a 
process  which  he  claimed  as  his  own,  under  the  title  Ueber  das  Anquicken  der  Goldund  Silber- 
hdlt  igen  Erze,  Vienna,  1786.  The  only  thing  new  in  his  process  seems  to  have  been  mechanical 
agitation.  According  to  Born,  a  Spaniard  named  Don  Juan  de  Corduba,  in  the  year  1588, 
applied  to  the  Court  at  Vienna  offering  to  extract  silver  from  ores  with  mercury.  Various 
tests  were  carried  out  under  the  celebrated  Lazarus  Erckern,  and  although  it  appears  that 
some  vitriol  and  salt  were  used,  the  trials  apparently  failed,  for  Erckern  concluded  his  report 
with  the  advice  :  "  That  their  Lordships  should  not  suffer  any  more  expense  to  be  thrown 
"  away  upon  this  experiment."  Bern's  work  was  translated  into  English  by  R.  E.  Raspe, 
under  the  title — "  Baron  Inigo  Born's  New  Process  of  Amalgamation,  etc.,"  London,  1791. 
Some  interest  attaches  to  Raspe,  in  that  he  was  not  only  the  author  of  "  Baron  Munchausen," 
but  was  also  the  villain  in  Scott's  "  Antiquary."  Raspe  was  a  German  Professor  at  Cassel,  who 
fled  to  England  to  avoid  arrest  for  theft.  He  worked  at  various  mines  in  Cornwall,  and  in 
1791  involved  Sir  John  Sinclair  in  a  fruitless  mine,  but  disappeared  before  that  was  known. 
The  incident  was  finally  used  by  Sir  Walter  Scott  in  this  novel. 


BOOK    VIII. 


301 


end  it  is  closed  up  with  a  board,  also  lower  than  the  sides  of  the  buddle  so 
that  the  water  can  flow  away  ;  this  water  falls  into  a  launder  and  is  carried 
outside  the  building.  In  this  simple  buddle  is  washed  the  metallic  material 
which  has  passed  on  to  the  floor  of  the  works  through  the  five  large  sieves. 
When  this  has  been  gathered  into  a  heap,  the  washer  throws  it  into  the  head 
of  the  buddle,  and  water  is  poured  upon  it  through  the  pipe  or  small  trough, 
and  the  portion  which  sinks  and  settles  in  the  middle  of  the  head  compart- 
ment he  stirs  with  a  wooden  scrubber, — this  is  what  we  will  henceforth  call 
the  implement  made  of  a  stick  to  which  is  fixed  a  piece  of  wood  a  foot  long 
and  a  palm  broad.  The  water  is  made  turbid  by  this  stirring,  and  carries 
the  mud  and  sand  and  small  particles  of  metal  into  the  buddle  below. 
Together  with  the  broken  rock,  the  larger  metallic  particles  remain  in  the 
head  compartment,  and  when  these  have  been  removed,  boys  throw  them  upon 
the  platform  of  a  washing  tank  or  the  short  strake,  and  separate  them  from 
the  broken  rock.  When  the  buddle  is  full  of  mud  and  sand,  the  washer  closes 
the  pipe  through  which  the  water  flows  into  the  head  ;  very  soon  the 
water  which  remains  in  the  buddle  flows  away,  and  when  this  has  taken 


A — HEAD  OF  BUDDLE.    B — PIPE.    C — BUDDLE.    D— BOARD.     E — TRANSVERSE  BUDDLE. 

F — SHOVEL.    G — SCRUBBER. 

22 


302 


BOOK    VIII. 


place,  he  removes  with  a  shovel  the  mud  and  sand  which  are  mixed  with 
minute  particles  of  metal,  and  washes  them  on  a  canvas  strake.  Sometimes 
before  the  buddies  have  been  filled  full,  the  boys  throw  the  material  into  a 
bowl  and  carry  it  to  the  strakes  and  wash  it. 

Pulverized  ore  is  washed  in  the  head  of  this  kind  of  a  buddle  ;  but  usually 
when  tin-stone  is  washed  in  it,  interlacing  fir  boughs  are  put  into  the  buddle,  in 
the  same  manner  as  in  the  sluice  when  wet  ore  is  crushed  with  stamps.  The 
larger  tin-stone  particles,  which  sink  in  the  upper  part  of  the  buddle, 
are  washed  separately  in  a  strake  ;  those  particles  which  are  of  medium 
size,  and  settle  in  the  middle  part,  are  washed  separately  in  the  same  way ; 
and  the  mud  mixed  with  minute  particles  of  tin-stone,  which  has  settled  in 
the  lowest  part  of  the  buddle  below  the  fir  boughs,  is  washed  separately  on 
the  canvas  strakes. 

The  divided  buddle  differs  from  the  last  one  by  having  several  cross- 
boards,  which,  being  placed  inside  it,  divide  it  off  like  steps  ;  if  the  buddle 
is  twelve  feet  long,  four  of  them  are  placed  within  ;  if  nine  feet  long,  three. 
The  nearer  each  one  is  to  the  head,  the  greater  is  its  height ;  the  further  from 
the  head,  the  lower  it  is  ;  and  so  when  the  highest  is  a  foot  and  a  palm  high, 


A — PIPE.     B — CROSS    LAUNDER.    C — SMALL    TROUGHS.     D — HEAD    OF    THE    BUDDLE. 
E — WOODEN  SCRUBBER.     F — DIVIDING  BOARDS.     G — SHORT  STRAKE. 


BOOK    VIII. 


303 


the  second  is  usually  a  foot  and  three  digits  high,  the  third  a  foot  and  two 
digits,  and  the  lowest  a  foot  and  one  digit.  In  this  buddle  is  generally  washed 
that  metalliferous  material  which  has  been  sifted  through  the  large  sieve 
into  the  tub  containing  water.  This  material  is  continuously  thrown  with 
an  iron  shovel  into  the  head  of  the  buddle,  and  the  water  which  has  been 
let  in  is  stirred  up  by  a  wooden  scrubber,  until  the  buddle  is  full,  then  the 
cross-boards  are  taken  out  by  the  washer,  and  the  water  is  drained  off ;  next 
the  metalliferous  material  which  has  settled  in  the  compartments  is  again 
washed,  either  on  a  short  strake  or  on  the  canvas  strakes  or  in  the  jigging 
sieves.  Since  a  short  strake  is  often  united  with  the  upper  part  of  this  buddle, 
a  pipe  in  the  first  place  carries  the  water  into  a  cross  launder,  from  which  it 
flows  down  through  one  little  launder  into  the  buddle,  and  through  another 
into  the  short  strake. 

An  ordinary  strake,  so  far  as  the  planks  are  concerned,  is  not  unlike  the 
last  two.  The  head  of  this,  as  of  the  others,  is  first  made  of  earth  stamped 
down,  then  covered  with  planks ;  and  where  it  is  necessary,  earth  is 
thrown  in  and  beaten  down  a  second  time,  so  that  no  crevice  may  remain 
through  which  water  carrying  the  particles  of  metal  can  escape.  The  water 
ought  to  fall  straight  down  into  the  strake,  which  has  a  length  of  eight  feet 


A — HEAD      B — STRAKE.      C — TROWEL.      D — SCRUBBER.      E — CANVAS. 

WHICH  THE  CANVAS  IS  MADE  SMOOTH. 


F— ROD  BY 


304  BOOK    VIII. 

and  a  breadth  of  a  foot  and  a  half  ;  it  is  connected  with  a  transverse  launder, 
which  then  extends  to  a  settling  pit  outside  the  building.  A  boy  with 
a  shovel  or  a  ladle  takes  the  impure  concentrates  or  impure  tin-stone  from  a 
heap,  and  throws  them  into  the  head  of  the  strake  or  spreads  them  over  it. 
A  washer  with  a  wooden  scrubber  then  agitates  them  in  the  strake,  whereby 
the  mud  mixed  with  water  flows  away  into  the  transverse  launder,  and  the 
concentrates  or  the  tin-stone  settle  on  the  strake.  Since  sometimes  the 
concentrates  or  fine  tin-stone  flow  down  together  with  the  mud  into  the 
transverse  launder,  a  second  washer  closes  it,  after  a  distance  of  about  six  feet, 
with  a  cross-board  and  frequently  stirs  the  mud  with  a  shovel,  in  order  that 
when  mixed  with  water  it  may  flow  out  into  the  settling-pit ;  and  there 
remains  in  the  launder  only  the  concentrates  or  tin-stone.  The  tin-stuff 
of  Schlackenwald  and  Erbisdroff  is  washed  in  this  kind  of  a  strake  once 
or  twice  ;  those  of  Altenberg  three  or  four  times  ;  those  of  Geyer  often 
seven  times  ;  for  in  the  ore  at  Schlackenwald  and  Erbisdorff  the  tin-stone 
particles  are  of  a  fair  size,  and  are  crushed  with  stamps  ;  at  Altenberg  they 
are  of  much  smaller  size,  and  in  the  broken  ore  at  Geyer  only  a  few  particles 
of  tin-stone  can  be  seen  occasionally. 

This  method  of  washing  was  first  devised  by  the  miners  who  treated 
tin  ore,  whence  it  passed  on  from  the  works  of  the  tin  workers  to  those  of  the 
silver  workers  and  others  ;  this  system  is  even  more  reliable  than 
washing  in  jigging-sieves.  Near  this  ordinary  strake  there  is  generally  a 
canvas  strake. 

In  modern  times  two  ordinary  strakes,  similarly  made,  are  generally 
joined  together  ;  the  head  of  one  is  three  feet  distant  from  that  of  the  other, 
while  the  bodies  are  four  feet  distant  from  each  other,  and  there  is  only  one 
cross  launder  under  the  two  strakes.  One  boy  shovels,  from  the  heap  into  the 
head  of  each,  the  concentrates  or  tin-stone  mixed  with  mud.  There  are 
two  washers,  one  of  whom  sits  at  the  right  side  of  one  strake,  and  the 
other  at  the  left  of  the  other  strake,  and  each  pursues  his  task,  using  the 
following  sort  of  implement.  Under  each  strake  is  a  sill,  from  a  socket  in 
which  a  round  pole  rises,  and  is  held  by  half  an  iron  ring  in  a  beam  of  the 
building,  so  that  it  may  revolve  ;  this  pole  is  nine  feet  long  and  a  palm 
thick.  Penetrating  the  pole  is  a  small  round  piece  of  wood,  three  palms 
long  and  as  many  digits  thick,  to  which  is  affixed  a  small  board  two  feet 
long  and  five  digits  wide,  in  an  opening  of  which  one  end  of  a  small  axle 
revolves,  and  to  this  axle  is  fixed  the  handle  of  a  little  scrubber.  The  other 
end  of  this  axle  turns  in  an  opening  of  a  second  board,  which  is  likewise  fixed 
to  a  small  round  piece  of  wood ;  this  round  piece,  like  the  first  one,  is  three 
palms  long  and  as  many  digits  thick,  and  is  used  by  the  washer  as  a  handle. 
The  little  scrubber  is  made  of  a  stick  three  feet  long,  to  the  end  of  which  is 
fixed  a  small  tablet  of  wood  a  foot  long,  six  digits  broad,  and  a  digit  and  a 
half  thick.  The  washer  constantly  moves  the  handle  of  this  implement 
with  one  hand  ;  in  this  way  the  little  scrubber  stirs  the  concentrates  or 
the  fine  tin-stone  mixed  with  mud  in  the  head  of  the  strake,  and  the  mud,  on 
being  stirred,  flows  on  to  the  strake.  In  the  other  hand  he  holds  a  second 


BOOK    VIII 


305 


A — UPPER    CROSS    LAUNDER.          B— SMALL   LAUNDERS.          C — HEADS   OF   STRAKES. 

D — STRAKES.        E — LOWER  TRANSVERSE  LAUNDER.       F — SETTLING  PIT.       G — SOCKET 

IN  THE  SILL.      H — HALVED  IRON  RINGS  FIXED  TO  BEAM.      I — POLE.      K — ITS  LITTLE 

SCRUBBER.        L— SECOND  SMALL  SCRUBBER. 


306 


BOOK    VIII. 


little  scrubber,  which  has  a  handle  of  half  the  length,  and  with  this  he  cease- 
lessly stirs  the  concentrates  or  tin-stone  which  have  settled  in  the  upper 
part  of  the  strake ;  in  this  way  the  mud  and  water  flow  down  into  the 
transverse  launder,  and  from  it  into  the  settling-pit  which  is  outside  the 
building. 

Before  the  short  strake  and  the  jigging-sieve  had  been  invented,  metallifer- 
ous ores,  especially  tin,  were  crushed  dry  with  stamps  and  washed  in  a  large 
trough  hollowed  out  of  one  or  two  tree  trunks  ;  and  at  the  head  of  this  trough 
was  a  platform,  on  which  the  ore  was  thrown  after  being  completely  crushed. 
The  washer  pulled  it  down  into  the  trough  with  a  wooden  scrubber  which 
had  a  long  handle,  and  when  the  water  had  been  let  into  the  trough,  he  stirred 
the  ore  with  the  same  scrubber. 


A — TROUGH.     B — PLATFORM.     C — WOODEN  SCRUBBER. 

The  short  strake  is  narrow  in  the  upper  part  where  the  water  flows  down 
into  it  through  the  little  launder  ;  in  fact  it  is  only  two  feet  wide  ;  at  the  lower 
end  it  is  wider,  being  three  feet  and  as  many  palms.  At  the  sides,  which  are 
six  feet  long,  are  fixed  boards  two  palms  high.  In  other  respects  the  head 
resembles  the  head  of  the  simple  buddle,  except  that  it  is  not  depressed  in  the 
middle.  Beneath  is  a  cross  launder  closed  by  a  low  board.  In  this  short 
strake  not  only  is  ore  agitated  and  washed  with  a  wooden  scrubber,  but  boys 


BOOK     VIII. 


307 


also  separate  the  concentrates  from  the  broken  rock  in  them  and  collect  them 
in  tubs.  The  short  strake  is  now  rarely  employed  by  miners,  owing  to  the 
carelessness  of  the  boys,  which  has  been  frequently  detected ;  for  this 
reason,  the  jigging-sieve  has  taken  its  place.  The  mud  which  settles  in  the 
launder,  if  the  ore  is  rich,  is  taken  up  and  washed  in  a  jigging-sieve  or  on  a 
canvas  strake. 


A — SHORT    STRAKE.     B — SMALL 


LAUNDER.    C — TRANSVERSE    LAUNDER.    D — WOODEN- 
SCRUBBER. 


A  canvas  strake  is  made  in  the  following  way.  Two  beams,  eighteen  feet 
long  and  half  a  foot  broad  and  three  palms  thick,  are  placed  on  a  slope  ;  one 
half  of  each  of  these  beams  is  partially  cut  away  lengthwise,  to  allow  the  ends 
of  planks  to  be  fastened  in  them,  for  the  bottom  is  covered  by  planks  three 
feet  long,  set  crosswise  and  laid  close  together.  One  half  of  each  supporting 
beam  is  left  intact  and  rises  a  palm  above  the  planks,  in  order  that  the  water 
that  is  running  down  may  not  escape  at  the  sides,  but  shall  flow  straight 
down.  The  head  of  the  strake  is  higher  than  the  rest  of  the  body,  and  slopes 
so  as  to  enable  the  water  to  flow  away.  The  whole  strake  is  covered  by  six 
stretched  pieces  of  canvas,  smoothed  with  a  stick.  The  first  of  them  occupies 
the  lowest  division,  and  the  second  is  so  laid  as  to  slightly  overlap  it ;  on 


308 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — BEAMS.     B — CANVAS.     C — HEAD  OF  STRAKE.     D— SMALL  LAUNDER.     E — SET-TUNG 
PIT  OR  TANK.     F — WOODEN  SCRUBBER.     G — TUBS. 

the  second  division,  the  third  is  similarly  laid,  and  so  on,  one  on  the  other. 
If  they  are  laid  in  the  opposite  way,  the  water  flowing  down  carries  the 
concentrates  or  particles  of  tin-stone  under  the  canvas,  and  a  useless  task 
is  attempted.  Boys  or  men  throw  the  concentrates  or  tin-stuff  mixed  with 
mud  into  the  head  of  the  strake,  after  the  canvas  has  been  thus  stretched, 
and  having  opened  the  small  launder  they  let  the  water  flow  in  ;  then 
they  stir  the  concentrates  or  tin-stone  with  a  wooden  scrubber  till  the  water 
carries  them  all  on  to  the  canvas  ;  next  they  gently  sweep  the  linen  with 
the  wooden  scrubber  until  the  mud  flows  into  the  settling-pit  or  into  the 
transverse  launder.  As  soon  as  there  is  little  or  no  mud  on  the  canvas,  but 
only  concentrates  or  tin-stone,  they  carry  the  canvas  away  and  wash  it  in  a 
tub  placed  close  by.  The  tin-stone  settles  hi  the  tub,  and  the  men  return 
immediately  to  the  same  task.  Finally,  they  pour  the  water  out  of  the  tub, 
and  collect  the  concentrates  or  tin-stone.  However,  if  either  concentrates 
or  tin-stone  have  washed  down  from  the  canvas  and  settled  in  the  settling- 
pit  or  in  the  transverse  launder,  they  wash  the  mud  again. 

Some  neither  remove  the  canvas  nor  wash  it  in  the  tubs,  but  place  over 


BOOK     VIII. 


309 


it  on  each  edge  narrow  strips,  of  no  great  thickness,  and  fix  them  to  the  beams 
with  nails.  They  agitate  the  metalliferous  material  with  wooden  scrubbers 
and  wash  it  in  a  similar  way.  As  soon  as  little  or  no  mud  remains  on  the 
canvas,  but  only  concentrates  or  fine  tin-stone,  they  lift  one  beam  so  that 
the  whole  strake  rests  on  the  other,  and  dash  it  with  water,  which  has  been 
drawn  with  buckets  out  of  the  small  tank,  and  in  this  way  all  the  sediment 
which  clings  to  the  canvas  falls  into  the  trough  placed  underneath.  This 
trough  is  hewn  out  of  a  tree  and  placed  in  a  ditch  dug  in  the  ground  ;  the 
interior  of  the  trough  is  a  foot  wide  at  the  top,  but  narrower  in  the  bottom, 
because  it  is  rounded  out.  In  the  middle  of  this  trough  they  put  a  cross- 
board,  in  order  that  the  fairly  large  particles  of  concentrates  or  fairly  large- 
sized  tin-stone  may  remain  in  the  forepart  into  which  they  have  fallen,  and 
the  fine  concentrates  or  fine  tin-stone  in  the  lower  part,  for  the  water  flows 
from  one  into  the  other,  and  at  last  flows  down  through  an  opening  into  the 
pit.  As  for  the  fairly  large-sized  concentrates  or  tin-stone  which  have  been 
removed  from  the  trough,  they  are  washed  again  on  the  ordinary  strake. 


A — CANVAS    STRAKE.        B — MAN    DASHING    WATER    ON  THE  CANVAS.        C — BUCKET. 
D — BUCKET    OF    ANOTHER   KIND.       E — MAN   REMOVING  CONCENTRATES  OR   TIN-STONE 

FROM    THE    TROUGH. 


310  BOOK    VIII. 

The  fine  concentrates  and  fine  tin-stone  are  washed  again  on  this  canvas 
strake.  By  this  method,  the  canvas  lasts  longer  because  it  remains  fixed, 
and  nearly  double  the  work  is  done  by  one  washer  as  quickly  as  can  be  done 
by  two  washers  by  the  other  method. 

The  jigging  sieve  has  recently  come  into  use  by  miners.  The 
metalliferous  material  is  thrown  into  it  and  sifted  in  a  tub  nearly  full  of  water. 
The  sieve  is  shaken  up  and  down,  and  by  this  movement  all  the  material 
below  the  size  of  a  pea  passes  through  into  the  tub,  and  the  rest  remains  on  the 
bottom  of  the  sieve.  This  residue  is  of  two  kinds,  the  metallic  particles, 
which  occupy  the  lower  place,  and  the  particles  of  rock  and  earth,  which 
take  the  higher  place,  because  the  heavy  substance  always  settles,  and  the 
light  is  borne  upward  by  the  force  of  the  water.  This  light  material  is  taken 
away  with  a  limp,  which  is  a  thin  tablet  of  wood  almost  semicircular  in 
shape,  three-quarters  of  a  foot  long,  and  half  a  foot  wide.  Before  the 
lighter  portion  is  taken  away  the  contents  of  the  sieve  are  generally  divided 
crosswise  with  a  limp,  to  enable  the  water  to  penetrate  into  it  more  quickly. 
Afterward  fresh  material  is  again  thrown  into  the  sieve  and  shaken  up  and 
down,  and  when  a  great  quantity  of  metallic  particles  have  settled  in  the  sieve, 
they  are  taken  out  and  put  into  a  tray  close  by.  But  since  there  fall  into 
the  tub  with  the  mud,  not  only  particles  of  gold  or  silver,  but  also  of  sand, 
pyrites,  cadmia,  galena,  quartz,  and  other  substances,  and  since  the 
water  cannot  separate  these  from  the  metallic  particles  because  they  are  all 
heavy,  this  muddy  mixture  is  washed  a  second  time,  and  the  part  which  is 
useless  is  thrown  away.  To  prevent  the  sieve  passing  this  sand  again  too 
quickly,  the  washer  lays  small  stones  or  gravel  in  the  bottom  of  the  sieve. 
However,  if  the  sieve  is  not  shaken  straight  up  and  down,  but  is  tilted  to  one 
side,  the  small  stones  or  broken  ore  move  from  one  part  to  another,  and  the 
metallic  material  again  falls  into  the  tub,  and  the  operation  is  frustrated. 
The  miners  of  our  country  have  made  an  even  finer  sieve,  which  does  not 
fail  even  with  unskilled  washers  ;  in  washing  with  this  sieve  they  have  no 
need  for  the  bottom  to  be  strewn  with  small  stones.  By  this  method  the  mud 
settles  in  the  tub  with  the  very  fine  metallic  particles,  and  the  larger  sizes  of 
metal  remain  in  the  sieve  and  are  covered  with  the  valueless  sand,  and  this 
is  taken  away  with  a  limp.  The  concentrates  which  have  been  collected 
are  smelted  together  with  other  things.  The  mud  mixed  with  the  very  fine 
metallic  particles  is  washed  for  a  third  time  and  in  the  finest  sieve,  whose 
bottom  is  woven  of  hair.  If  the  ore  is  rich  in  metal,  all  the  material  which 
has  been  removed  by  the  limp  is  washed  on  the  canvas  strakes,  or  if  the  ore 
is  poor  it  is  thrown  away. 

I  have  explained  the  methods  of  washing  which  are  used  in  common  for 
the  ores  of  many  metals.  I  now  come  to  another  method  of  crushing  ore, 
for  I  ought  to  speak  of  this  before  describing  those  methods  of  washing  which 
are  peculiar  to  ores  of  particular  metals. 

In  the  year  1512,  George,  the  illustrious  Duke  of  Saxony14,  gave  the  over- 

14George,  Duke  of  Saxony,  surnamed  "  The  Bearded,"  was  born  1471,  and  died  1539- 
He  was  chiefly  known  for  his  bitter  opposition  to  the  Reformation. 


BOOK    VIII. 


A— FINE  SIEVES.    B— LIMP.    C— FINER  SIEVE.    D— FINEST  SIEVE 


312  BOOK     VIII 

lordship  of  all  the  dumps  ejected  from  the  mines  in  Meissen  to  the  noble 
and  wise  Sigismund  Maltitz,  father  of  John,  Bishop  of  Meissen.  Reject- 
ing the  dry  stamps,  the  large  sieve,  and  the  stone  mills  of  Dippolds- 
walde  and  Altenberg,  in  which  places  are  dug  the  small  black  stones 
from  which  tin  is  smelted,  he  invented  a  machine  which  could  crush  the  ore 
wet  under  iron-shod  stamps.  That  is  called  "  wet  ore  "  which  is  softened  by 
water  which  flows  into  the  mortar  box,  and  they  are  sometimes  called  "wet 
stamps"  because  they  are  drenched  by  the  same  water ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  the 
other  kinds  are  called  "dry  stamps"  or  "dry  ore,"  because  no  water  is  used 
to  soften  the  ore  when  the  stamps  are  crushing.  But  to  return  to  our  subject. 
This  machine  is  not  dissimilar  to  the  one  which  crushes  the  ore  with  dry 
iron-shod  stamps,  but  the  heads  of  the  wet  stamps  are  larger  by  half  than  the 
heads  of  the  others.  The  mortar-box,  which  is  made  of  oak  or  beech  timber,  is 
set  up  in  the  space  between  the  upright  posts  ;  it  does  not  open  in  front,  but 
at  one  end,  and  it  is  three  feet  long,  three-quarters  of  a  foot  wide,  and  one  foot 
and  six  digits  deep.  If  it  has  no  bottom,  it  is  set  up  in  the  same  way  over  a 
slab  of  hard,  smooth  rock  placed  in  the  ground,  which  has  been  dug  down  a 
little.  The  joints  are  stopped  up  all  round  with  moss  or  cloth  rags.  If 
the  mortar  has  a  bottom,  then  an  iron  sole-plate,  three  feet  long,  three- 
quarters  of  a  foot  wide,  and  a  palm  thick,  is  placed  in  it.  In  the  opening 
in  the  end  of  the  mortar  there  is  fixed  an  iron  plate  full  of  holes,  in  such  a 
way  that  there  is  a  space  of  two  digits  between  it  and  the  shoe  of  the  nearest 
stamp,  and  the  same  distance  between  this  screen  and  the  upright  post,  in 
an  opening  through  which  runs  a  small  but  fairly  long  launder.  The  crushed 
particles  of  silver  ore  flow  through  this  launder  with  the  water  into  a  settling- 
pit,  while  the  material  which  settles  in  the  launder  is  removed  with  an  iron 
shovel  to  the  nearest  planked  floor  ;  that  material  which  has  settled  in  the 
pit  is  removed  with  an  iron  shovel  on  to  another  floor.  Most  people  make 
two  launders,  in  order  that  while  the  workman  empties  one  of  them  of  the 
accumulation  which  has  settled  in  it,  a  fresh  deposit  may  be  settling  in  the 
other.  The  water  flows  in  through  a  small  launder  at  the  other  end  of  the 
mortar  that  is  near  the  water-wheel  which  turns  the  machine.  The  workman 
throws  the  ore  to  be  crushed  into  the  mortar  in  such  a  way  that  the  pieces, 
when  they  are  thrown  in  among  the  stamps,  do  not  impede  the  work.  By 
this  method  a  silver  or  gold  ore  is  crushed  very  fine  by  the  stamps. 

When  tin  ore  is  crushed  by  this  kind  of  iron-shod  stamps,  as  soon  as 
crushing  begins,  the  launder  which  extends  from  the  screen  discharges  the 
water  carrying  the  fine  tin-stone  and  fine  sand  into  a  transverse  trough, 
from  which  the  water  flows  down  through  the  spouts,  which  pierce  the  side  of 
the  trough,  into  the  one  or  other  of  the  large  buddies  set  underneath.  The 
reason  why  there  are  two  is  that,  while  the  washer  empties  the  one  which  is 
filled  with  fine  tin-stone  and  sand,  the  material  may  flow  into  the  other. 
Each  buddle  is  twelve  feet  long,  one  cubit  deep,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  broad. 
The  tin-stone  which  settles  in  the  upper  part  of  the  buddies  is  called  the 
large  size  ;  these  are  frequently  stirred  with  a  shovel,  in  order  that  the 
medium  sized  particles  of  tin-stone,  and  the  mud  mixed  with  the  very  fine 


BOOK    VIII. 


313 


A — MORTAR.  B — OPEN  END  OF  MORTAR.  C — SLAB  OF  ROCK.  D — IRON  SOLE  PLATES. 
E — SCREEN.  F — LAUNDER.  G — WOODEN  SHOVEL.  H — SETTLING  PIT.  I — IRON 
SHOVEL.  K — HEAP  OF  MATERIAL  WHICH  HAS  SETTLED.  L — ORE  WHICH  REQUIRES 

CRUSHING.    M — SMALL  LAUNDER. 


314 


BOOK    VIII. 


particles  of  the  stones  may  flow  away.  The  particles  of  medium  size  generally 
settle  in  the  middle  part  of  the  buddle,  where  they  are  arrested  by  interwoven 
fir  twigs.  The  mud  which  flows  down  with  the  water  settles  between  the 
twigs  and  the  board  which  closes  the  lower  end  of  the  buddle.  The  tin-stone 
of  large  size  is  removed  separately  from  the  buddle  with  a  shovel ;  those 
of  medium  size  are  also  removed  separately,  and  likewise  the  mud  is  removed 
separately,  for  they  are  separately  washed  on  the  canvas  strakes  and  on 
the  ordinary  strake,  and  separately  roasted  and  smelted.  The  tin-stone 
which  has  settled  in  the  middle  part  of  the  buddle,  is  also  always  washed 
separately  on  the  canvas  strakes  ;  but  if  the  particles  are  nearly  equal  in  size 
to  those  which  have  settled  in  the  upper  part  of  the  buddle,  they  are  washed 
with  them  in  the  ordinary  strake  and  are  roasted  and  smelted  with  them. 
However,  the  mud  is  never  washed  with  the  others,  either  on  the  canvas 
strakes  or  on  the  ordinary  strake,  but  separately,  and  the  fine  tin-stone  which 
is  obtained  from  it  is  roasted  and  smelted  separately.  The  two  large  buddies 
discharge  into  a  cross  trough,  and  it  again  empties  through  a  launder  into 
a  settling-pit  which  is  outside  the  building. 


A — LAUNDER  REACHING  TO  THE   SCREEN.        B— TRANSVERSE  TROUGH.        C — SPOUTS. 
D — LARGE    BUDDLES.     E — SHOVEL.     F — INTERWOVEN    TWIGS.     G — BOARDS    CLOSING 

THE   BUDDLES.      H — CROSS     TROUGH. 


BOOK     VIII. 


315 


This  method  of  washing  has  lately  undergone  a  considerable  change  ;  for 
the  launder  which  carries  the  water,  mixed  with  the  crushed  tin-stone  and 
fine  sand  which  flow  from  the  openings  of  the  screen,  does  not  reach  to  a 
transverse  trough  which  is  inside  the  same  room,  but  runs  straight  through 
a  partition  into  a  small  settling-pit.  A  boy  draws  a  three-toothed  rake 
through  the  material  which  has  settled  in  the  portion  of  the  launder  outside 
the  room,  by  which  means  the  larger  sized  particles  of  tin-stone  settle  at  the 
bottom,  and  these  the  washer  takes  out  with  the  wooden  shovel  and  carries 
into  the  room  ;  this  material  is  thrown  into  an  ordinary  strake  and  swept 
with  a  wooden  scrubber  and  washed.  As  for  those  tin-stone  particles  which 
the  water  carries  off  from  the  strake,  after  they  have  been  brought  back  on  to 
the  strake,  he  washes  them  again  until  they  are  clean. 

The  remaining  tin-stone,  mixed  with  sand,  flows  into  the  small  settling-pit 
which  is  within  the  building,  and  this  discharges  into  two  large  buddies.  The 
tin-stone  of  moderate  size,  mixed  with  those  of  fairly  large  size,  settle  in  the 
upper  part,  and  the  small  size  in  the  lower  part  ;  but  both  are  impure,  and 
for  this  reason  they  are  taken  out  separately  and  the  former  is  washed  twice, 


A — FIRST  LAUNDER.     B — THREE-TOOTHED  RAKE.     C — SMALL  SETTLING  PIT.    D — LARGE 

HUDDLE.      E — BUDDLE     RESEMBLING     THE     SIMPLE     BUDDLE.       F — SMALL     ROLLER        G— 

BOARDS.    H— THEIR  HOLES.    I — SHOVEL.     K — BUILDING.    L— STOVE.     (Tnis  PICTURE 

DOES  NOT  ENTIRELY  AGREE  WITH  THE  TEXT). 


3i6  BOOK    VIII. 

first  in  a  buddle  like  the  simple  buddle,  and  afterward  on  an  ordinary 
strake.  Likewise  the  latter  is  washed  twice,  first  on  a  canvas  strake  and 
afterward  on  an  ordinary  strake.  This  buddle,  which  is  like  the  simple 
buddle,  differs  from  it  in  the  head,  the  whole  of  which  in  this  case  is  sloping, 
while  in  the  case  of  the  other  it  is  depressed  in  the  centre.  In  order  that  the 
boy  may  be  able  to  rest  the  shovel  with  which  he  cleanses  the  tin-stone, 
this  sluice  has  a  small  wooden  roller  which  turns  in  holes  in  two  thick 
boards  fixed  to  the  sides  of  the  buddle  ;  if  he  did  not  do  this,  he  would  become 
over-exhausted  by  his  task,  for  he  spends  whole  days  standing  over  these 
labours.  The  large  buddle,  the  one  like  the  simple  buddle,  the  ordinary 
strake,  and  the  canvas  strakes,  are  erected  within  a  special  building.  In 
this  building  there  is  a  stove  that  gives  out  heat  through  the  earthen  tiles 
or  iron  plates  of  which  it  is  composed,  in  order  that  the  washers  can  pursue 
their  labours  even  in  winter,  if  the  rivers  are  not  completely  frozen  over. 

On  the  canvas  strakes  are  washed  the  very  fine  tin-stone  mixed  with 
mud  which  has  settled  in  the  lower  end  of  the  large  buddle,  as  well  as 
in  the  lower  end  of  the  simple  buddle  and  of  the  ordinary  strake.  The  canvas 
is  cleaned  in  a  trough  hewn  out  of  one  tree  trunk  and  partitioned  off  with 
two  boards,  so  that  three  compartments  are  made.  The  first  and  second  pieces 
of  canvas  are  washed  in  the  first  compartment,  the  third  and  fourth  in  the 
second  compartment,  the  fifth  and  sixth  in  the  third  compartment.  Since 
among  the  very  fine  tin-stone  there  are  usually  some  grains  of  stone,  rock, 
or  marble,  the  master  cleanses  them  on  the  ordinary  strake,  lightly  brushing 
the  top  of  the  material  with  a  broom,  the  twigs  of  which  do  not  all  run  the 
same  way,  but  some  straight  and  some  crosswise.  In  this  way  the  water 
carries  off  these  impurities  from  the  strake  into  the  settling-pit  because  they 
are  lighter,  and  leaves  the  tin-stone  on  the  table  because  it  is  heavier. 

Below  all  buddies  or  strakes,  both  inside  and  outside  the  building,  there 
are  placed  either  settling-pits  or  cross-troughs  into  which  they  discharge, 
in  order  that  the  water  may  carry  on  down  into  the  stream  but  very  few 
of  the  most  minute  particles  of  tin-stone.  The  large  settling-pit  which  is 
outside  the  building  is  generally  made  of  joined  flooring,  and  is  eight  feet  in 
length,  breadth  and  depth.  When  a  large  quantity  of  mud,  mixed  with 
very  fine  tin-stone,  has  settled  in  it,  first  of  all  the  water  is  let  out  by  with- 
drawing a  plug,  then  the  mud  which  is  taken  out  is  washed  outside  the  house 
on  the  canvas  strakes,  and  afterward  the  concentrates  are  washed  on  the 
strake  which  is  inside  the  building.  By  these  methods  the  very  finest  tin- 
stone is  made  clean. 

The  mud  mixed  with  the  very  fine  tin-stone,  which  has  neither  settled 
in  the  large  settling-pit  nor  in  the  transverse  launder  which  is  outside  the 
room  and  below  the  canvas  strakes,  flows  away  and  settles  in  the  bed  of  the 
stream  or  river.  In  order  to  recover  even  a  portion  of  the  fine  tin-stone, 
many  miners  erect  weirs  in  the  bed  of  the  stream  or  river,  very  much  like 
those  that  are  made  above  the  mills,  to  deflect  the  current  into  the  races 
through  which  it  flows  to  the  water-wheels.  At  one  side  of  each  weir  there 
is  an  area  dug  out  to  a  depth  of  five  or  six  or  seven  feet,  and  if  the  nature  of 


BOOK    VIII. 


317 


A — LAUNDER  FROM  THE  SCREEN  OF  THE  MORTAR-BOX.     B — THREE-TOOTHED  RAKE. 
C — SMALL   SETTLING:PIT.    D — CANVAS.    E — STRAKES.     F — BROOMS. 


BOOK     VIII. 

the  place  will  permit,  extending  in  every  direction  more  than  sixty  feet. 
Thus,  when  the  water  of  the  river  or  stream  in  autumn  and  winter  inundates 
the  land,  the  gates  of  the  weir  are  closed,  by  which  means  the  current  carries 
the  mud  mixed  with  fine  tin-stone  into  the  area.  In  spring  and  summer 
this  mud  is  washed  on  the  canvas  strakes  or  on  the  ordinary  strake,  and 
even  the  finest  black-tin  is  collected.  Within  a  distance  of  four  thousand 
fathoms  along  the  bed  of  the  stream  or  river  below  the  buildings  in  which 
the  tin-stuff  is  washed,  the  miners  do  not  make  such  weirs,  but  put  inclined 
fences  in  the  meadows,  and  in  front  of  each  fence  they  dig  a  ditch  of  the 
same  length,  so  that  the  mud  mixed  with  the  fine  tin-stone,  carried  along  by  the 
stream  or  river  when  in  flood,  may  settle  in  the  ditch  and  cling  to  the  fence. 
When  this  mud  is  collected,  it  is  likewise  washed  on  canvas  strakes  and  on 
the  ordinary  strake,  in  order  that  the  fine  tin-stone  may  be  separated  from 
it.  Indeed  we  may  see  many  such  areas  and  fences  collecting  mud  of  this 
kind  in  Meissen  below  Altenberg  in  the  river  Moglitz, — which  is  always  of  a 
reddish  colour  when  the  rock  containing  the  black  tin  is  being  crushed  under 
the  stamps. 


A— RIVER.    B— WEIR.    C— GATE.     D— AREA.     E— MEADOW.    F— FENCE.    G— DITCH. 


BOOK     VIII.  319 

But  to  return  to  the  stamping  machines.  Some  usually  set  up  four 
machines  of  this  kind  in  one  place,  that  is  to  say,  two  above  and  the  same 
number  below.  By  this  plan  it  is  necessary  that  the  current  which  has  been 
diverted  should  fall  down  from  a  greater  height  upon  the  upper  water- 
wheels,  because  these  turn  axles  whose  cams  raise  heavier  stamps.  The 
stamp-stems  of  the  upper  machines  should  be  nearly  twice  as  long  as  the  stems 
of  the  lower  ones,  because  all  the  mortar-boxes  are  placed  on  the  same  level. 
These  stamps  have  their  tappets  near  their  upper  ends,  not  as  in  the  case  of 
the  lower  stamps,  which  are  placed  just  above  the  bottom.  The  water  flowing 
down  from  the  two  upper  water-wheels  is  caught  in  two  broad  races,  from 
which  it  falls  on  to  the  two  lower  water-wheels.  Since  all  these  machines 
have  the  stamps  very  close  together,  the  stems  should  be  somewhat  cut  away, 
to  prevent  the  iron  shoes  from  rubbing  each  other  at  the  point  where  they  are 
set  into  the  stems.  Where  so  many  machines  cannot  be  constructed,  by 
reason  of  the  narrowness  of  the  valley,  the  mountain  is  excavated  and 
levelled  in  two  places,  one  of  which  is  higher  than  the  other,  and  in  this  case 
two  machines  are  constructed  and  generally  placed  in  one  building.  A 
broad  race  receives  in  the  same  way  the  water  which  flows  down  from  the 
upper  water-wheel,  and  similarly  lets  it  fall  on  the  lower  water-wheel.  The 
mortar-boxes  are  not  then  placed  on  one  level,  but  each  on  the  level  which 
is  appropriate  to  its  own  machine,  and  for  this  reason,  two  workmen  are  then 
required  to  throw  ore  into  the  mortar-boxes.  When  no  stream  can  be 
diverted  which  will  fall  from  a  higher  place  upon  the  top  of  the  water-wheel, 
one  is  diverted  which  will  turn  the  foot  of  the  wheel ;  a  great  quantity  of 
water  from  the  stream  is  collected  in  one  pool  capable  of  holding  it,  and 
from  this  place,  when  the  gates  are  raised,  the  water  is  discharged  against 
the  wheel  which  turns  in  the  race.  The  buckets  of  a  water-wheel  of  this 
kind  are  deeper  and  bent  back,  projecting  upward  ;  those  of  the  former 
are  shallower  and  bent  forward,  inclining  downward. 

Further,  in  the  Julian  and  Rhaetian  Alps15  and  in  the  Carpathian 
Mountains,  gold  or  even  silver  ore  is  now  put  under  stamps,  which  are 
sometimes  placed  more  than  twenty  in  a  row,  and  crushed  wet  in  a  long  mortar- 
box.  The  mortar  has  two  plates  full  of  holes  through  which  the  ore,  after 
being  crushed,  flows  out  with  the  water  into  the  transverse  launder  placed 
underneath,  and  from  there  it  is  carried  down  by  two  spouts  into  the  heads  of 
the  canvas  strakes.  Each  head  is  made  of  a  thick  broad  plank,  which  can  be 
raised  and  set  upright,  and  to  which  on  each  side  are  fixed  pieces  projecting 
upward.  In  this  plank  there  are  many  cup-like  depressions  equal  in  size  and 
similar  in  shape,  in  each  of  which  an  egg  could  be  placed.  Right  down  in 
these  depressions  are  small  crevices  which  can  retain  the  concentrates  of  gold 
or  silver,  and  when  the  hollows  are  nearly  filled  with  these  materials,  the 
plank  is  raised  on  one  side  so  that  the  concentrates  will  fall  into  a  large  bowl. 
The  cup-like  depressions  are  washed  out  by  dashing  them  with  water.  These 

lBThe  Julian  Alps  are  a  section  east  of  the  Carnic  Alps  and  lie  north  of  Trieste.  The 
term  Rhaetian  Alps  is  applied  to  that  section  along  the  Swiss  Italian  Boundary,  about 
north  of  Lake  Como. 


320 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — FIRST    MACHINE.     B — ITS    STAMPS.      C — ITS    MORTAR-BOX.    D — SECOND    MACHINE. 
E — ITS  STAMPS.     F — ITS  MORTAR-BOX.     G — THIRD  MACHINE.     H — ITS  STAMPS.     I — ITS 

MORTAR-BOX.       K — FOURTH    MACHINE.       L— ITS    STAMPS.       M — ITS    MORTAR-BOX. 


BOOK     VIII. 


321 


concentrates  are  washed  separately  in  different  bowls  from  those  which  have 
settled  on  the  canvas.  This  bowl  is  smooth  and  two  digits  wide  and  deep, 
being  in  shape  very  similar  to  a  small  boat ;  it  is  broad  in  the  fore  part, 
narrow  in  the  back,  and  in  the  middle  of  it  there  is  a  cross  groove,  in  which 
the  particles  of  pure  gold  or  silver  settle,  while  the  grains  of  sand,  since  they 
are  lighter,  flow  out  of  it. 

In  some  parts  of  Moravia,  gold  ore,  which  consists  of  quartz  mixed  with 
gold,  is  placed  under  the  stamps  and  crushed  wet.  When  crushed  fine  it 
flows  out  through  a  launder  into  a  trough,  is  there  stirred  by  a  wooden 
scrubber,  and  the  minute  particles  of  gold  which  settle  in  the  upper  end  of 
the  trough  are  washed  in  a  black  bowl. 


A — STAMPS.     B — MORTAR.     C — PLATES    FULL    OF    HOLES.     D — TRANSVERSE    LAUNDER. 
E — PLANKS  FULL  OF  CUP-LIKE  DEPRESSIONS.     F — SPOUT.    G — BOWL  INTO   WHICH  THE 

CONCENTRATES     FALL.        H — CANVAS    STRAKE.        I — BOWLS   SHAPED    LIKE    A    SMALL    BOAT. 

K — SETTLING-PIT  UNDER  THE  CANVAS  STRAKE. 

So  far  I  have  spoken  of  machines  which  crush  wet  ore  with  iron-shod 
stamps.  I  will  now  explain  the  methods  of  washing  which  are  in  a  measure 
peculiar  to  the  ore  of  certain  metals,  beginning  with  gold.  The  ore  which 
contains  particles  of  this  metal,  and  the  sand  of  streams  and  rivers  which 


322 


BOOK    VIII. 


contains  grains  of  it,  are  washed  in  frames  or  bowls  ;  the  sands  especially 
are  also  washed  in  troughs.  More  than  one  method  is  employed  for  washing 
on  frames,  for  these  frames  either  pass  or  retain  the  particles  or  concentrates 
of  gold  ;  they  pass  them  if  they  have  holes,  and  retain  them  if  they  have 
no  holes.  But  either  the  frame  itself  has  holes,  or  a  box  is  substituted  for 
it ;  if  the  frame  itself  is  perforated  it  passes  the  particles  or  concentrates 
of  gold  into  a  trough  ;  if  the  box  has  them,  it  passes  the  gold  material  into 
the  long  sluice.  I  will  first  speak  of  these  two  methods  of  washing.  The 
frame  is  made  of  two  planks  joined  together,  and  is  twelve  feet  long  and 
three  feet  wide,  and  is  full  of  holes  large  enough  for  a  pea  to  pass.  To  prevent 
the  ore  or  sand  with  which  the  gold  is  mixed  from  falling  out  at  the  sides, 
small  projecting  edge-boards  are  fixed  to  it.  This  frame  is  set  upon  two 
stools,  the  first  of  which  is  higher  than  the  second,  in  order  that  the  gravel 
and  small  stones  can  roll  down  it.  The  washer  throws  the  ore  or  sand  into 
the  head  of  the  frame,  which  is  higher,  and  opening  the  small  launder,  lets 
the  water  into  it,  and  then  agitates  it  with  a  wooden  scrubber.  In  this  way, 
the  gravel  and  small  stones  roll  down  the  frame  on  to  the  ground,  while  the 


A — HEAD    OF    FRAME.     B — FRAME.    C — HOLES.    D — EDGE-BOARDS.     E — STOOLS 
F — SCRUBBER.    G — TROUGH.     H — LAUNDER.     I — BOWL. 


BOOK     VIII. 


323 


particles  or  concentrates  of  gold,  together  with  the  sand,  pass  through  the 
holes  into  the  trough  which  is  placed  under  the  frame,  and  after  being 
collected  are  washed  in  the  bowl. 

A  box  which  has  a  bottom  made  of  a  plate  full  of  holes,  is  placed  over 
the  upper  end  of  a  sluice,  which  is  fairly  long  but  of  moderate  width.  The 
gold  material  to  be  washed  is  thrown  into  this  box,  and  a  great  quantity  of 
water  is  let  in.  The  lumps,  if  ore  is  being  washed,  are  mashed  with  an  iron 
shovel.  The  fine  portions  fall  through  the  bottom  of  the  box  into  the  sluice, 
but  the  coarse  pieces  remain  in  the  box,  and  these  are  removed  with  a  scraper 
through  an  opening  which  is  nearly  in  the  middle  of  one  side.  Since  a  large 
amount  of  water  is  necessarily  let  into  the  box,  in  order  to  prevent  it  from 
sweeping  away  any  particles  of  gold  which  have  fallen  into  the  sluice,  the 
sluice  is  divided  off  by  ten,  or  if  it  is  as  long  again,  by  fifteen  riffles.  These 
riffles  are  placed  equidistant  from  one  another,  and  each  is  higher  than  the  one 
next  toward  the  lower  end  of  the  sluice.  The  little  compartments  which  are 
thus  made  are  filled  with  the  material  and  the  water  which  flows  through 


A — SLUICE.     B — Box.    C—  BOTTOM  OF  INVERTED  BOX.    D — OPEN  PART  OF  IT.     E — IRON 

HOE.    F — RIFFLES.     G — SMALL  LAUNDER.    H— BOWL  WITH  WHICH  SETTLINGS  ARE  TAKEN 

AWAY.     I — BLACK  BOWL  IN  WHICH  THEY  ARE  WASHED. 


324 


BOOK    VIII. 


the  box  ;  as  soon  as  these  compartments  are  full  and  the  water  has  begun 
to  flow  over  clear,  the  little  launder  through  which  this  water  enters  into  the 
box  is  closed,  and  the  water  is  turned  in  another  direction.  Then  the 
lowest  riffle  is  removed  from  the  sluice,  and  the  sediment  which  has 
accumulated  flows  out  with  the  water  and  is  caught  in  a  bowl.  The 
riffles  are  removed  one  by  one  and  the  sediment  from  each  is  taken  into  a 
separate  bowl,  and  each  is  separately  washed  and  cleansed  in  a  bowl.  The 
larger  particles  of  gold  concentrates  settle  in  the  higher  compartments,  the 
smaller  size,  in  the  lower  compartments.  This  bowl  is  shallow  and  smooth, 
and  smeared  with  oil  or  some  other  slippery  substance,  so  that  the  tiny  particles 
of  gold  may  not  cling  to  it,  and  it  is  painted  black,  that  the  gold  may  be  more 
easily  discernible  ;  on  the  exterior,  on  both  sides  and  in  the  middle,  it  is 
slightly  hollowed  out  in  order  that  it  may  be  grasped  and  held  firmly  in  the 
hands  when  shaken.  By  this  method  the  particles  or  concentrates  of  gold 
settle  in  the  back  part  of  the  bowl  ;  for  if  the  back  part  of  the  bowl  is 
tapped  or  shaken  with  one  hand,  as  is  usual,  the  contents  move  toward  the 
fore  part.  In  this  way  the  Moravians,  especially,  wash  gold  ore. 

The  gold  particles  are  also  caught  on  frames  which  are  either  bare  or 
covered.     If  bare,   the  particles  are  caught  in  pockets  ;    if  covered,   they 


A— PLANK.     B — SIDE-BOARDS.    C — IRON  WIRE.    D — HANDLES. 


BOOK     VIII.  325 

cling  to  the  coverings.  Pockets  are  made  in  various  ways,  either  with  iron 
wire  or  small  cross-boards  fixed  to  the  frame,  or  by  holes  which  are  sunk 
into  the  sluice  itself  or  into  its  head,  but  which  do  not  quite  go  through. 
These  holes  are  round  or  square,  or  are  grooves  running  crosswise.  The 
frames  are  either  covered  with  skins,  pieces  of  cloth,  or  turf,  which  I  will 
deal  with  one  by  one  in  turn. 

In  order  to  prevent  the  sand  which  contains  the  particles  of  gold  from 
spilling  out,  the  washer  fixes  side-boards  to  the  edges  of  a  plank  which  is  six 
feet  long  and  one  and  a  quarter  wide.  He  then  lays  crosswise  many  iron 
wires  a  digit  apart,  and  where  they  join  he  fixes  them  to  the  bottom  plank 
with  iron  nails.  Then  he  makes  the  head  of  the  frame  higher,  and  into  this 
he  throws  the  sand  which  needs  washing,  and  taking  in  his  hands  the  handles 
which  are  at  the  head  of  the  frame,  he  draws  it  backward  and  forward 
several  times  in  the  river  or  stream.  In  this  way  the  small  stones  and  gravel 
flow  down  along  the  frame,  and  the  sand  mixed  with  particles  of  gold  remains 
in  the  pockets  between  the  strips.  When  the  contents  of  the  pockets  have 
been  shaken  out  and  collected  in  one  place,  he  washes  them  in  a  bowl  and 
thus  cleans  the  gold  dust. 

Other  people,  among  whom  are  the  Lusitanians16,  fix  to  the  sides  of  a 
sluice,  which  is  about  six  feet  long  and  a  foot  and  a  half  broad,  many  cross- 
strips  or  riffles,  which  project  backward  and  are  a  digit  apart.  The  washer 
or  his  wife  lets  the  water  into  the  head  of  the  sluice,  where  he  throws  the  sand 
which  contains  the  particles  of  gold.  As  it  flows  down  he  agitates  it  with  a 
wooden  scrubber,  which  he  moves  transversely  to  the  riffles.  He  constantly 
removes  with  a  pointed  wooden  stick  the  sediment  which  settles  in  the  pockets 
between  the  riffles,  and  in  this  way  the  particles  of  gold  settle  in  them, 
while  the  sand  and  other  valueless  materials  are  carried  by  the  water  into  a 
tub  placed  below  the  sluice.  He  removes  the  particles  of  metal  with  a  small 
wooden  shovel  into  a  wooden  bowl.  This  bowl  does  not  exceed  a  foot  and  a 
quarter  in  breadth,  and  by  moving  it  up  and  down  in  the  stream  he  cleanses 
the  gold  dust,  for  the  remaining  sand  flows  out  of  the  dish,  and  the  gold  dust 
settles  in  the  middle  of  it,  where  there  is  a  cup-like  depression.  Some  make 
use  of  a  bowl  which  is  grooved  inside  like  a  shell,  but  with  a  smooth  lip  where 
the  water  flows  out.  This  smooth  place,  however,  is  narrower  where  the 
grooves  run  into  it,  and  broader  where  the  water  flows  out. 

"Ancient  Lusitania  comprised  Portugal  and  some  neighbouring  portions  of  Spain. 


326 


BOOK     VIII 


A — HEAD  OF  THE  SLUICE.     B — RIFFLES.     C — WOODEN  SCRUBBER.     D — POINTED  STICK. 
E — DISH.     F — ITS   CUP-LIKE   DEPRESSION.     G — GROOVED   DISH. 


The  cup-like  pockets  and  grooves  are  cut  or  burned  at  the  same  time  into 
the  bottom  of  the  sluice  ;  the  bottom  is  composed  of  three  planks  ten  feet 
long,  and  is  about  four  feet  wide  ;  but  the  lower  end,  through  which  the  water 
is  discharged,  is  narrower.  This  sluice,  which  likewise  has  side-boards  fixed 
to  its  edges,  is  full  of  rounded  pockets  and  of  grooves  which  lead  to  them, 
there  being  two  grooves  to  one  pocket,  in  order  that  the  water  mixed  with 
sand  may  flow  into  each  pocket  through  the  upper  groove,  and  that  after  the 
sand  has  partly  settled,  the  water  may  again  flow  out  through  the  lower 
groove.  The  sluice  is  set  in  the  river  or  stream  or  on  the  bank,  and  placed 
on  two  stools,  of  which  the  first  is  higher  than  the  second  in  order  that  the 
gravel  and  small  stones  may  roll  down  the  sluice.  The  washer  throws  sand 
into  the  head  with  a  shovel,  and  opening  the  launder,  lets  in  the  water,  which 
carries  the  particles  of  metal  with  a  little  sand  down  into  the  pockets,  while 
the  gravel  and  small  stones  with  the  rest  of  the  sand  falls  into  a  tub  placed 
below  the  sluice.  As  soon  as  the  pockets  are  filled,  he  brushes  out  the 
concentrates  and  washes  them  in  a  bowl.  He  washes  again  and  again 
through  this  sluice. 


BOOK  VIII. 


327 


A — HEAD  OF  THE  SLUICE.     B — SIDE-BOARDS.      C — LOWER  END  OF  THE  SLUICE. 
D — POCKETS.      E — GROOVES.      F — STOOLS.    G — SHOVEL.    H — TUB  SET  BELOW. 

I — LAUNDER. 


Some  people  cut  a  number  of  cross-grooves,  one  palm  distant  from  each 
other,  in  a  sluice  similarly  composed  of  three  planks  eight  feet  long.  The 
upper  edge  of  these  grooves  is  sloping,  that  the  particles  of  gold  may  slip  into 
them  when  the  washer  stirs  the  sand  with  a  wooden  shovel ;  but  their  lower 
edge  is  vertical  so  that  the  gold  particles  may  thus  be  unable  to  slide 
out  of  them.  As  soon  as  these  grooves  are  full  of  gold  particles  mixed 
with  fine  sand,  the  sluice  is  removed  from  the  stools  and  raised  up  on  its 
head.  The  head  in  this  case  is  nothing  but  the  upper  end  of  the  planks 
of  which  the  sluice  is  composed.  In  this  way  the  metallic  particles,  being 
turned  over  backward,  fall  into  another  tub,  for  the  small  stones  and  gravel 
have  rolled  down  the  sluice.  Some  people  place  large  bowls  under  the 
sluice  instead  of  tubs,  and  as  in  the  other  cases,  the  unclean  concentrates  are 
washed  in  the  small  bowl. 

The  Thuringians  cut  rounded  pockets,  a  digit  in  diameter  and  depth,  in 
the  head  of  the  sluice,  and  at  the  same  time  they  cut  grooves  reaching  from 
one  to  another.  The  sluice  itself  they  cover  with  canvas.  The  sand  which 


328 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — CROSS  GROOVES.     B — TUB  SET  UNDER  THE  SLUICE.     C — ANOTHER  TUB. 

is  to  be  washed,  is  thrown  into  the  head  and  stirred  with  a  wooden  scrubber ; 
in  this  way  the  water  carries  the  light  particles  of  gold  on  to  the  canvas, 
and  the  heavy  ones  sink  in  the  pockets,  and  when  these  hollows  are  full,  the 
head  is  removed  and  turned  over  a  tub,  and  the  concentrates  are  collected 
and  washed  in  a  bowl.  Some  people  make  use  of  a  sluice  which  has  square 
pockets  with  short  vertical  recesses  which  hold  the  particles  of  gold.  Other 
workers  use  a  sluice  made  of  planks,  which  are  rough  by  reason  of  the  very 
small  shavings  which  still  cling  to  them  ;  these  sluices  are  used  instead  of 
those  with  coverings,  of  which  this  sluice  is  bare,  and  when  the  sand  is  washed, 
the  particles  of  gold  cling  no  less  to  these  shavings  than  to  canvas,  or  skins,  or 
cloths,  or  turf.  The  washer  sweeps  the  sluice  upward  with  a  broom,  and 
when  he  has  washed  as  much  of  the  sand  as  he  wishes,  he  lets  a  more  abundant 
supply  of  water  into  the  sluice  again  to  wash  out  the  concentrates,  which  he 
collects  in  a  tub  set  below  the  sluice,  and  then  washes  again  in  a  bowl.  Just 
as  Thuringians  cover  the  sluice  with  canvas,  so  some  people  cover  it  with 
the  skins  of  oxen  or  horses.  They  push  the  auriferous  sand  upward  with  a 
wooden  scrubber,  and  by  this  system  the  light  material  flows  away  with  the 
water,  while  the  particles  of  gold  settle  among  the  hairs  ;  the  skins  are 
afterward  washed  in  a  tub  ;  and  the  concentrates  are  colleced  in  a  bowl. 


BOOK     VIII. 


329 


A— SLUICE  COVERED  WITH  CANVAS.  B — ITS  HEAD  FULL  OF  POCKETS  AND  GROOVES. 
C — HEAD  REMOVED  AND  WASHED  IN  A  TUB.  D — SLUICE  WHICH  HAS  SQUARE  POCKETS. 
E — SLUICE  TO  WHOSE  PLANKS  SMALL  SHAVINGS  CLING.  F — BROOM.  G — SKINS  OF  OXEN. 

H — WOODEN  SCRUBBER. 


330 


BOOK     VIII. 


The  Colchians17  placed  the  skins  of  animals  in  the  pools  of  springs  ;  and 
since  many  particles  of  gold  had  clung  to  them  when  they  were  removed, 


A — SPRING.     B — SKIN.    C — ARGONAUTS. 

the  poets  invented  the  "  golden  fleece  "  of  the  Colchians.  In  like  manner, 
it  can  be  contrived  by  the  methods  of  miners  that  skins  should  take  up,  not 
only  particles  of  gold,  but  also  of  silver  and  gems. 

17Colchis,  the  traditional  land  of  the  Golden  Fleece,  lay  between  the  Caucasus  on  the 
north,  Armenia  on  the  south,  and  the  Black  Sea  on  the  west.  If  Agricola's  account  of  the 
metallurgical  purpose  of  the  fleece  is  correct,  then  Jason  must  have  had  real  cause  for  com- 
plaint as  to  the  tangible  results  of  his  expedition.  The  fact  that  we  hear  nothing  of  the 
fleece  after  the  day  it  was  taken  from  the  dragon  would  thus  support  Agricola's  theory.  Tons 
of  ink  have  been  expended  during  the  past  thirty  centuries  in  explanations  of  what  the  fleece 
really  was.  These  explanations  range  through  the  supernatural  and  metallurgical,  but  more 
recent  writers  have  endeavoured  to  construct  the  journey  of  the  Argonauts  into  an  epic  of  the 
development  of  the  Greek  trade  in  gold  with  the  Euxine.  We  will  not  attempt  to  traverse 
them  from  a  metallurgical  point  of  view  further  than  to  maintain  that  Agricola's  explanation 
is  as  probable  and  equally  as  ingenious  as  any  other,  although  Strabo  (xi,  2,  19.)  gives  much 
the  same  view  long  before. 

Alluvial  mining — gold  washing — being  as  old  as  the  first  glimmer  of  civilisation, 
it  is  referred  to,  directly  or  indirectly,  by  a  great  majority  of  ancient  writers,  poets,  historians, 
geographers,  and  naturalists.  Early  Egyptian  inscriptions  often  refer  to  this  industry, 
but  from  the  point  of  view  of  technical  methods  the  description  by  Pliny  is  practically 
the  only  one  of  interest,  and  in  Pliny's  chapter  on  the  subject,  alluvial  is  badly  con- 


BOOK     VIII. 


331 


Many  people  cover  the  frame  with  a  green  cloth  as  long  and  wide  as  the 
frame  itself,  and  fasten  it  with  iron  nails  in  such  a  way  that  they  can  easily 


A — HEAD    OF    FRAME.     B — FRAME.     C — CLOTH.     D — SMALL    LAUNDER. 

BELOW   THE    FRAME.       F — TUB    IN    WHICH    CLOTH    IS    WASHED. 


E — TUB      SET 


draw  them  out  and  remove  the  cloth.  When  the  cloth  appears  to  be  golden 
because  of  the  particles  which  adhere  to  it,  it  is  washed  in  a  special  tub  and 
the  particles  are  collected  in  a  bowl.  The  remainder  which  has  run  down  into 
the  tub  is  again  washed  on  the  frame. 


fused  with  vein  mining.  This  passage  (xxxm,  21)  is  as  follows  :  "  Gold  is  found  in 
'  the  world  in  three  ways,  to  say  nothing  of  that  found  in  India  by  the  ants,  and  in 
'  Scythia  by  the  Griffins.  The  first  is  as  gold  dust  found  in  streams,  as,  for  instance,  in  the 
'  Tagus  in  Spain,  in  the  Padus  in  Italy,  in  the  Hebrus  in  Thracia,  in  the  Pactolus  in  Asia, 
'  and  in  the  Ganges  in  India  ;  indeed,  there  is  no  gold  found  more  perfect  than  this,  as  the 
1  current  polishes  it  thoroughly  by  attrition.  .  .  .  Others  by  equal  labour  and  greater 
'  expense  bring  rivers  from  the  mountain  heights,  often  a  hundred  miles,  for  the  purpose  of 
'  washing  this  debris.  The  ditches  thus  made  are  called  corrugi,  from  our  word  corrivalio,  I 
'  suppose  ;  and  these  entail  a  thousand  fresh  labours.  The  fall  must  be  steep,  that  the 
'  water  may  rush  down  from  very  high  places,  rather  than  flow  gently.  The  ditches 
'  across  the  valleys  are  joined  by  aqueducts,  and  in  other  places,  impassable  rocks  have  to  be 
'  cut  away  and  forced  to  make  room  for  troughs  of  hollowed-out  logs.  Those  who  cut  the 
'  rocks  are  suspended  by  ropes,  so  that  to  those  who  watch  them  from  a  distance,  the 
'  workmen  seem  not  so  much  beasts  as  birds.  Hanging  thus,  they  take  the  levels  and  trace 
'  the  lines  which  the  ditch  is  to  take  ;  and  thus,  where  there  is  no  place  for  man's  footstep, 
'  streams  are  dragged  by  men.  The  water  is  vitiated  for  washing  if  the  current  of  the 


332 


BOOK     VIII. 


Some  people,  in  place  of  a   green  cloth,  use  a  cloth  of  tightly  woven 
horsehair,  which  has  a  rough  knotty  surface.     Since   these   knots   stand  out 


A — CLOTH  FULL  OF  SMALL  KNOTS,  SPREAD  OUT.     B — SMALL  KNOTS  MORE  CONSPICUOUSLY 

SHOWN.       C — TUB   IN   WHICH  CLOTH   IS  WASHED. 

and  the  cloth  is  rough,  even  the  very  small  particles  of  gold  adhere  to  it ; 
these  cloths  are  likewise  washed  in  a  tub  with  water. 


stream  carries  mud  with  it.  This  kind  of  earth  is  called  urium,  hence  these  ditches  are 
laid  out  to  carry  the  water  over  beds  of  pebbles  to  avoid  this  urium.  When  they  have 
reached  the  head  of  the  fall,  at  the  top  of  the  mountain,  reservoirs  are  excavated  a  couple 
of  hundred  feet  long  and  wide,  and  about  ten  feet  deep.  In  these  reservoirs  there  are 
generally  five  gates  left,  about  three  feet  square,  so  that  when  the  reservoir  is  full,  the  gates 
are  opened,  and  the  torrent  bursts  forth  with  such  violence  that  the  rocks  are  hurled  along. 
When  they  have  reached  the  plain  there  is  yet  more  labour.  Trenches  called  agogae  are 
dug  for  the  flow  of  the  water.  The  bottoms  of  these  are  spread  at  regular  intervals  with  ulex 
to  catch  the  gold.  This  ulex  is  similar  to  rosemary,  rough  and  prickly.  The  sides,  too, 
are  closed  in  with  planks  and  are  suspended  when  crossing  precipitous  spots.  The  earth 
is  carried  to  the  sea  and  thus  the  shattered  mountain  is  washed  away  and  scattered ;  and 
this  deposition  of  the  earth  in  the  sea  has  extended  the  shore  of  Spain.  .  .  .  The  gold 
procured  from  arrugiae  does  not  require  to  be  melted,  but  is  already  pure  gold.  It  is  found 
in  lumps,  in  shafts  as  well,  sometimes  even  exceeding  ten  librae  in  weight.  These  lumps 
are  called  palagae  and  •palacurnae,  while  the  small  grains  are  called  baluce.  The  Ulex  is 
dried  and  burnt  and  the  ashes  are  washed  on  a  bed  of  grassy  turf  in  order  that  the  gold 
may  settle  thereon." 


BOOK    VIII. 


333 


Some  people  construct  a  frame  not  unlike  the  one  covered  with  canvas, 
but  shorter.     In  place  of  the  canvas  they  set  pieces  of  turf  in  rows.     They 


A — HEAD  OF  FRAME.     B — SMALL  LAUNDER  THROUGH  WHICH  WATER  FLOWS  INTO  HEAD  OF 

FRAME.      C — PIECES  OF   TURF.       D — TROUGH    PLACED   UNDER  FRAME.       E — TUB  IN   WHICH 

PIECES   OF   TURF    ARE    WASHED. 

wash  the  sand,  which  has  been  thrown  into  the  head  of  the  frame,  by  letting 
in  water.  In  this  way  the  particles  of  gold  settle  in  the  turf,  the  mud  and 
sand,  together  with  the  water,  are  carried  down  into  the  settling-pit  or  trough 
below,  which  is  opened  when  the  work  is  finished.  After  all  the  water  has 
passed  out  of  the  settling-pit,  the  sand  and  mud  are  carried  away  and  washed 
over  again  in  the  same  manner.  The  particles  which  have  clung  to  the  turf 
are  afterward  washed  down  into  the  settling-pit  or  trough  by  a  stronger 
current  of  the  water,  which  is  let  into  the  frame  through  a  small  launder. 
The  concentrates  are  finally  collected  and  washed  in  a  bowl.  Pliny  was  not 
ignorant  of  this  method  of  washing  gold.  "  The  ulex,"  he  says,  "  after  being 
dried,  is  burnt,  and  its  ashes  are  washed  over  a  grassy  turf,  that  the  gold 
may  settle  on  it." 

24 


334 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — TRAY.    B — BOWL-LIKE  DEPRESSION.    C — HANDLES. 

Sand  mixed  with  particles  of  gold  is  also  washed  in  a  tray,  or  in  a  trough 
or  bowl.  The  tray  is  open  at  the  further  end,  is  either  hewn  out  of  a 
squared  trunk  of  a  tree  or  made  out  of  a  thick  plank  to  which  side-boards 
are  fixed,  and  is  three  feet  long,  a  foot  and  a  half  wide,  and  three  digits 
deep.  The  bottom  is  hollowed  out  into  the  shape  of  an  elongated  bowl  whose 
narrow  end  is  turned  toward  the  head,  and  it  has  two  long  handles,  by  which 
it  is  drawn  backward  and  forward  in  the  river.  In  this  way  the  fine  sand 
is  washed,  whether  it  contains  particles  of  gold  or  the  little  black  stones  from 
which  tin  is  made. 

The  Italians  who  come  to  the  German  mountains  seeking  gold,  in  order 
to  wash  the  river  sand  which  contains  gold-dust  and  garnets,19  use  a  fairly 
long  shallow  trough  hewn  out  of  a  tree,  rounded  within  and  without,  open 
at  one  end  and  closed  at  the  other,  which  they  turn  in  the  bed  of  the  stream 
in  such  a  way  that  the  water  does  not  dash  into  it,  but  flows  hi  gently. 
They  stir  the  sand,  which  they  throw  into  it,  with  a  wooden  hoe,  also 
rounded.  To  prevent  the  particles  of  gold  or  garnets  from  running  out  with 
the  light  sand,  they  close  the  end  with  a  board  similarly  rounded,  but  lower 
than  the  sides  of  the  trough.  The  concentrates  of  gold  or  garnets  which, 


19Carbunculus  Carchedonius  —  Carthaginian   carbuncle. 
Agricola  in  the  Inlerpretatio  as  granat,  i.e.,  garnet. 


The  German  is  given  by 


BOOK    VIII. 


335 


A — TROUGH.    B- 


-!TS  OPEN   END.    C — END  THAT  MAY  BE  CLOSED. 
E — HOE.    F — END-BOARD.    G — BAG. 


D — STREAM. 


with  a  small  quantity  of  heavy  sand,  have  settled  in  the  trough,  they  wash 
in  a  bowl  and  collect  in  bags  and  carry  away  with  them. 

Some  people  wash  this  kind  of  sand  in  a  large  bowl  which  can  easily  be 
shaken,  the  bowl  being  suspended  by  two  ropes  from  a  beam  in  a  building. 
The  sand  is  thrown  into  it,  water  is  poured  in,  then  the  bowl  is  shaken,  and 
the  muddy  water  is  poured  out  and  clear  water  is  again  poured  in,  this  being 
done  again  and  again.  In  this  way,  the  gold  particles  settle  in  the  back  part 
of  the  bowl  because  they  are  heavy,  and  the  sand  in  the  front  part  because  it 
is  light ;  the  latter  is  thrown  away,  the  former  kept  for  smelting.  The  one 
who  does  the  washing  then  returns  immediately  to  his  task.  This  method 
of  washing  is  rarely  used  by  miners,  but  frequently  by  coiners  and  goldsmiths 
when  they  wash  gold,  silver,  or  copper.  The  bowl  they  employ  has  only 
three  handles,  one  of  which  they  grasp  in  their  hands  when  they  shake  the 
bowl,  and  in  the  other  two  is  fastened  a  rope  by  which  the  bowl  is  hung  from 
a  beam,  or  from  a  cross-piece  which  is  upheld  by  the  forks  of  two  upright 
posts  fixed  in  the  ground.  Miners  frequently  wash  ore  in  a  small  bowl  to  test 


336 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — LARGE    BOWL*    B — ROPES.    C — BEAM.     D — OTHER   LARGE   BOWL   WHICH   COINERS 

USE.    E — SMALL  BOWL. 

it.  This  bowl,  when  shaken,  is  held  in  one  hand  and  thumped  with  the  other 
hand.  In  other  respects  this  method  of  washing  does  not  differ  from  the 
last. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  various  methods  of  washing  sand  which  contains 
grains  of  gold  ;  I  will  now  speak  of  the  methods  of  washing  the  material  in 
which  are  mixed  the  small  black  stones  from  which  tin  is  made20.  Eight 
such  methods  are  in  use,  and  of  these  two  have  been  invented  lately.  Such 
metalliferous  material  is  usually  found  torn  away  from  veins  and  stringers 
and  scattered  far  and  wide  by  the  impetus  of  water,  although  sometimes 
venae  dilatatae  are  composed  of  it.  The  miners  dig  out  the  latter  material 
with  a  broad  mattock,  while  they  dig  the  former  with  a  pick.  But  they  dig 
out  the  little  stones,  which  are  not  rare  in  this  kind  of  ore,  with  an  instrument 
like  the  bill  of  a  duck.  In  districts  which  contain  this  material,  if  there  is 
an  abundant  supply  of  water,  and  if  there  are  valleys  or  gentle  slopes  and 
hollows,  so  that  rivers  can  be  diverted  into  them,  the  washers  in  summer- 

20As  the  concentration  of  crushed  tin  ore  has  been  exhaustively  treated  of  already, 
the  descriptions  from  here  on  probably  refer  entirely  to  alluvial  tin. 


BOOK    VIII. 


337 


A — STREAM.      B — DITCH.    C — MATTOCK.    D — PIECES  OF  TURF.    E — SEVEN-PRONGED  FORK. 
F — IRON  SHOVEL.  G — TROUGH.  H — ANOTHER  TROUGH  BELOW  IT.  I — SMALL  WOODEN  TROWEL. 


338 


BOOK    VIII. 


time  first  of  all  dig  a  long  ditch  sloping  so  that  the  water  will  run  through 
it  rapidly.  Into  the  ditch  is  thrown  the  metallic  material,  together  with  the 
surface  material,  which  is  six  feet  thick,  more  or  less,  and  often  contains  moss, 
roots  of  plants,  shrubs,  trees,  and  earth  ;  they  are  all  thrown  in  with  a  broad 
mattock,  and  the  water  flows  through  the  ditch.  The  sand  and  tin-stone,  as 
they  are  heavy,  sink  to  the  bottom  of  the  ditch,  while  the  moss  and  roots,  as 
they  are  light,  are  carried  away  by  the  water  which  flows  through  the  ditch. 
The  bottom  of  the  ditch  is  obstructed  with  turf  and  stones  in  order  to  prevent 
the  water  from  carrying  away  the  tin-stone  at  the  same  time.  The  washers, 
whose  feet  are  covered  with  high  boots  made  of  hide,  though  not  of  rawhide, 
themselves  stand  in  the  ditch  and  throw  out  of  it  the  roots  of  the  trees, 
shrubs,  and  grass  with  seven-pronged  wooden  forks,  and  push  back  the  tin- 
stone toward  the  head  of  the  ditch.  After  four  weeks,  in  which  they  have 
devoted  much  work  and  labour,  they  raise  the  tin-stone  in  the  following 
way  ;  the  sand  with  which  it  is  mixed  is  repeatedly  lifted  from  the  ditch 


A — TROUGH.      B — WOODEN    SHOVEL.  C — TUB.     D — LAUNDER.     E — WOODEN  TROWEL. 

F — TRANSVERSE  TROUGH.     G — PLUG.  H — FALLING    WATER.     I — DITCH.     K— BARROW 

CONVEYING  MATERIAL  TO  BE  WASHED.  L — PlCK  LIKE  THE  BEAK  OF  A  DUCK  WITH  WHICH 

THE    MINER    DIGS    OUT    THE    MATERIAL  FROM   WHICH   THE    SMALL    STONES   ARE    OBTAINED. 


BOOK    VIII.  339 

with  an  iron  shovel  and  agitated  hither  and  thither  in  the  water,  until  the 
sand  flows  away  and  only  the  tin-stone  remains  on  the  shovel.  The  tin- 
stone is  all  collected  together  and  washed  again  in  a  trough  by  pushing  it 
up  and  turning  it  over  with  a  wooden  trowel,  in  order  that  the  remaining 
sand  may  separate  from  it.  Afterward  they  return  to  their  task,  which  they 
continue  until  the  metalliferous  material  is  exhausted,  or  until  the  water  can 
no  longer  be  diverted  into  the  ditches. 

The  trough  which  I  mentioned  is  hewn  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  tree  and  the 
interior  is  five  feet  long,  three-quarters  of  a  foot  deep,  and  six  digits  wide. 
It  is  placed  on  an  incline  and  under  it  is  put  a  tub  which  contains  interwoven 
fir  twigs,  or  else  another  trough  is  put  under  it,  the  interior  of  which  is  three 
feet  long  and  one  foot  wide  and  deep  ;  the  fine  tin-stone,  which  has  run  out 
with  the  water,  settles  in  the  bottom.  Some  people,  in  place  of  a  trough, 
put  a  square  launder  underneath,  and  in  like  manner  they  wash  the  tin- 
stone in  this  by  agitating  it  up  and  down  and  turning  it  over  with  a  small 
wooden  trowel.  A  transverse  trough  is  put  under  the  launder,  which  is 
either  open  on  one  end  and  drains  off  into  a  tub  or  settling-pit,  or  else  is 
closed  and  perforated  through  the  bottom  ;  in  this  case,  it  drains  into  a 
ditch  beneath,  where  the  water  falls  when  the  plug  has  been  partly  removed. 
The  nature  of  this  ditch  I  will  now  describe. 

If  the  locality  does  not  supply  an  abundance  of  water,  the  washers  dig  a 
ditch  thirty  or  thirty-six  feet  long,  and  cover  the  bottom,  the  full  length,  with 
logs  joined  together  and  hewn  on  the  side  which  lies  flat  on  the  ground.  On 
each  side  of  the  ditch,  and  at  its  head  also,  they  place  four  logs,  one  above 
the  other,  all  hewn  smooth  on  the  inside.  But  since  the  logs  are  laid 
obliquely  along  the  sides,  the  upper  end  of  the  ditch  is  made  four  feet  wide 
and  the  tail  end,  two  feet.  The  water  has  a  high  drop  from  a  launder  and 
first  of  all  it  falls  into  interlaced  fir  twigs,  in  order  that  it  shall  fall  straight 
down  for  the  most  part  in  an  unbroken  stream  and  thus  break  up  the  lumps 
by  its  weight.  Some  do  not  place  these  twigs  under  the  end  of  the  launder, 
but  put  a  plug  in  its  mouth,  which,  since  it  does  not  entirely  close  the  launder, 
nor  altogether  prevent  the  discharge  from  it,  nor  yet  allow  the  water  to 
spout  far  afield,  makes  it  drop  straight  down.  The  workman  brings  in  a 
wheelbarrow  the  material  to  be  washed,  and  throws  it  into  the  ditch.  The 
washer  standing  in  the  upper  end  of  the  ditch  breaks  the  lumps  with  a  seven- 
Dronged  fork,  and  throws  out  the  roots  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  grass  with  the 
same  instrument,  and  thereby  the  small  black  stones  settle  down.  When  a 
large  quantity  of  the  tin-stone  has  accumulated,  which  generally  happens 
when  the  washer  has  spent  a  day  at  this  work,  to  prevent  it  from  being 
washed  away  he  places  it  upon  the  bank,  and  other  material  having  been 
again  thrown  into  the  upper  end  of  the  ditch,  he  continues  the  task  of  washing. 
A  boy  stands  at  the  lower  end  of  the  ditch,  and  with  a  thin  pointed  hoe 
stirs  up  the  sediment  which  has  settled  at  the  lower  end,  to  prevent  the 
washed  tin-stone  from  being  carried  further,  which  occurs  when  the  sediment 
has  accumulated  to  such  an  extent  that  the  fir  branches  at  the  outlet  of  the 
ditch  are  covered. 


340 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — LAUNDER.     B — INTERLACING  FIR  TWIGS.    C — LOGS  ;  THREE  ON  ONE  SIDE,  FOR  THE 

FOURTH    CANNOT    BE    SEEN    BECAUSE  THE   DITCH  IS   SO  FULL   WITH    MATERIAL   NOW   BEING 
WASHED.      D — LOGS    AT    THE   HEAD    OF   THE    DITCH.      E — BARROW.      F — SEVEN-PRONGED 

FORK.      G — HOE 

The  third  method  of  washing  materials  of  this  kind  follows.  Two 
strakes  are  made,  each  of  which  is  twelve  feet  long  and  a  foot  and  a 
half  wide  and  deep.  A  tank  is  set  at  their  head,  into  which  the  water  flows 
through  a  little  launder.  A  boy  throws  the  ore  into  one  strake  ;  if  it  is  of 
poor  quality  he  puts  in  a  large  amount  of  it,  if  it  is  rich  he  puts  in  less.  The 
water  is  let  in  by  removing  the  plug,  the  ore  is  stirred  with  a  wooden  shovel, 
and  in  this  way  the  tin-stone,  mixed  with  the  heavier  material,  settles 
in  the  bottom  of  the  strake,  and  the  water  carries  the  light  material  into  the 
launder,  through  which  it  flows  on  to  a  canvas  strake.  The  very  fine  tin- 
stone, carried  by  the  water,  settles  on  to  the  canvas  and  is  cleansed.  A  low 
cross-board  is  placed  in  the  strake  near  the  head,  in  order  that  the  largest 
sized  tin-stone  may  settle  there.  As  soon  as  the  strake  is  filled  with  the 
material  which  has  been  washed,  he  closes  the  mouth  of  the  tank  and  continues 
washing  in  the  other  strake,  and  then  the  plug  is  withdrawn  and  the 
water  and  tin-stone  flow  down  into  a  tank  below.  Then  he  pounds  the  sides 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — STRAKES.       B — TANK.       C — LAUNDER.      D — PLUG.     E — WOODEN      SHOVEL. 
F — WOODEN  MALLET.     G — WOODEN  SHOVEL  WITH  SHORT  HANDLE.    H — THE  PLUG 

IN    THE    STRAKE.       I — TANK    PLACED    UNDER   THE    PLUG. 

of  the  loaded  strake  with  a  wooden  mallet,  in  order  that  the  tin-stone  clinging 
to  the  sides  may  fall  off  ;  all  that  has  settled  in  it,  he  throws  out  with  a 
wooden  shovel  which  has  a  short  handle.  Silver  slags  which  have  been 
crushed  under  the  stamps,  also  fragments  of  silver-lead  alloy  and  of  cakes 
melted  from  pyrites,  are  washed  in  a  strake  of  this  kind. 

Material  of  this  kind  is  also  washed  while  wet,  in  a  sieve  whose  bottom 
is  made  of  woven  iron  wire,  and  this  is  the  fourth  method  of  washing.  The 
sieve  is  immersed  in  the  water  which  is  contained  in  a  tub,  and  is  violently 
shaken.  The  bottom  of  this  tub  has  an  opening  of  such  size  that  as  much 
water,  together  with  tailings  from  the  sieve,  can  flow  continuously  out  of  it  as 
water  flows  into  it.  The  material  which  settles  in  the  strake,  a  boy  either 
digs  over  with  a  three-toothed  iron  rake  or  sweeps  with  a  wooden  scrubber  ; 
in  this  way  the  water  carries  off  a  great  part  of  both  sand  and  mud.  The 
tin-stone  or  metalliferous  concentrates  settle  in  the  strake  and  are  afterward 
washed  in  another  strake. 

These  are  ancient  methods  of  washing  material  which  contains  tin- 
stone ;  there  follow  two  modern  methods.  If  the  tin-stone  mixed  with 


342 


BOOK    VIII. 


A — SIEVE.     B — TUB.    C — WATER  FLOWING  OUT  OF  THE  BOTTOM  OF  IT.    D — STRAKE. 
E — THREE-TOOTHED  RAKE.    F — WOODEN  SCRUBBER. 

earth  or  sand  is  found  on  the  slopes  of  mountains  or  hills,  or  in  the  level  fields 
which  are  either  devoid  of  streams  or  into  which  a  stream  cannot  be  diverted, 
miners  have  lately  begun  to  employ  the  following  method  of  washing,  even 
in  the  winter  months.  An  open  box  is  constructed  of  planks,  about  six 
feet  long,  three  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  and  one  palm  deep.  At  the  upper 
end  on  the  inside,  an  iron  plate  three  feet  long  and  wide  is  fixed,  at  a  depth 
of  one  foot  and  a  half  from  the  top  ;  this  plate  is  very  full  of  holes,  through 
which  tin-stone  about  the  size  of  a  pea  can  fall.  A  trough  hewn  from  a  tree 
is  placed  under  the  box,  and  this  trough  is  about  twenty-four  feet  long  and 
three-quarters  of  a  foot  wide  and  deep  ;  very  often  three  cross-boards  are 
placed  in  it,  dividing  it  off  into  compartments,  each  one  of  which  is  lower 
than  the  next.  The  turbid  waters  discharge  into  a  settling-pit. 

The  metalliferous  material  is  sometimes  found  not  very  deep  beneath 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  but  sometimes  so  deep  that  it  is  necessary  to  drive 
tunnels  and  sink  shafts.  It  is  transported  to  the  washing-box  in  wheel- 
barrows, and  when  the  washers  are  about  to  begin  they  lay  a  small  launder, 


BOOK    VIII. 


343 


A — Box.       B — PERFORATED     PLATE.       C — TROUGH.       D — CROSS-BOARDS.     E — POOL. 
F — LAUNDER.     G — SHOVEL.    H — RAKE. 


344  BOOK    VIII. 

through  which  there  flows  on  to  the  iron  plate  so  much  water  as  is  necessary 
for  this  washing.  Next,  a  boy  throws  the  metalliferous  material  on  to  the 
iron  plate  with  an  iron  shovel  and  breaks  the  small  lumps,  stirring  them  this 
way  and  that  with  the  same  implement.  Then  the  water  and  sand  penetra- 
ting the  holes  of  the  plate,  fall  into  the  box,  while  all  the  coarse  gravel  remains 
on  the  plate,  and  this  he  throws  into  a  wheelbarrow  with  the  same  shovel. 
Meantime,  a  younger  boy  continually  stirs  the  sand  under  the  plate  with  a 
wooden  scrubber  nearly  as  wide  as  the  box,  and  drives  it  to  the  upper  end  of 
the  box  ;  the  lighter  material,  as  well  as  a  small  amount  of  tin-stone,  is 
carried  by  the  water  down  into  the  underlying  trough.  The  boys  carry  on 
this  labour  without  intermission  until  they  have  filled  four  wheelbarrows 
with  the  coarse  and  worthless  residues,  which  they  carry  off  and  throw  away,  or 
three  wheelbarrows  if  the  material  is  rich  in  black  tin.  Then  the  foreman 
has  the  plank  removed  which  was  in  front  of  the  iron  plate,  and  on  which  the 
boy  stood.  The  sand,  mixed  with  the  tin-stone,  is  frequently  pushed  backward 
and  forward  with  a  scrubber,  and  the  same  sand,  because  it  is  lighter,  takes 
the  upper  place,  and  is  removed  as  soon  as  it  appears  ;  that  which  takes  the 
lower  place  is  turned  over  with  a  spade,  in  order  that  any  that  is  light 
can  flow  away  ;  when  all  the  tin-stone  is  heaped  together,  he  shovels  it  out 
of  the  box  and  carries  it  away.  While  the  foreman  does  this,  one  boy  with 
an  iron  hoe  stirs  the  sand  mixed  with  fine  tin-stone,  which  has  run  out  of  the 
box  and  has  settled  in  the  trough  and  pushes  it  back  to  the  uppermost  part 
of  the  trough,  and  this  material,  since  it  contains  a  very  great  amount  of  tin- 
stone, is  thrown  on  to  the  plate  and  washed  again.  The  material  which  has 
settled  in  the  lowest  part  of  the  trough  is  taken  out  separately  and  piled  in  a 
heap,  and  is  washed  on  the  ordinary  strake  ;  that  which  has  settled  in  the 
pool  is  washed  on  the  canvas  strake.  In  the  summer-time  this  fruitful 
labour  is  repeated  more  often,  in  fact  ten  or  eleven  times.  The  tin-stone 
which  the  foreman  removes  from  the  box,  is  afterward  washed  in  a  jigging 
sieve,  and  lastly  in  a  tub,  where  at  length  all  the  sand  is  separated  out. 
Finally,  any  material  in  which  are  mixed  particles  of  other  metals,  can  be 
washed  by  all  these  methods,  whether  it  has  been  disintegrated  from  veins  or 
stringers,  or  whether  it  originated  from  venae  dilatatae,  or  from  streams  and 
rivers. 

The  sixth  method  of  washing  material  of  this  kind  is  even  more  modern 
and  more  useful  than  the  last.  Two  boxes  are  constructed,  into  each  of 
which  water  flows  through  spouts  from  a  cross  trough  into  which  it  has  been 
discharged  through  a  pipe  or  launder.  When  the  material  has  been  agitated 
and  broken  up  with  iron  shovels  by  two  boys,  part  of  it  runs  down  and  falls 
through  the  iron  plates  full  of  holes,  or  through  the  iron  grating,  and  flows 
out  of  the  box  over  a  sloping  surface  into  another  cross  trough,  and  from 
this  into  a  strake  seven  feet  long  and  two  and  a  half  feet  wide.  Then 
the  foreman  again  stirs  it  with  a  wooden  scrubber  that  it  may  become 
clean.  As  for  the  material  which  has  flowed  down  with  the  water  and  settled 
in  the  third  cross  trough,  or  in  the  launder  which  leads  from  it,  a  third  boy 
rakes  it  with  a  two-toothed  rake  ;  in  this  way  the  fine  tin-stone  settles  down 


BOOK    VIII. 


345 


A — LAUNDER.     B — CROSS    TROUGH.    C — Two    SPOUTS.     D — BOXES.     E — PLATE.    F — 

GRATING.     G — SHOVELS.    H — SECOND      CROSS    TROUGH.      I — STRAKE.      K — WOODEN 

SCRUBBER.    L — THIRD  CROSS  TROUGH.     M — LAUNDER.    N — THREE-TOOTHED  RAKE. 

and  the  water  carries  off  the  valueless  sand  into  the  creek.  This  method 
of  washing  is  most  advantageous,  for  four  men  can  do  the  work  of  washing 
in  two  boxes,  while  the  last  method,  if  doubled,  requires  six  men,  for  it  requires 
two  boys  to  throw  the  material  to  be  washed  on  to  the  plate  and  to  stir  it 
with  iron  shovels  ;  two  more  are  required  with  wooden  scrubbers  to  keep 
stirring  the  sand,  mixed  with  the  tin-stone,  under  the  plate,  and  to  push  it 
toward  the  upper  end  of  the  box  ;  further,  two  foremen  are  required 
to  clean  the  tin-stone  in  the  way  I  have  described.  In  the  place  of  a  plate 
full  of  holes,  they  now  fix  in  the  boxes  a  grating  made  of  iron  wire  as 
thick  as  the  stalks  of  rye  ;  that  these  may  not  be  depressed  by  the  weight 
and  become  bent,  three  iron  bars  support  them,  being  laid  crosswise  under- 
neath. To  prevent  the  grating  from  being  broken  by  the  iron  shovels  with 
which  the  material  is  stirred  in  washing,  five  or  six  iron  rods  are  placed  on 
top  in  cross  lines,  and  are  fixed  to  the  box  so  that  the  shovels  may  rub  them 
instead  of  the  grating  ;  for  this  reason  the  grating  lasts  longer  than  the 


346 


BOOK    VIII. 


plates,  because  it  remains  intact,  while  the  rods,  when  worn  by  rubbing,  can 
easily  be  replaced  by  others. 

Miners  use  the  seventh  method  of  washing  when  there  is  no  stream  of 
water  in  the  part  of  the  mountain  which  contains  the  black  tin,  or  particles  of 
gold,  or  of  other  metals.  In  this  case  they  frequently  dig  more  than  fifty 
ditches  on  the  slope  below,  or  make  the  same  number  of  pits,  six  feet  long, 
three  feet  wide,  and  three-quarters  of  a  foot  deep,  not  any  great  distance 
from  each  other.  At  the  season  when  a  torrent  rises  from  storms  of 
great  violence  or  long  duration,  and  rushes  down  the  mountain,  some  of 
the  miners  dig  the  metalliferous  material  in  the  woods  with  broad  hoes  and 


A — PITS.     B — TORRENT.    C — SEVEN-PRONGED  FORK.    D — SHOVEL. 

drag  it  to  the  torrent.  Other  miners  divert  the  torrent  into  the  ditches  or 
pits,  and  others  throw  the  roots  of  trees,  shrubs,  and  grass  out  of  the  ditches 
or  pits  with  seven-pronged  wooden  forks.  When  the  torrent  has  run  down, 
they  remove  with  shovels  the  uncleansed  tin-stone  or  particles  of  metal  which 
have  settled  in  the  ditches  or  pits,  and  cleanse  it. 

The  eighth  method  is  also  employed  in  the  regions  which  the  Lusitanians 
hold  in  their  power  and  sway,  and  is  not  dissimilar  to  the  last.     They  drive 


BOOK    VIII. 


347 


a  great  number  of  deep  ditches  in  rows  in  the  gullies,  slopes,  and  hollows  of 
the  mountains.  Into  these  ditches  the  water,  whether  flowing  down  from 
snow  melted  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  or  from  rain,  collects  and  carries  together 
with  earth  and  sand,  sometimes  tin-stone,  or,  in  the  case  of  the  Lusitanians, 
the  particles  of  gold  loosened  from  veins  and  stringers.  As  soon  as  the 
waters  of  the  torrent  have  all  run  away,  the  miners  throw  the  material  out 
of  the  ditches  with  iron  shovels,  and  wash  it  in  a  common  sluice  box. 


A — GULLY.     B — DITCH.    C — TORRENT.    D — SLUICE 

LUSITANIANS. 


BOX     EMPLOYED     BY    THE 


The  Poles  wash  the  impure  lead  from  venae  dilatatae  in  a  trough  ten 
feet  long,  three  feet  wide,  and  one  and  one-quarter  feet  deep.  It  is  mixed 
with  moist  earth  and  is  covered  by  a  wet  and  sandy  clay,  and  so 
first  of  all  the  clay,  and  afterward  the  ore,  is  dug  out.  The  ore  is  carried 
to  a  stream  or  river,  and  thrown  into  a  trough  into  which  water  is  admitted 
by  a  little  launder,  and  the  washer  standing  at  the  lower  end  of  the  trough 
drags  the  ore  out  with  a  narrow  and  nearly  pointed  hoe,  whose  wooden  handle 
is  nearly  ten  feet  long.  It  is  washed  over  again  once  or  twice  in  the  same 
way  and  thus  made  pure.  Afterward  when  it  has  been  dried  in  the  sun 


348 


BOOK    VIII. 


they  throw  it  into  a  copper  sieve,  and  separate  the  very  small  pieces  which 
pass  through  the  sieve  from  the  larger  ones  ;  of  these  the  former  are  smelted 
in  a  faggot  pile  and  the  latter  in  the  furnace.  Of  such  a  number  then  are 
the  methods  of  washing. 


A — TROUGH.    B — LAUNDER.    C — HOE.    D — SIEVE. 

One  method  of  burning  is  principally  employed,  and  two  of  roasting. 
The  black  tin  is  burned  by  a  hot  fire  in  a  furnace  similar  to  an  oven21  ;  it 
is  burned  if  it  is  a  dark-blue  colour,  or  if  pyrites  and  the  stone  from  which 
iron  is  made  are  mixed  with  it,  for  the  dark  blue  colour  if  not  burnt,  consumes 
the  tin.  If  pyrites  and  the  other  stone  are  not  volatilised  into  fumes  in  a 
furnace  of  this  kind,  the  tin  which  is  made  from  the  tin-stone  is  impure. 
The  tin-stone  is  thrown  either  into  the  back  part  of  the  furnace,  or  into  one 
side  of  it ;  but  in  the  former  case  the  wood  is  placed  in  front,  in  the  latter 
case  alongside,  in  such  a  manner,  however,  that  neither  firebrands  nor 
coals  may  fall  upon  the  tin-stone  itself  or  touch  it.  The  fuel  is  manipulated 
by  a  poker  made  of  wood.  The  tin-stone  is  now  stirred  with  a  rake  with  two 

21From  a  metallurgical  point  of  view  all  of  these  operations  are  roasting.  Even 
to-day,  however,  the  expression  "  burning  "  tin  is  in  use  in  some  parts  of  Cornwall,  and  ir 
former  times  it  was  general. 


BOOK    VIII. 


349 


teeth,  and  now  again  levelled  down  with  a  hoe,  both  of  which  are  made  of  iron. 
The  very  fine  tin-stone  requires  to  be  burned  less  than  that  of  moderate  size, 
and  this  again  less  than  that  of  the  largest  size.  While  the  tin-stone  is  being 
thus  burned,  it  frequently  happens  that  some  of  the  material  runs  together. 


A — FURNACE.    B — ITS   MOUTH.    C — POKER.    D — RAKE    WITH   TWO   TEETH.    E — HOE. 

The  burned  tin-stone  should  then  be  washed  again  on  the  strake,  for  in  this 
way  the  material  which  has  been  run  together  is  carried  away  by  the  water 
into  the  cross-trough,  where  it  is  gathered  up  and  worked  over,  and  again 
washed  on  the  strake.  By  this  method  the  metal  is  separated  from  that 
which  is  devoid  of  metal. 

Cakes  from  pyrites,  or  cadmia,  or  cupriferous  stones,  are  roasted  in  quad- 
rangular pits,  of  which  the  front  and  top  are  open,  and  these  pits  are  generally 
twelve  feet  long,  eight  feet  wide,  and  three  feet  deep.  The  cakes  of  melted 
pyrites  are  usually  roasted  twice  over,  and  those  of  cadmia  once.  These  latter 
are  first  rolled  in  mud  moistened  with  vinegar,  to  prevent  the  fire  from  con- 
suming too  much  of  the  copper  with  the  bitumen,  or  sulphur,  or  orpiment,  or 
realgar.  The  cakes  of  pyrites  are  first  roasted  in  a  slow  fire  and  afterward  in 
a  fierce  one,  and  in  both  cases,  during  the  whole  following  night,  water  is  let  in, 

25 


350 


BOOK    VIII. 


in  order  that,  if  there  is  in  the  cakes  any  alum  or  vitriol  or  saltpetre  capable 
of  injuring  the  metals,  although  it  rarely  does  injure  them,  the  water  may 
remove  it  and  make  the  cakes  soft.  The  solidified  juices  are  nearly  all 
harmful  to  the  metal,  when  cakes  or  ore  of  this  kind  are  smelted.  The  cakes 
which  are  to  be  roasted  are  placed  on  wood  piled  up  in  the  form  of  a  crate, 
and  this  pile  is  fired22. 


A — PITS.     B — WOOD.    C — CAKES.     D — LAUNDER. 

The  cakes  which  are  made  of  copper  smelted  from  schist  are  first  thrown 
upon  the  ground  and  broken,  and  then  placed  in  the  furnace  on  bundles  of 
faggots,  and  these  are  lighted.  These  cakes  are  generally  roasted  seven 
times  and  occasionally  nine  times.  While  this  is  being  done,  if  they  are 

22There  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  are  mattes,  as  will  develop  in  Chapter  ix.  The 
German  term  in  the  Glossary  for  panes  ex  pyrite  is  stein,  the  same  as  the  modern  German 
for  matte.  Orpiment  and  realgar  are  the  yellow  and  red  arsenical  sulphides.  The  cadmia 
was  no  doubt  the  cobalt-arsenic  minerals  (see  note  on  p.  112).  The  "solidified  juices"  were 
generally  anything  that  could  be  expelled  short  of  smelting,  i.e.,  roasted  off  or  leached  out, 
as  shown  in  note  4,  p.  i  ;  they  embrace  the  sulphates,  salts,  sulphur,  bitumen,  and 
arsenical  sulphides,  etc.  For  further  information  on  leaching  out  the  sulphates,  alum,  etc., 
see  note  10,  p.  564. 


BOOK    VIII. 


351 


bituminous,  then  the  bitumen  burns  and  can  be  smelled.  These  furnaces  have 
a  structure  like  the  structure  of  the  furnaces  in  which  ore  is  smelted,  except 
that  they  are  open  in  front  ;  they  are  six  feet  high  and  four  feet  wide.  As 
for  this  kind  of  furnace,  three  of  them  are  required  for  one  of  those  in  which 
the  cakes  are  melted.  First  of  all  they  are  roasted  in  the  first  furnace,  then 
when  they  are  cooled,  they  are  transferred  into  the  second  furnace  and  again 
roasted  ;  later  they  are  carried  to  the  third,  and  afterward  back  to  the  first, 
and  this  order  is  preserved  until  they  have  been  roasted  seven  or  nine  times. 


A — CAKES.    B — BUNDLES  OF  FAGGOTS.    C — FURNACES. 


END    OF    BOOK    VI] 


BOOK  IX.1 


INCE  I  have  written  of  the  varied  work  of  pre- 
paring the  ores,  I  will  now  write  of  the  various 
methods  of  smelting  them.  Although  those  who 
burn,  roast  and  calcine2  the  ore,  take  from  it  some- 
thing which  is  mixed  or  combined  with  the  metals  ; 
and  those  who  crush  it  with  stamps  take  away  much  ; 
and  those  who  wash,  screen  and  sort  it,  take  away 
still  more  ;  yet  they  cannot  remove  all  which  con- 
ceals the  metal  from  the  eye  and  renders  it  crude 
and  unformed.  Wherefore  smelting  is  necessary,  for  by  this  means  earths, 
solidified  juices,  and  stones  are  separated  from  the  metals  so  that  they 
obtain  their  proper  colour  and  become  pure,  and  may  be  of  great  use  to 
mankind  in  many  ways.  When  the  ore  is  smelted,  those  things  which 
were  mixed  with  the  metal  before  it  was  melted  are  driven  forth,  because 
the  metal  is  perfected  by  fire  in  this  manner.  Since  metalliferous  ores 
differ  greatly  amongst  themselves,  first  as  to  the  metals  which  they  con- 
tain, then  as  to  the  quantity  of  the  metal  which  is  in  them,  and  then  by 
the  fact  that  some  are  rapidly  melted  by  fire  and  others  slowly,  there  are, 
therefore,  many  methods  of  smelting.  Constant  practice  has  taught  the 


history  of  the  fusion  of  ores  and  of  metals  is  the  history  of  individual  processes, 
and  such  information  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover  upon  the  individual  methods  previous 
to  Agricola  we  give  on  the  pages  where  such  processes  are  discussed.     In  general  the  records 
of  the  beginnings  of  metallurgy  are  so  nebular  that,  if  one  wishes  to  shirk  the  task,  he  can 
adopt  the  explanation  of   William  Pryce  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  :    "  It  is  very 
probable  that  the  nature  and  use  of  Metals  were  not  revealed  to  Adam  in  his  state  of 
innocence  :    the  toil  and  labour  necessary  to  procure  and  use  those  implements  of  the  iron 
age  could  not  be  known,  till  they  made  part  of  the  curse  incurred  by  his  fall  :  '  In  the  sweat 
'  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,  till  thou  return  unto  the  ground  ;  in  sorrow  shalt  thou 
'  eat   of  it  all   the  days  of  thy  life  '    (Genesis).      That  they  were  very  early  discovered, 
however,  is  manifest  from  the  Mosaick  account  of  Tubal  Cain,  who  was  the  first  instructor 
of  every  artificer  in  Brass  [st'c]  and  Iron  "   (Mineralogia  Cornubiensis,  p.  2). 

It  is  conceivable  that  gold  could  be  found  in  large  enough  pieces  to  have  had  general 
use  in  pre-historic  times,  without  fusion  ;  but  copper,  which  was  also  in  use,  must  have  been 
smelted,  and  therefore  we  must  assume  a  considerable  development  of  human  knowledge  on 
the  subject  prior  to  any  human  record.  Such  incidental  mention  as  exists  after  record 
begins  does  not,  of  course,  extend  to  the  beginning  of  any  particular  branch  of  the  art  —  in 
fact,  special  arts  obviously  existed  long  before  such  mention,  and  down  to  the  complete 
survey  of  the  state  of  the  art  by  Agricola  our  dates  are  necessarily  "  prior  to  "  some  first 
mention  in  literature,  or  "  prior  to  "  the  known  period  of  existing  remains  of  metallur- 
gical operations.  The  scant  Egyptian  records,  the  Scriptures,  and  the  Shoo  King  give  a  little 
insight  prior  to  1000  B.C.  The  more  extensive  Greek  literature  of  about  the  5th  to  the  3rd 
centuries  B.C.,  together  with  the  remains  of  Greek  mines,  furnish  another  datum  point  of  view, 
and  the  Roman  and  Greek  writers  at  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era  give  a  still  larger  view. 
After  them  our  next  step  is  to  the  Monk  Theophilus  and  the  Alchemists,  from  the  I2th  to  the 
I4th  centuries.  Finally,  the  awakening  of  learning  at  the  end  of  the  I5th  and  the  beginning 
of  the  i6th  centuries,  enables  us  for  the  first  time  to  see  practically  all  that  was  known.  The 
wealth  of  literature  which  exists  subsequent  to  this  latter  time  makes  history  thereafter  a 
matter  of  some  precision,  but  it  is  not  included  in  this  undertaking.  Considering  the  great 
part  that  the  metals  have  played  in  civilization,  it  is  astonishing  what  a  minute  amount  of 
information  is  available  on  metallurgy.  Either  the  ancient  metallurgists  were  secretive 
as  to  their  art,  or  the  ancient  authors  despised  such  common  things,  or,  as  is  equally  probable, 
the  very  partial  preservation  of  ancient  literature,  by  painful  transcription  over  a  score  of 
centuries,  served  only  for  those  works  of  more  general  interest.  In  any  event,  if  all  the  direct 
or  indirect  material  on  metallurgy  prior  to  the  15th  century  were  compiled,  it  would  not  fill 
40  pages  such  as  these. 

*See  footnote  2,  p.  267,  on  verbs  used  for  roasting. 


354 


BOOK    IX. 


smelters  by  which  of  these  methods  they  can  obtain  the  most  metal  from 
any  one  ore.  Moreover,  while  sometimes  there  are  many  methods  of 
smelting  the  same  ore,  by  which  an  equal  weight  of  metal  is  melted  out,  yet 
one  is  done  at  a  greater  cost  and  labour  than  the  others.  Ore  is  either  melted 
with  a  furnace  or  without  one  ;  if  smelted  with  a  furnace  the  tap-hole  is  either 
temporarily  closed  or  always  open,  and  if  smelted  without  a  furnace,  it  is  done 
either  in  pots  or  in  trenches.  But  in  order  to  make  this  matter  clearer,  I  will 
describe  each  in  detail,  beginning  with  the  buildings  and  the  furnaces. 


It  may  be  of  service  to  give  a  tabular  summary  indicating  approximately  the  time 
when  evidence  of  particular  operations  appear  on  the  historical  horizon  : 


Gold  washed  from  alluvial 

Copper  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting  . . 

Bitumen  mined  and  used. . 

Tin  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting 

Bronze  made 

Iron  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting 

Soda  mined  and  used 

Gold  reduced  from  ores  by  concentration 

Silver  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting 

Lead  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting 


Prior  to  recorded  civilization 

Prior  to  recorded  civilization 

Prior  to  recorded  civilization 

Prior  to  3500  B.C. 

Prior  to  3500  B.C. 

Prior  to  3500  B.C. 

Prior  to  3500  B.C. 

Prior  to  2500  B.C. 

Prior  to  2000  B.C. 

Prior  to  2000  B.C.  (perhaps  prior 

to  3500  B.C.) 
Prior  to  2000  B.C. 
Prior  to  1500  B.C. 

1000  B.C. 

500  B.C. 

Prior  to  500  B.C. 
Prior  to  500  B.C. 
Prior  to  400  B.C. 
Prior  to  300  B.C. 


Silver  parted  from  lead  by  cupellation 

Bellows  used  in  furnaces 

Steel  produced       . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .     Prior  to 

Base  metals  separated  from  ores  by  water  concentration     Prior  to 

Gold  refined  by  cupellation 

Sulphide  ores  smelted  for  lead 

Mercury  reduced  from  ores  by . .  (?) 

White-lead  made  with  vinegar 

Touchstone  known   for  determining  gold  and  silver 
fineness 

Quicksilver  reduced  from  ore  by  distillation 

Silver  parted  from  gold  by  cementation  with  salt 

Brass  made  by  cementation  of  copper  and  calamine  . . 

Zinc  oxides  obtained  from  furnace  fumes  by  construc- 
tion of  dust  chambers 

Antimony  reduced  from  ores  by  smelting  (accidental) 

Gold  recovered  by  amalgamation 

Refining  of  copper  by  repeated  fusion 

Sulphide  ores  smelted  for  copper 

Vitriol  (blue  and  green)  made 

Alum  made 

Copper  refined  by  oxidation  and  poling 

Gold  parted  from  copper  by  cupelling  with  lead 

Gold  parted  from  silver  by  fusion  with  sulphur 

Manufacture  of  nitric  acid  and  aqua  regia 

Gold  parted  from  silver  by  nitric  acid 

Gold  parted  from  silver  with  antimony  sulphide 

Gold  parted  from  copper  with  sulphur 

Silver  parted  from  iron  with  antimony  sulphide 

First  text  book  on  assaying 

Silver  recovered  from  ores  by  amalgamation 

Separation  of  silver  from  copper  by  liquation 

Cobalt  and  manganese  used  for  pigments 

Roasting  copper  ores  prior  to  smelting 

Stamp-mill  used     . .          . .          . .          . .         . .         . .     Prior  to  1550  A.D. 

Bismuth  reduced  from  ore          . .         . .          . .          . .     Prior  to  1550  A.D. 

Zinc  reduced  from  ore  (accidental)        . .          . .          . .     Prior  to  1550  A.D. 

Further,  we  believe  it  desirable  to  sketch  at  the  outset  the  development  of  metallurgical 
appliances  as  a  whole,  leaving  the  details  to  special  footnotes ;  otherwise  a  comprehensive 
view  of  the  development  of  such  devices  is  difficult  to  grasp. 

We   can  outline   the   character   of   metallurgical   appliances   at   various   periods  in 
few  words.      It  is    possible  to  set  up  a   description  of  the   imaginary   beginning  of 


Prior  to  300  B.C. 
Prior  to  Christian  Era 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 

Prior  to 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 
Prior  to 

Prior  to  1200  A.D. 
Prior  to  1200  A.D. 
Prior  to  1200  A.D. 
Prior  to  1400  A.D. 
Prior  to  1400  A.D. 
Prior  to  1500  A.D. 
Prior  to  1500  A.D. 
Prior  to  1500  A.D. 
Prior  to  1500  A.D. 
Prior  to  1500  A.D. 
Prior  to  1540  A.D. 
Prior  to  1540  A.D. 
Prior  to  1550  A.D. 


BOOK    IX.  355 

A  wall  which  will  be  called  the  "second  wall  "  is  constructed  of  brick 
or  stone,  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  thick,  in  order  that  it  may  be  strong 
enough  to  bear  the  weight.  It  is  built  fifteen  feet  high,  and  its  length  depends 
on  the  number  of  furnaces  which  are  put  in  the  works  ;  there  are  usually 
six  furnaces,  rarely  more,  and  often  less.  There  are  three  furnace  walls,  a 
back  one  which  is  against  the  "  second  "  wall,  and  two  side  ones,  of  which  I 
will  speak  later.  These  should  be  made  of  natural  stone,  as  this  is  more 
serviceable  than  burnt  bricks,  because  bricks  soon  become  defective  and 
crumble  away,  when  the  smelter  or  his  deputy  chips  off  the  accretions  which 
adhere  to  the  walls  when  the  ore  is  smelted.  Natural  stone  resists  injury 
by  the  fire  and  lasts  a  long  time,  especially  that  which  is  soft  and  devoid 
of  cracks  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  which  is  hard  and  has  many  cracks 
is  burst  asunder  by  the  fire  and  destroyed.  For  this  reason,  furnaces  which 
are  made  of  the  latter  are  easily  weakened  by  the  fire,  and  when  the  accretions 
are  chipped  off  they  crumble  to  pieces.  The  front  furnace  wall  should  be 
made  of  brick,  and  there  should  be  in  the  lower  part  a  mouth  three  palms 
wide  and  one  and  a  half  feet  high,  when  the  hearth  is  completed.  A  hole 
slanting  upward,  three  palms  long,  is  made  through  the  back  furnace  wall,  at 
the  height  of  a  cubit,  before  the  hearth  has  been  prepared  ;  through  this 
hole  and  a  hole  one  foot  long  in  the  "  second  "  wall — as  the  back  of  this  wall 
has  an  arch — is  inserted  a  pipe  of  iron  or  bronze,  in  which  are  fixed  the  nozzles 

"  bronze  age  "  prior  to  recorded  civilization,  starting  with  the  savage  who  accidentally 
built  a  fire  on  top  of  some  easily  reducible  ore,  and  discovered  metal  in  the  ashes,  etc.  ;  but 
as  this  method  has  been  pursued  times  out  of  number  to  no  particular  purpose,  we  will 
confine  ourselves  to  a  summary  of  such  facts  as  we  can  assemble.  "  Founders'  hoards  " 
of  the  bronze  age  are  scattered  over  Western  Europe,  and  indicate  that  smelting  was  done 
in  shallow  pits  with  charcoal.  With  the  Egyptians  we  find  occasional  inscriptions  showing 
small  furnaces  with  forced  draught,  in  early  cases  with  a  blow-pipe,  but  later — about  1500 
B.C. — with  bellows  also.  The  crucible  was  apparently  used  by  the  Egyptians  in  secondary 
melting,  such  remains  at  Mt.  Sinai  probably  dating  before  2000  B.C.  With  the  advent  of  the 
Prophets,  and  the  first  Greek  literature — gth  to  7th  century  B.C. — we  find  frequent  references 
to  bellows.  The  remains  of  smelting  appliances  at  Mt.  Laurion  (500-300  B.C.)  do  not  indicate 
much  advance  over  the  primitive  hearth  ;  however,  at  this  locality  we  do  find  evidence  of 
the  ability  to  separate  minerals  by  specific  gravity,  by  washing  crushed  ore  over  inclined 
surfaces  with  a  sort  of  buddle  attachment.  Stone  grinding-mills  were  used  to  crush  ore  from 
the  earliest  times  of  Mt.  Laurion  down  to  the  Middle  Ages.  About  the  beginning  of  the 
Christian  era  the  writings  of  Diodorus,  Strabo,  Dioscorides,  and  Pliny  indicate  considerable 
advance  in  appliances.  Strabo  describes  high  stacks  to  carry  off  lead  fumes ;  Dioscorides 
explains  a  furnace  with  a  dust-chamber  to  catch  pompholyx  (zinc  oxide) ;  Pliny  refers  to  the 
upper  and  lower  crucibles  (a  forehearth)  and  to  the  pillars  and  arches  of  the  furnaces.  From 
all  of  their  descriptions  we  may  conclude  that  the  furnaces  had  then  reached  some  size,  and 
were,  of  course,  equipped  with  bellows.  At  this  time  sulphide  copper  and  lead  ores  were 
smelted ;  but  as  to  fluxes,  except  lead  for  silver,  and  lead  and  soda  for  gold,  we  have  practically 
no  mention.  Charcoal  was  the  universal  fuel  for  smelting  down  to  the  i8th  century.  Both 
Dioscorides  and  Pliny  describe  a  distillation  apparatus  used  to  recover  quicksilver.  A  formid- 
able list  of  mineral  products  and  metal  alloys  in  use,  indicate  in  themselves  considerable 
apparatus,  of  the  details  of  which  we  have  no  indication ;  in  the  main  these  products  were 
lead  sulphide,  sulphate,  and  oxide  (red-lead  and  litharge) ;  zinc  oxide  ;  iron  sulphide,  oxide 
and  sulphate  ;  arsenic  and  antimony  sulphides  ;  mercury  sulphide,  sulphur,  bitumen,  soda, 
alum  and  potash, ;  and  of  the  alloys,  bronze,  brass,  pewter,  electrum  and  steel. 

From  this  period  to  the  period  of  the  awakening  of  learning  our  only  light  is  an 
occasional  gleam  from  Theophilus  and  the  Alchemists.  The  former  gave  a  more  detailed 
description  of  metallurgical  appliances  than  had  been  done  before,  but  there  is  little  vital 
change  apparent  from  the  apparatus  of  Roman  times.  The  Alchemists  gave  a  great  stimulus 
to  industrial  chemistry  in  the  discovery  of  the  mineral  acids,  and  described  distillation  apparatus 
of  approximately  modern  form. 

The  next  period — the  Renaissance — is  one  in  which  our  descriptions  are  for  the  first 
time  satisfactory,  and  a  discussion  would  be  but  a  review  of  De  Re  Metallica. 


356  BOOK    IX. 

of  the  bellows.  The  whole  of  the  front  furnace  wall  is  not  more  than  five  feet 
high,  so  that  the  ore  may  be  conveniently  put  into  the  furnace,  together  with 
those  things  which  the  master  needs  for  his  work  of  smelting.  Both  the  side 
walls  of  the  furnace  are  six  feet  high,  and  the  back  one  seven  feet,  and  they 
are  three  palms  thick.  The  interior  of  the  furnace  is  five  palms  wide,  six 
palms  and  a  digit  long,  the  width  being  measured  by  the  space  which  lies 
between  the  two  side  walls,  and  the  length  by  the  space  between  the  front  and 
the  back  walls  ;  however,  the  upper  part  of  the  furnace  widens  out  somewhat. 

There  are  two  doors  in  the  second  wall  if  there  are  six  furnaces,  one 
of  the  doors  being  between  the  second  and  third  furnaces  and  the  other 
between  the  fourth  and  fifth  furnaces.  They  are  a  cubit  wide  and  six  feet 
high,  in  order  that  the  smelters  may  not  have  mishaps  in  coming  and  going. 
It  is  necessary  to  have  a  door  to  the  right  of  the  first  furnace,  and  similarly 
one  to  the  left  of  the  last,  whether  the  wall  is  longer  or  not.  The  second 
wall  is  carried  further  when  the  rooms  for  the  cupellation  furnaces,  or  any 
other  building,  adjoin  the  rooms  for  the  blast  furnaces,  these  buildings  being 
only  divided  by  a  partition.  The  smelter,  and  the  ones  who  attend  to  the 
first  and  the  last  furnaces,  if  they  wish  to  look  at  the  bellows  or  to  do  anything 
else,  go  out  through  the  doors  at  the  end  of  the  wall,  and  the  other  people  go 
through  the  other  doors,  which  are  the  common  ones.  The  furnaces  are  placed 
at  a  distance  of  six  feet  from  one  another,  in  order  that  the  smelters  and  their 
assistants  may  more  easily  sustain  the  fierceness  of  the  heat.  Inasmuch  as 
the  interior  of  each  furnace  is  five  palms  wide  and  each  is  six  feet  distant 
from  the  other,  and  inasmuch  as  there  is  a  space  of  four  feet  three  palms  at 
the  right  side  of  the  first  furnace  and  as  much  at  the  left  side  of  the  last 
furnace,  and  there  are  to  be  six  furnaces  in  one  building,  then  it  is  necessary 
to  make  the  second  wall  fifty-two  feet  long  ;  because  the  total  of  the  widths 
of  all  of  the  furnaces  is  seven  and  a  half  feet,  the  total  of  the  spaces  between 
the  furnaces  is  thirty  feet,  the  space  on  the  outer  sides  of  the  first  and  last 
furnaces  is  nine  feet  and  two  palms,  and  the  thickness  of  the  two  transverse 
walls  is  five  feet,  which  make  a  total  measurement  of  fifty-two  feet.3 

Outside  each  furnace  hearth  there  is  a  small  pit  full  of  powder  which  is 
compressed  by  ramming,  and  in  this  manner  is  made  the  forehearth  which 
receives  the  metal  flowing  from  the  furnaces.  Of  this  I  will  speak  later. 

Buried  about  a  cubit  under  the  forehearth  and  the  hearth  of  the  furnace 
is  a  transverse  water-tank,  three  feet  long,  three  palms  wide  and  a  cubit  deep. 
It  is  made  of  stone  or  brick,  with  a  stone  cover,  for  if  it  were  not  covered,  the 
heat  would  draw  the  moisture  from  below  and  the  vapour  might  be  blown 
into  the  hearth  of  the  furnace  as  well  as  into  the  forehearth,  and  would 
dampen  the  blast.  The  moisture  would  vitiate  the  blast,  and  part  of  the 
metal  would  be  absorbed  and  part  would  be  mixed  with  the  slags,  and  in 
this  manner  the  melting  would  be  greatly  damaged.  From  each  water-tank 
is  built  a  walled  vent,  to  the  same  depth  as  the  tank,  but  six  digits  wide  ; 

*Agricola  has  here  either  forgotten  to  take  into  account  his  three-palm-thick  furnace 
walls,  which  will  make  the  length  of  this  long  wall  sixty-one  feet,  or  else  he  has  included  this 
foot  and  a  half  in  each  case  in  the  six-foot  distance  between  the  furnaces,  so  that  the  actual 
clear  space  is  only  four  and  a  half  feet  between  the  furnace  with  four  feet  on  the  ends. 


BOOK     IX. 


357 


A — FURNACES.    B — FOREHEARTHS. 


358 


BOOK    IX. 


this  vent  slopes  upward,  and  sooner  or  later  penetrates  through  to  the  other 
side  of  the  wall,  against  which  the  furnace  is  built.  At  the  end  of  this  vent 
there  is  an  opening  where  the  steam,  into  which  the  water  has  been  converted, 
is  exhausted  through  a  copper  or  iron  tube  or  pipe.  This  method  of  making 
the  tank  and  the  vent  is  much  the  best.  Another  kind  has  a  similar  vent 
but  a  different  tank,  for  it  does  not  lie  transversely  under  the  forehearth, 
but  lengthwise  ;  it  is  two  feet  and  a  palm  long,  and  a  foot  and  three  palms 
wide,  and  a  foot  and  a  palm  deep.  This  method  of  making  tanks  is  not 
condemned  by  us,  as  is  the  construction  of  those  tanks  without  a  vent ; 
the  latter,  which  have  no  opening  into  the  air  through  which  the  vapour  may 
discharge  freely,  are  indeed  to  be  condemned. 


A — FURNACES.     B — FOREHEARTH.     C — DOOR.    D — WATER     TANK.     E — STONE     WHICH 
COVERS  IT.     F — MATERIAL  OF  THE  VENT  WALLS.     G — STONE  WHICH  COVERS  IT.    H — PIPE 

EXHALING   THE   VAPOUR. 

Fifteen  feet  behind  the  second  wall  is  constructed  the  first  wall,  thirteen 
feet  high.     In  both  of  these  are  fixed  roof  beams4,  which  are  a  foot  wide  and 

*The  paucity  of  terms  in  Latin  for  describing  structural  members,  and  the  consequent 
repetition  of  "  beam  "  (trabs),  "  timber  "  (tignum),  "  billet  "  (tigillum),  "  pole  "  (asser), 
with  such  modifications  as  small,  large,  and  transverse,  and  with  long  explanatory  clauses 
showing  their  location,  renders  the  original  very  difficult  to  follow.  We  have,  therefore, 
introduced  such  terms  as  "  posts,"  "  tie-beams,"  "  sweeps,"  "  levers,"  "  rafters,"  "  sills," 
"  moulding,"  "  braces,"  "  cleats,"  "  supports,"  etc.,  as  the  context  demands. 


BOOK     IX. 


359 


360  BOOK    IX. 

thick,  and  nineteen  feet  and  a  palm  long ;  these  are  placed  three  feet  distant 
from  one  another.  As  the  second  wall  is  two  feet  higher  than  the  first  wall, 
recesses  are  cut  in  the  back  of  it  two  feet  high,  one  foot  wide,  and  a  palm  deep, 
and  in  these  recesses,  as  it  were  in  mortises,  are  placed  one  end  of  each  of 
the  beams.  Into  these  ends  are  mortised  the  bottoms  of  just  as  many  posts  ; 
these  posts  are  twenty-four  feet  high,  three  palms  wide  and  thick,  and  from 
the  tops  of  the  posts  the  same  number  of  rafters  stretch  downward  to  the 
ends  of  the  beams  superimposed  on  the  first  wall ;  the  upper  ends  of  the 
rafters  are  mortised  into  the  posts  and  the  lower  ends  are  mortised  into  the 
ends  of  the  beams  laid  on  the  first  wall ;  the  rafters  support  the  roof, 
which  consists  of  burnt  tiles.  Each  separate  rafter  is  propped  up  by  a 
separate  timber,  which  is  a  cross-beam,  and  is  joined  to  its  post.  Planks 
close  together  are  affixed  to  the  posts  above  the  furnaces  ;  these  planks  are 
about  two  digits  thick  and  a  palm  wide,  and  they,  together  with  the  wicker 
work  interposed  between  the  timbers,  are  covered  with  lute  so  that  there  may 
be  no  risk  of  fire  to  the  timbers  and  wicker-work.  In  this  practical  manner 
is  constructed  the  back  part  of  the  works,  which  contains  the  bellows,  their 
frames,  the  mechanism  for  compressing  the  bellows,  and  the  instrument  for 
distending  them,  of  all  of  which  I  will  speak  hereafter. 

In  front  of  the  furnaces  is  constructed  the  third  long  wall  and  likewise 
the  fourth.  Both  are  nine  feet  high,  but  of  the  same  length  and  thickness  as 
the  other  two,  the  fourth  being  nine  feet  distant  from  the  third  ;  the 
third  is  twenty-one  and  a  half  feet  from  the  second.  At  a  distance  of 
twelve  feet  from  the  second  wall,  four  posts  seven  and  a  half  feet  high,  a  cubit 
wide  and  thick,  are  set  upon  rock  laid  underneath.  Into  the  tops  of  the 
posts  the  roof  beam  is  mortised  ;  this  roof  beam  is  two  feet  and  as  many 
palms  longer  than  the  distance  between  the  second  and  the  fifth  transverse 
walls,  in  order  that  its  ends  may  rest  on  the  transverse  walls.  If  there  should 
not  be  so  long  a  beam  at  hand,  two  are  substituted  for  it.  As  the  length  of 
the  long  beam  is  as  above,  and  as  the  posts  are  equidistant,  it  is  necessary 
that  the  posts  should  be  a  distance  of  nine  feet,  one  palm,  two  and  two-fifths 
digits  from  each  other,  and  the  end  ones  this  distance  from  the  transverse 
walls.  On  this  longitudinal  beam  and  to  the  third  and  fourth  walls  are  fixed 
twelve  secondary  beams  twenty-four  feet  long,  one  foot  wide,  three  palms 
thick,  and  distant  from  each  other  three  feet,  one  palm,  and  two  digits.  In 
these  secondary  beams,  where  they  rest  on  the  longitudinal  beams,  are  mortised 
the  ends  of  the  same  number  of  rafters  as  there  are  posts  which  stand  on  the 
second  wall.  The  ends  of  the  rafters  do  not  reach  to  the  tops  of  the  posts, 
but  are  two  feet  away  from  them,  that  through  this  opening,  which  is  like 
the  open  part  of  a  forge,  the  furnaces  can  emit  their  fumes.  In  order  that 
the  rafters  should  not  fall  down,  they  are  supported  partly  by  iron  rods, 
which  extend  from  each  rafter  to  the  opposite  post,  and  partly  supported 
by  a  few  tie-beams,  which  in  the  same  manner  extend  from  some  rafters  to 
the  posts  opposite,  and  give  them  stability.  To  these  tie-beams,  as  well  as 
to  the  rafters  which  face  the  posts,  a  number  of  boards,  about  two  digits  thick 
and  a  palm  wide,  are  fixed  at  a  distance  of  a  palm  from  each  other,  and  are 


BOOK    IX. 


361 


covered  with  lute  so  that  they  do  not  catch  fire.  In  the  secondary  beams, 
where  they  are  laid  on  the  fourth  wall,  are  mortised  the  lower  ends  of  the 
same  number  of  rafters  as  those  in  a  set  of  rafters5  opposite  them.  From 
the  third  long  wall  these  rafters  are  joined  and  tied  to  the  ends  of  the  opposite 
rafters,  so  that  they  may  not  slip,  and  besides  they  are  strengthened  with 
substructures  which  are  made  of  cross  and  oblique  timbers.  The  rafters 
support  the  roof. 


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THE   FOUR  LONG   WAILS  :     A — FIRST.     B — SECOND.     C — THIRD.     D— FOURTH.    THE 

SEVEN    TRANSVERSE    WALLS  :       E — FlRST.          F — SECOND.          G — THIRD.  H — FOURTH. 

I — FIFTH.     K — SIXTH.    L — SEVENTH,  OR  MIDDLE. 

In  this  manner  the  front  part  of  the  building  is  made,  and  is  divided  into 
three  parts  ;  the  first  part  is  twelve  feet  wide  and  is  under  the  hood,  which 
consists  of  two  walls,  one  vertical  and  one  inclined.  The  second  part  is  the 
same  number  of  feet  wide  and  is  for  the  reception  of  the  ore  to  be  smelted, 
the  fluxes,  the  charcoal,  and  other  things  which  are  needed  by  the  smelter. 
The  third  part  is  nine  feet  wide  and  contains  two  separate  rooms  of  equal 
size,  in  one  of  which  is  the  assay  furnace,  while  the  other  contains  the  metal 
to  be  melted  in  the  cupellation  furnaces.  It  is  thus  necessary  that  in  the 


8This  set  of  rafters  appears  to  start  from  the  longitudinal  beam. 


362  BOOK    IX. 

building  there  should  be,  besides  the  four  long  walls,  seven  transverse  walls, 
of  which  the  first  is  constructed  from  the  upper  end  of  the  first  long  wall  to 
the  upper  end  of  the  second  long  wall ;  the  second  proceeds  from  the  end 
of  this  to  the  end  of  the  third  long  wall ;  the  third  likewise  from  this  end  of 
the  last  extends  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  long  wall ;  the  fourth  leads  from 
the  lower  end  of  the  first  long  wall  to  the  lower  end  of  the  second  long  wall ; 
the  fifth  extends  from  the  end  of  this  to  the  end  of  the  third  long  wall ;  the 
sixth  extends  from  this  last  end  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  long  wall ;  the 
seventh  divides  into  two  parts  the  space  between  the  third  and  fourth  long 
walls. 

To  return  to  the  back  part  of  the  building,  in  which,  as  I  said,  are  the 
bellows6,  their  frames,  the  machinery  for  compressing  them,  and  the  instru- 
ment for  distending  them.  Each  bellows  consists  of  a  body  and  a  head. 
The  body  is  composed  of  two  "  boards,"  two  bows,  and  two  hides.  The 
upper  board  is  a  palm  thick,  five  feet  and  three  palms  long,  and  two  and  a  half 
feet  wide  at  the  back  part,  where  each  of  the  sides  is  a  little  curved,  and  it  is 
a  cubit  wide  at  the  front  part  near  the  head.  The  whole  of  the  body  of  the 
bellows  tapers  toward  the  head.  That  which  we  now  call  the  "  board  " 
consists  of  two  pieces  of  pine,  joined  and  glued  together,  and  of  two  strips  of 
linden  wood  which  bind  the  edges  of  the  board,  these  being  seven  digits 
wide  at  the  back,  and  in  front  near  the  head  of  the  bellows  one  and  a  half 
digits  wide.  These  strips  are  glued  to  the  boards,  so  that  there  shall  be  less 
damage  from  the  iron  nails  driven  through  the  hide.  There  are  some  people 
who  do  not  surround  the  boards  with  strips,  but  use  boards  only,  which 
are  very  thick.  The  upper  board  has  an  aperture  and  a  handle  ;  the 
aperture  is  in  the  middle  of  the  board  and  is  one  foot  three  palms  distant 
from  where  the  board  joins  the  head  of  the  bellows,  and  is  six  digits  long  and 
four  wide.  The  lid  for  this  aperture  is  two  palms  and  a  digit  long  and' wide, 
and  three  digits  thick  ;  toward  the  back  of  the  lid  is  a  little  notch  cut 
into  the  surface  so  that  it  may  be  caught  by  the  hand  ;  a  groove  is  cut  out 
of  the  top  of  the  front  and  sides,  so  that  it  may  engage  in  mouldings  a  palm 
wide  and  three  digits  thick,  which  are  also  cut  out  in  a  similar  manner  under 
the  edges.  Now,  when  the  lid  is  drawn  forward  the  hole  is  closed,  and 
when  drawn  back  it  is  opened  ;  the  smelter  opens  the  aperture  a  little  so  that 
the  air  may  escape  from  the  bellows  through  it,  if  he  fears  the  hides  might  be 
burst  when  the  bellows  are  too  vigorously  and  quickly  inflated  ;  he,  however, 
closes  the  aperture  if  the  hides  are  ruptured  and  the  air  escapes.  Others 
perforate  the  upper  board  with  two  or  three  round  holes  in  the  same  place  as 
the  rectangular  one,  and  they  insert  plugs  in  them  which  they  draw  out 

•Devices  for  creating  an  air  current  must  be  of  very  old  invention,  for  it  is  impossible 
to  conceive  of  anything  but  the  crudest  melting  of  a  few  simple  ores  without  some  forced 
draft.  Wilkinson  (The  Ancient  Egyptians,  u,  p.  316)  gives  a  copy  of  an  illustration  of 
a  foot-bellows  from  a  tomb  of  the  time  of  Thothmes  m.  (1500  B.C.).  The  rest  of  the  world 
therefore,  probably  obtained  them  from  the  Egyptians.  They  are  mentioned  frequently  in 
the  Bible,  the  most  pointed  reference  to  metallurgical  purposes  being  Jeremiah  (vi,  29)  : 
"  The  bellows  are  burned,  the  lead  is  consumed  in  the  fire  ;  the  founder  melteth  in  vain  ;  for 
"  the  wicked  are  not  plucked  away."  Strabo  (vn,  3)  states  that  Ephorus  ascribed  the 
invention  of  bellows  to  Anacharsis — a  Thracian  prince  of  about  600  B.C. 


BOOK     IX.  363 

when  it  is  necessary.  The  wooden  handle  is  seven  palms  long,  or  even  longer, 
in  order  that  it  may  extend  outside  ;  one-half  of  this  handle,  two  palms 
wide  and  one  thick,  is  glued  to  the  end  of  the  board  and  fastened  with  pegs 
covered  with  glue  ;  the  other  half  projects  beyond  the  board,  and  is  rounded 
and  seven  digits  thick.  Besides  this,  to  the  handle  and  to  the  board  is  fixed 
a  cleat  two  feet  long,  as  many  palms  wide  and  one  palm  thick,  and  to  the  under 
side  of  the  same  board,  at  a  distance  of  three  palms  from  the  end,  is  fixed 
another  cleat  two  feet  long,  in  order  that  the  board  may  sustain  the  force 
of  distension  and  compression  ;  these  two  cleats  are  glued  to  the  board,  and 
are  fastened  to  it  with  pegs  covered  with  glue. 

The  lower  bellows-board,  like  the  upper,  is  made  of  two  pieces  of  pine 
and  of  two  strips  of  linden  wood,  all  glued  together  ;  it  is  of  the  same  width 
and  thickness  as  the  upper  board,  but  is  a  cubit  longer,  this  extension  being 
part  of  the  head  of  which  I  have  more  to  say  a  little  later.  This  lower  bellows- 
board  has  an  air-hole  and  an  iron  ring.  The  air-hole  is  about  a  cubit  distant 
from  the  posterior  end,  and  it  is  midway  between  the  sides  of  the  bellows- 
board,  and  is  a  foot  long  and  three  palms  wide  ;  it  is  divided  into  equal 
parts  by  a  small  rib  which  forms  part  of  the  board,  and  is  not  cut  from  it  ; 
this  rib  is  a  palm  long  and  one-third  of  a  digit  wide.  The  flap  of  the  air- 
hole is  a  foot  and  three  digits  long,  three  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide  ; 
it  is  a  thin  board  covered  with  goat  skin,  the  hairy  part  of  which  is  turned 
toward  the  ground.  There  is  fixed  to  ore  end  of  the  flap,  with  small  iron 
nails,  one-half  of  a  doubled  piece  of  leather  a  palm  wide  and  as  long  as  the 
flap  is  wide  ;  the  other  half  of  the  leather,  which  is  behind  the  flap,  is  twice 
perforated,  as  is  also  the  bellows-board,  and  these  perforations  are  seven 
digits  apart.  Passing  through  these  a  string  is  tied  on  the  under  side  of  the 
board ;  and  thus  the  flap  when  tied  to  the  board  does  not  fall  away.  In  this 
manner  are  made  the  flap  and  the  air-hole,  so  when  the  bellows  are  distended 
the  flap  opens,  when  compressed  it  closes.  At  a  distance  of  about  a  foot 
beyond  the  air-hole  a  slightly  elliptical  iron  ring,  two  palms  long  and  one 
wide,  is  fastened  by  means  of  an  iron  staple  to  the  under  part  of  the  bellows- 
board  ;  it  is  at  a  distance  of  three  palms  from  the  back  of  the  bellows.  In 
order  that  the  lower  bellows-board  may  remain  stationary,  a  wooden  bolt  is 
driven  into  the  ring,  after  it  penetrates  through  the  hole  in  the  transverse 
supporting  plank  which  forms  part  of  the  frame  for  the  bellows.  There  are 
some  who  dispense  with  the  ring  and  fasten  the  bellows-board  to  the  frame 
with  two  iron  screws  something  like  nails. 

The  bows  are  placed  between  the  two  boards  and  are  of  the  same  length 
as  the  upper  board.  They  are  both  made  of  four  pieces  of  linden  wood  three 
digits  thick,  of  which  the  two  long  ones  are  seven  digits  wide  at  the  back  and 
two  and  a  half  at  the  front  ;  the  third  piece,  which  is  at  the  back,  is  two 
palms  wide.  The  ends  of  the  bows  are  a  little  more  than  a  digit  thick,  and  are 
mortised  to  the  long  pieces,  and  both  having  been  bored  through,  wooden 
pegs  covered  with  glue  are  fixed  in  the  holes  ;  they  are  thus  joined  and  glued 
to  the  long  pieces.  Each  of  the  ends  is  bowed  (arcuatur)  to  meet  the  end  of 
the  long  part  of  the  bow,  whence  its  name  "  bow  "  originated.  The  fourth 


364  BOOK     IX. 

piece  keeps  the  ends  of  the  bow  distended,  and  is  placed  a  cubit  distant  from 
the  head  of  the  bellows  ;  the  ends  of  this  piece  are  mortised  into  the  ends 
of  the  bow  and  are  joined  and  glued  to  them  ;  its  length  without  the  tenons 
is  a  foot,  and  its  width  a  palm  and  two  digits.  There  are,  besides,  two  other 
very  small  pieces  glued  to  the  head  of  the  bellows  and  to  the  lower  board, 
and  fastened  to  them  by  wooden  pegs  covered  with  glue,  and  they  are  three 
palms  and  two  digits  long,  one  palm  high,  and  a  digit  thick,  one  half  being 
slightly  cut  away.  These  pieces  keep  the  ends  of  the  bow  away  from  the 
hole  in  the  bellows-head,  for  if  they  were  not  there,  the  ends,  forced  inward 
by  the  great  and  frequent  movement,  would  be  broken. 

The  leather  is  of  ox-hide  or  horse-hide,  but  that  of  the  ox  is  far  preferable 
to  that  of  the  horse.  Each  of  these  hides,  for  there  are  two,  is  three  and  a 
half  feet  wide  where  they  are  joined  at  the  back  part  of  the  bellows.  A 
long  leathern  thong  is  laid  along  each  of  the  bellows-boards  and  each  of  the 
bows,  and  fastened  by  T-shaped  iron  nails  five  digits  long  ;  each  of  the 
horns  of  the  nails  is  two  and  a  half  digits  long  and  half  a  digit  wide.  The 
hide  is  attached  to  the  bellows-boards  by  means  of  these  nails,  so  that  a  horn 
of  one  nail  almost  touches  the  horn  of  the  next ;  but  it  is  different  with  the 
bows,  for  the  hide  is  fastened  to  the  back  piece  of  the  bow  by  only  two  nails, 
and  to  the  two  long  pieces  by  four  nails.  In  this  practical  manner  they  put 
ten  nails  in  one  bow  and  the  same  number  in  the  other.  Sometimes  when  the 
smelter  is  afraid  that  the  vigorous  motion  of  the  bellows  may  pull  or  tear 
the  hide  from  the  bows,  he  also  fastens  it  with  little  strips  of  pine  by  means  of 
another  kind  of  nail,  but  these  strips  cannot  be  fastened  to  the  back  pieces  of 
the  bow,  because  these  are  somewhat  bent.  Some  people  do  not  fix  the 
hide  to  the  bellows-boards  and  bows  by  iron  nails,  but  by  iron  screws, 
screwed  at  the  same  time  through  strips  laid  over  the  hide.  This  method 
of  fastening  the  hide  is  less  used  than  the  other,  although  there  is  no  doubt 
that  it  surpasses  it  in  excellence. 

Lastly,  the  head  of  the  bellows,  like  the  rest  of  the  body,  consists  of  two 
boards,  and  of  a  nozzle  besides.  The  upper  board  is  one  cubit  long,  one  and  a 
half  palms  thick.  The  lower  board  is  part  of  the  whole  of  the  lower  bellows- 
board  ;  it  is  of  the  same  length  as  the  upper  piece,  but  a  palm  and  a  digit 
thick.  From  these  two  glued  together  is  made  the  head,  into  which,  when  it 
has  been  perforated,  the  nozzle  is  fixed.  The  back  part  of  the  head,  where 
it  is  attached  to  the  rest  of  the  bellows-body,  is  a  cubit  wide,  but  three  palms 
forward  it  becomes  two  digits  narrower.  Afterward  it  is  somewhat  cut 
away  so  that  the  front  end  may  be  rounded,  until  it  is  two  palms  and  as 
many  digits  in  diameter,  at  which  point  it  is  bound  with  an  iron  ring  three 
digits  wide. 

The  nozzle  is  a  pipe  made  of  a  thin  plate  of  iron  ;  the  diameter  in  front  is 
three  digits,  while  at  the  back,  where  it  is  encased  in  the  head  of  the  bellows, 
it  is  a  palm  high  and  two  palms  wide.  It  thus  gradually  widens  out,  especially 
at  the  back,  in  order  that  a  copious  wind  can  penetrate  into  it ;  the  whole 
nozzle  is  three  feet  long. 


BOOK    IX 


A — UPPER  BELLOWS-BOARD.     B — LOWER  BELLOWS-BOARD.     C — THE  TWO  PIECES  OF  WOOD 

OF  WHICH  EACH  CONSISTS.  D — POSTERIOR  ARCHED  PART  OF  EACH.  E — TAPERED  FRONT 
PART  OF  EACH.  F — PIECES  OF  LINDEN  WOOD.  G APERTURE  IN  THE  UPPER  BOARD. 

H — LID.     I — LITTLE  MOULDINGS  OF  WOOD.     K — HANDLE.    L — CLEAT  ON  THE  OUTSIDE. 

THE  CLEAT  INSIDE  I  AM  NOT  ABLE  TO  DEPICT.  M — INTERIOR  OF  THE  LOWER  BELLOWS- 
BOARD.  N — PART  OF  THE  HEAD.  O — AIR-HOLE.  P — SUPPORTING  BAR.  Q — FLAP. 
R — HIDE.  S — THONG.  T — EXTERIOR  OF  THE  LOWER  BOARD.  V — STAPLE.  X — RING. 
Y — Bow.  Z — ITS  LONG  PIECES.  AA — BACK  PIECE  OF  THE  BOW.  BB — THE  BOWED 
ENDS.  CC — CROSSBAR  DISTENDING  THE  BOW.  DD — THE  TWO  LITTLE  PIECES. 

EE— HIDE.  FF— NAIL.  GG — HORN  OF  THE  NAIL.  HH— A  SCREW.  II— LONG  THONG. 
KK — HEAD.  LL — ITS  LOWER  BOARD.  MM — ITS  UPPER  BOARD.  NN — NOZZLE. 
OO — THE  WHOLE  OF  THE  LOWER  BELLOWS-BOARD.  PP — THE  TWO  EXTERIOR  PLATES  OF 

THE    HEAD    HINGES.       QQ — THEIR    CURVED    PIECE.       RR — MIDDLE     PLATE    OF    THE    HEAD. 

SS — THE  TWO  OUTER  PLATES  OF  THE  UPPER  BELLOWS-BOARD.     TT — ITS  MIDDLE  PLATE. 

VV — LITTLE  AXLE.     XX — WHOLE  BELLOWS. 
26 


366  BOOK     IX. 

The  upper  bellows-board  is  joined  to  the  head  of  the  bellows  in  the 
following  way.  An  iron  plate7,  a  palm  wide  and  one  and  a  half  palms  long, 
is  first  fastened  to  the  head  at  a  distance  of  three  digits  from  the  end  ;  from 
this  plate  there  projects  a  piece  three  digits  long  and  two  wide,  curved 
in  a  small  circle.  The  other  side  has  a  similar  plate.  Then  in  the  same 
part  of  the  upper  board  are  fixed  two  other  iron  plates,  distant  two  digits 
from  the  edge,  each  of  which  are  six  digits  wide  and  seven  long  ;  in  each 
of  these  plates  the  middle  part  is  cut  away  for  a  little  more  than  three 
digits  in  length  and  for  two  in  depth,  so  that  the  curved  part  of  the  plates 
on  the  head  corresponding  to  them  may  fit  into  this  cut  out  part.  From 
both  sides  of  each  plate  there  project  pieces,  three  digits  long  and  two 
digits  wide,  similarly  curved  into  small  circles.  A  little  iron  pin  is  passed 
through  these  curved  pieces  of  the  plates,  like  a  little  axle,  so  that  the  upper 
board  of  the  bellows  may  turn  upon  it.  The  little  axle  is  six  digits  long  and  a 
little  more  than  a  digit  thick,  and  a  small  groove  is  cut  out  of  the  upper 
board,  where  the  plates  are  fastened  to  it,  in  such  a  manner  that  the  little  axle 
when  fixed  to  the  plates  may  not  fall  out.  Both  plates  fastened  to  the 
bellows-board  are  affixed  by  four  iron  nails,  of  which  the  heads  are  on  the 
inner  part  of  the  board,  whereas  the  points,  clinched  at  the  top,  are 
transformed  into  heads,  so  to  speak.  Each  of  the  other  plates  is  fastened 
to  the  head  of  the  bellows  by  means  of  a  nail  with  a  wide  head,  and  by  two 
other  nails  of  which  the  heads  are  on  the  edge  of  the  bellows-head.  Midway 
between  the  two  plates  on  the  bellows-board  there  remains  a  space  two 
palms  wide,  which  is  covered  by  an  iron  plate  fastened  to  the  board  by 
little  nails  ;  and  another  plate  corresponding  to  this  is  fastened  to  the  head 
between  the  other  two  plates  ;  they  are  two  palms  and  the  same  number 
of  digits  wide. 

The  hide  is  common  to  the  head  as  to  all  the  other  parts  of  the -body  ; 
the  plates  are  covered  with  it,  as  well  as  the  front  part  of  the  upper  bellows- 
board,  and  both  the  bows  and  the  back  of  the  head  of  the  bellows,  so  that  the 
wind  may  not  escape  from  that  part  of  the  bellows.  It  is  three  palms  and  as 
many  digits  wide,  and  long  enough  to  extend  from  one  of  the  sides  of  the 
lower  board  over  the  back  of  the  upper  ;  it  is  fastened  by  many  T-headed 
nails  on  one  side  to  the  upper  board,  and  on  the  other  side  to  the  head  of 
the  bellows,  and  both  ends  are  fastened  to  the  lower  bellows-board. 

In  the  above  manner  the  bellows  is  made.  As  two  are  required  for  each 
furnace,  it  is  necessary  to  have  twelve  bellows,  if  there  are  to  be  six  furnaces 
in  one  works. 

Now  it  is  time  to  describe  their  framework.  First,  two  sills  a  little 
shorter  than  the  furnace  wall  are  placed  on  the  ground.  The  front  one  of 
these  is  three  palms  wide  and  thick,  and  the  back  one  three  palms  and  two 
digits.  The  front  one  is  two  feet  distant  from  the  back  wall  of  the  furnace,  and 
the  back  one  is  six  feet  three  palms  distant  from  the  front  one.  They  are  set  into 
the  earth,  that  they  may  remain  firm  ;  there  are  some  who  accomplish  this  by 
means  of  pegs  which,  through  several  holes,  penetrate  deeply  into  the  ground. 

7This  whole  arrangement  could  be  summarized  by  the  word  "  hinge." 


BOOK     IX.  367 

Then  twelve  short  posts  are  erected,  whose  lower  ends  are  mortised  into 
the  sill  that  is  near  the  back  of  the  furnace  wall ;  these  posts  are  two  feet 
high,  exclusive  of  the  tenons,  and  are  three  palms  and  the  same  number  of 
digits  wide,  and  two  palms  thick.  A  slot  one  and  a  half  palms  wide  is  cut 
through  them,  beginning  two  palms  from  the  bottom  and  extending  for  a 
height  of  three  palms.  All  the  posts  are  not  placed  at  the  same  intervals,  the 
first  being  at  a  distance  of  three  feet  five  digits  from  the  second,  and  likewise 
the  third  from  the  fourth,  but  the  second  is  two  feet  one  palm  and  three 
digits  from  the  third  ;  the  intervals  between  the  other  posts  are  arranged  in 
the  same  manner,  equal  and  unequal,  of  which  each  four  pertain  to  two 
furnaces.  The  upper  ends  of  these  posts  are  mortised  into  a  transverse 
beam  which  is  twelve  feet,  two  palms,  and  three  digits  long,  and  projects 
five  digits  beyond  the  first  post  and  to  the  same  distance  beyond  the  fourth  ; 
it  is  two  palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits  wide,  and  two  palms  thick. 
Since  each  separate  transverse  beam  supports  four  bellows,  it  is  necessary  to 
have  three  of  them. 

Behind  the  twelve  short  posts  the  same  number  of  higher  posts  are 
erected,  of  which  each  has  the  middle  part  of  the  lower  end  cut  out,  so  that 
its  two  resulting  lower  ends  are  mortised  into  the  back  sill ;  these  posts, 
exclusive  of  the  tenons,  are  twelve  feet  and  two  palms  high,  and  are  five  palms 
wide  and  two  palms  thick.  They  are  cut  out  from  the  bottom  upward,  the 
slot  being  four  feet  and  five  digits  high  and  six  digits  wide.  The  upper  ends  of 
these  posts  are  mortised  into  a  long  beam  imposed  upon  them  ;  this  long 
beam  is  placed  close  under  the  timbers  which  extend  from  the  wall  at  the 
back  of  the  furnace  to  the  first  long  wall ;  the  beam  is  three  palms  wide 
and  two  palms  thick,  and  forty-three  feet  long.  If  such  a  long  one  is 
not  at  hand,  two  or  three  may  be  substituted  for  it,  which  when  joined  together 
make  up  that  length.  These  higher  posts  are  not  placed  at  equal  distances, 
but  the  first  is  at  a  distance  of  two  feet  three  palms  one  digit  from  the  second, 
and  the  third  is  at  the  same  distance  from  the  fourth  ;  while  the  second  is  at  a 
distance  of  one  foot  three  palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits  from  the 
third,  and  in  the  same  manner  the  rest  of  the  posts  are  arranged  at  equal 
and  unequal  intervals.  Moreover,  there  is  in  every  post,  where  it  faces  the 
shorter  post,  a  mortise  at  a  foot  and  a  digit  above  the  slot ;  in  these  mortises 
of  the  four  posts  is  tenoned  a  timber  which  itself  has  four  mortises.  Tenons 
are  enclosed  in  mortises  in  order  that  they  may  be  better  joined,  and  they 
are  transfixed  with  wooden  pins.  This  timber  is  thirteen  feet  three  palms 
one  digit  long,  and  it  projects  beyond  the  first  post  a  distance  of  two  palms 
and  two  digits,  and  to  the  same  number  of  palms  and  digits  beyond  the 
fourth  post.  It  is  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide,  and  also  two  palms 
thick.  As  there  are  twelve  posts  it  is  necessary  to  have  three  timbers  of  this 
kind. 

On  each  of  these  timbers,  and  on  each  of  the  cross-beams  which  are  laid 
upon  the  shorter  posts,  are  placed  four  planks,  each  nine  feet  long,  two  palms 
three  digits  wide,  and  two  palms  one  digit  thick.  The  first  plank  is  five  feet 
one  palm  one  digit  distant  from  the  second,  at  the  front  as  well  as  at  the  back, 


368 


BOOK    IX. 


for  each  separate  plank  is  placed  outside  of  the  posts.  The  third  is  at  the 
same  distance  from  the  fourth,  but  the  second  is  one  foot  and  three  digits 
distant  from  the  third.  In  the  same  manner  the  rest  of  the  eight  planks  are 
arranged  at  intervals,  the  fifth  from  the  sixth  and  the  seventh  from  the  eighth 
are  at  the  same  distances  as  the  first  from  the  second  and  the  third  from  the 
fourth  ;  the  sixth  is  at  the  same  distance  from  the  seventh  as  the  second 
from  the  third. 

Two  planks  support  one  transverse  plank  six  feet  long,  one  foot  wide,  one 
palm  thick,  placed  at  a  distance  of  three  feet  and  two  palms  from  the  back 
posts.  When  there  are  six  of  these  supporting  planks,  on  each  separate  one 
are  placed  two  bellows  ;  the  lower  bellows-boards  project  a  palm  beyond 
them.  From  each  of  the  bellows-boards  an  iron  ring  descends  through  a  hole 
in  its  supporting  plank,  and  a  wooden  peg  is  driven  into  the  ring,  so  that  the 
bellows-board  may  remain  stationary,  as  I  stated  above. 

The  two  bellows  communicate,  each  by  its  own  plank,  to  the  back  of  a 
copper  pipe  in  which  are  set  both  of  the  nozzles,  and  their  ends  are  tightly 


A — FRONT  SILL.       B— BACK  SILL.      C — FRONT  POSTS.      D— THEIR  SLOTS.       E — BEAM 

IMPOSED    UPON    THEM.       F — HIGHER  POSTS.       G — THEIR   SLOTS.       H — BEAM  IMPOSED   UPON 

THEM.    I — TIMBER  JOINED  IN  THE  MORTISES  OF  THE  POSTS.   K — PLANKS.    L — TRANSVERSE 

SUPPORTING  PLANKS.       M — THE  HOLES  IN  THEM.       N— PlPE.       0 — ITS  FRONT  END.       P — ITS 

REAR    END 


BOOK    IX.  369 

fastened  in  it.  The  pipe  is  made  of  a  rolled  copper  or  iron  plate,  a  foot  and 
two  palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits  long  ;  the  plate  is  half  a  digit 
thick,  but  a  digit  thick  at  the  back.  The  interior  of  the  pipe  is  three  digits 
wide,  and  two  and  a  half  digits  high  in  the  front,  for  it  is  not  absolutely  round  ; 
and  at  the  back  it  is  a  foot  and  two  palms  and  three  digits  in  diameter.  The 
plate  from  which  the  pipe  is  made  is  not  entirely  joined  up,  but  at  the  front 
there  is  left  a  crack  half  a  digit  wide,  increasing  at  the  back  to  three  digits. 
This  pipe  is  placed  in  the  hole  in  the  furnace,  which,  as  I  said,  was  in  the 
middle  of  the  wall  and  the  arch.  The  nozzles  of  the  bellows,  placed  in  this 
pipe,  are  a  distance  of  five  digits  from  its  front  end. 

The  levers  are  of  the  same  number  as  the  bellows,  and  when  depressed 
by  the  cams  of  the  long  axle  they  compress  the  bellows.  These  levers 
are  eight  feet  three  palms  long,  one  palm  wide  and  thick,  and  the  ends  are 
inserted  in  the  slots  of  the  posts  ;  they  project  beyond  the  front  posts  to  a 
distance  of  two  palms,  and  the  same  distance  beyond  the  back  posts  in  order 
that  each  may  have  its  end  depressed  by  its  two  cams  on  the  axle.  The 
cams  not  only  penetrate  into  the  slots  of  the  back  posts,  but  project  three 
digits  beyond  them.  An  iron  pin  is  set  in  round  holes  made  through  both 
sides  of  the  slot  of  each  front  post,  at  three  palms  and  as  many  digits  from  the 
bottom  ;  the  pin  penetrates  the  lever,  which  turns  about  it  when  depressed 
or  raised.  The  back  of  the  lever  for  the  length  of  a  cubit  is  a  palm  and  a 
digit  wider  than  the  rest,  and  is  perforated  ;  in  this  hole  is  engaged  a  bar 
six  feet  and  two  palms  long,  three  digits  wide,  and  about  one  and  one-half 
digits  thick  ;  it  is  somewhat  hooked  at  the  upper  end,  and  approaches  the 
handle  of  the  bellows.  Under  the  lever  there  is  a  nail,  which  penetrates 
through  a  hole  in  the  bar,  so  that  the  lever  arid  bar  may  move  together.  The 
bar  is  perforated  in  the  upper  end  at  a  distance  of  six  digits  from  the  top  ; 
this  hole  is  two  palms  long  and  a  digit  wide,  and  in  it  is  engaged  the  hook  of 
an  iron  implement  which  is  a  digit  thick.  At  the  upper  part  this  implement 
has  either  a  round  or  square  opening,  like  a  link,  and  at  the  lower  end  is 
hooked  ;  the  link  is  two  digits  high  and  wide  and  the  hook  is  three  digits  long  ; 
the  middle  part  between  the  link  and  the  hook  is  three  palms  and  two 
digits  long.  The  link  of  this  implement  engages  either  the  handle  of  the 
bellows,  or  else  a  large  ring  which  does  engage  it.  This  iron  ring  is  a  digit  thick, 
two  palms  wide  on  the  inside  of  the  upper  part,  and  two  digits  in  the 
lower  part,  and  this  iron  ring,  not  unlike  the  first  one,  engages  the 
handle  of  the  bellows.  The  iron  ring  either  has  its  narrower  part  turned 
upward,  and  in  it  is  engaged  the  ring  of  another  iron  implement,  similar 
to  the  first,  whose  hook,  extending  upward,  grips  the  rope  fastened  to  the 
iron  ring  holding  the  end  of  the  second  lever,  of  which  I  will  speak 
presently  ;  or  else  the  iron  ring  grips  this  lever,  and  then  in  its  hook  is 
engaged  the  ring  of  the  other  implement  whose  ring  engages  the  handle  of  the 
bellows,  and  in  this  case  the  rope  is  dispensed  with. 

Resting  on  beams  fixed  in  the  two  walls  is  a  longitudinal  beam,  at  a 
distance  of  four  and  a  half  feet  from  the  back  posts  ;  it  is  two  palms  wide, 


370 


BOOK    IX. 


A — LEVER  WHICH  WHEN  DEPRESSED  BY  MEANS  OF  A  CAM  COMPRESSES  THE  BELLOWS. 
B — SLOTS  THROUGH  THE  POSTS.     C — BAR.     D — IRON  IMPLEMENT  WITH  A  RECTANGULAR 

LINK.       E — IRON  INSTRUMENT  WITH  ROUND  RING.       F — HANDLE  OF  BELLOWS.       G — UPPER 

POST.     H — UPPER   LEVER.     I — Box   WITH    EQUAL   SIDES.     K — Box    NARROW   AT   THE 
BOTTOM.     L — PEGS  DRIVEN  INTO  THE  UPPER  LEVER. 

one  and  a  half  palms  thick.  There  are  mortised  into  this  longitudinal  beam 
the  lower  ends  of  upper  posts  three  palms  wide  and  two  thick,  which  are  six 
feet  two  palms  high,  exclusive  of  their  tenons.  The  upper  ends  of  these 
posts  are  mortised  into  an  upper  longitudinal  beam,  which  lies  close  under 
the  rafters  of  the  building  ;  this  upper  longitudinal  beam  is  two  palms 
wide  and  one  thick.  The  upper  posts  have  a  slot  cut  out  upward  from  a 
point  two  feet  from  the  bottom,  and  the  slot  is  two  feet  high  and  six  digits 
wide.  Through  these  upper  posts  a  round  hole  is  bored  from  one  side  to 
the  other  at  a  point  three  feet  one  palm  from  the  bottom,  and  a  small  iron  axle 
penetrates  through  the  hole  and  is  fastened  there.  Around  this  small  iron 
axle  turns  the  second  lever  when  it  is  depressed  and  raised.  This  lever  is 
eight  feet  long,  and  its  other  end  is  three  digits  wider  than  the  rest  of  the 
lever  ;  at  this  widest  point  is  a  hole  two  digits  wide  and  three  high,  in  which 
is  fixed  an  iron  ring,  to  which  is  tied  the  rope  I  have  mentioned  ;  it  is  five 
palms  long,  its  upper  loop  is  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide,  and  the 


BOOK    IX.  371 

lower  one  is  one  palm  one  digit  wide.  This  half  of  the  second  lever,  the  end 
of  which  I  have  just  mentioned,  is  three  palms  high  and  one  wide  ;  it  projects 
three  feet  beyond  the  slot  of  the  post  on  which  it  turns  ;  the  other  end,  which 
faces  the  back  wall  of  the  furnaces,  is  one  foot  and  a  palm  high  and  a  foot  wide. 

On  this  part  of  the  lever  stands  and  is  fixed  a  box  three  and  a  half  feet 
long,  one  foot  and  one  palm  wide,  and  half  a  foot  deep  ;  but  these  measure- 
ments vary  ;  sometimes  the  bottom  of  this  box  is  narrower,  sometimes 
equal  in  width  to  the  top.  In  either  case,  it  is  filled  with  stones  and  earth 
to  make  it  heavy,  but  the  smelters  have  to  be  on  their  guard  and 
make  provision  against  the  stones  falling  out,  owing  to  the  constant 
motion  ;  this  is  prevented  by  means  of  an  iron  band  which  is  placed  over 
the  top,  both  ends  being  wedge-shaped  and  driven  into  the  lever  so  that  the 
stones  can  be  held  in.  Some  people,  in  place  of  the  box,  drive  four  or  more 
pegs  into  the  lever  and  put  mud  between  them,  the  required  amount  being 
added  to  the  weight  or  taken  away  from  it. 

There  remains  to  be  considered  the  method  of  using  this  machine.  The 
lower  lever,  being  depressed  by  the  cams,  compresses  the  bellows,  and  the 
compression  drives  the  air  through  the  nozzle.  Then  the  weight  of  the  box 
on  the  other  end  of  the  upper  lever  raises  the  upper  bellows-board,  and  the 
air  is  drawn  in,  entering  through  the  air-hole. 

The  machine  whose  cams  depress  the  lower  lever  is  made  as  follows. 
First  there  is  an  axle,  on  whose  end  outside  the  building  is  a  water-wheel ; 
at  the  other  end,  which  is  inside  the  building,  is  a  drum  made  of  rundles. 
This  drum  is  composed  of  two  double  hubs,  a  foot  apart,  which  are  five  digits 
thick,  the  radius  all  round  being  a  foot  and  two  digits  ;  but  they  are  double, 
because  each  hub  is  composed  of  two  discs,  equally  thick,  fastened  together 
with  wooden  pegs  glued  in.  These  hubs  are  sometimes  covered  above  and 
around  by  iron  plates.  The  rundles  are  thirty  in  number,  a  foot  and  two 
palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits  long,  with  each  end  fastened  into  a  hub  ; 
they  are  rounded,  three  digits  in  diameter,  and  the  same  number  of  digits 
apart.  In  this  practical  manner  is  made  the  drum  composed  of  rundles. 

There  is  a  toothed  wheel,  two  palms  and  a  digit  thick,  on  the  end 
of  another  axle  ;  this  wheel  is  composed  of  a  double  disc8.  The  inner  disc 
is  composed  of  four  segments  a  palm  thick,  everywhere  two  palms  and  a 
digit  wide.  The  outer  disc,  like  the  inner,  is  made  of  four  segments,  and  is 
a  palm  and  a  digit  thick  ;  it  is  not  equally  wide,  but  where  the  head  of  the 
spokes  are  inserted  it  is  a  foot  and  a  palm  and  digit  wide,  while  on  each  side 
of  the  spokes  it  becomes  a  little  narrower,  until  the  narrowest  part  is  only 
two  palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits  wide.  The  outer  segments  are  joined 
to  the  inner  ones  in  such  a  manner  that,  on  the  one  hand,  an  outer  segment 
ends  in  the  middle  of  an  inner  one,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  ends  of  the 
inner  segments  are  joined  in  the  middle  of  the  outer  ones  ;  there  is  no  doubt 
that  by  this  kind  of  joining  the  wheel  is  made  stronger.  The  outer  segments 
are  fastened  to  the  inner  by  means  of  a  large  number  of  wooden  pegs.  Each 

8The  rim  of  this  wheel  is  obviously  made  of  segments  fixed  in  two  layers  ;   the  "  disc  " 
meaning  the  aggregate  of  segments  on  either  side  of  the  wheel. 


372 


BOOK    IX. 


.\.\.\^\.\.\. 


A — AXLE.     B — WATER-WHEEL.     C — DRUM  COMPOSED  OF  RUNDLES.    D — OTHER  AXLE. 
E— TOOTHED  WHEEL.     F — ITS  SPOKES.     G— ITS  SEGMENTS.     H — ITS  TEETH.    I — CAMS 

OF   THE    AXLE. 

segment,  measured  over  its  round  back,  is  four  feet  and  three  palms  long. 
There  are  four  spokes,  each  two  palms  wide  and  a  palm  and  a  digit  thick ;  their 
length,  excluding  the  tenons,  being  two  feet  and  three  digits.  One  end  of  the 
spoke  is  mortised  into  the  axle,  where  it  is  firmly  fastened  with  pegs  ;  the 
wide  part  of  the  other  end,  in  the  shape  of  a  triangle,  is  mortised  into  the 
outer  segment  opposite  it,  keeping  the  shape  of  the  same  as  far  as  the  segment 
ascends.  They  also  are  joined  together  with  wooden  pegs  glued  in,  and  these 
pegs  are  driven  into  the  spokes  under  the  inner  disc.  The  parts  of  the  spokes 
in  the  shape  of  the  triangle  are  on  the  inside  ;  the  outer  part  is  simple.  This 
triangle  has  two  sides  equal,  the  erect  ones  as  is  evident,  which  are  a  palm 
long  ;  the  lower  side  is  not  of  the  same  length,  but  is  five  digits  long,  and  a 
mortise  of  the  same  shape  is  cut  out  of  the  segments.  The  wheel  has  sixty 
teeth,  since  it  is  necessary  that  the  rundle  drum  should  revolve  twice  while 
the  toothed  wheel  revolves  once.  The  teeth  are  a  foot  long,  and  project  one 
palm  from  the  inner  disc  of  the  wheel,  and  three  digits  from  the  outer  disc ; 


BOOK     IX. 


373 


they  are  a  palm  wide  and  two  and  a  half  digits  thick,  and  it  is  necessary 
that  they  should  be  three  digits  apart,  as  were  the  rundles. 

The  axle  should  have  a  thickness  in  proportion  to  the  spokes  and  the 
segments.  As  it  has  two  cams  to  depress  each  of  the  levers,  it  is  necessary  that 
it  should  have  twenty-four  cams,  which  project  beyond  it  a  foot  and  a  palm  and 
a  digit.  The  cams  are  of  almost  semicircular  shape,  of  which  the  widest  part  is 
three  palms  and  a  digit  wide,  and  they  are  a  palm  thick ;  they  are 
distributed  according  to  the  four  sides  of  the  axle,  on  the  upper,  the  lower 
and  the  two  lateral  sides.  The  axle  has  twelve  holes,  of  which  the  first 
penetrates  through  from  the  upper  side  to  the  lower,  the  second  from  one 
lateral  side  to  the  other  ;  the  first  hole  is  four  feet  two  palms  distant  from 
the  second  ;  each  alternate  one  of  these  holes  is  made  in  the  same  direc- 
tion, and  they  are  arranged  at  equal  intervals.  Each  single  cam  must 
be  opposite  another  ;  the  first  is  inserted  into  the  upper  part  of  the  first 
hole,  the  second  into  the  lower  part  of  the  same  hole,  and  so  fixed  by 
pegs  that  they  do  not  fall  out ;  the  third  cam  is  inserted  into  that  part 
of  the  second  hole  which  is  on  the  right  side,  and  the  fourth  into  that 
part  on  the  left.  In  like  manner  all  the  cams  are  inserted  into  the  consecutive 
holes,  for  which  reason  it  happens  that  the  cams  depress  the  levers  of  the 


A — CHARCOAL.     B — MORTAR-BOX.     C — STAMPS. 


374 


BOOK    IX. 


bellows  in  rotation.  Finally  we  must  not  omit  to  state  that  this  is  only  one 
of  many  such  axles  having  cams  and  a  water-wheel. 

I  have  arrived  thus  far  with  many  words,  and  yet  it  is  not  unseasonable 
that  I  have  in  this  place  pursued  the  subject  minutely,  since  the  smelting  of  all 
the  metals,  to  which  I  am  about  to  proceed,  could  not  be  undertaken  without 
it. 

The  ores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  lead,  are  smelted  in  a  furnace  by 
four  different  methods.  The  first  method  is  for  the  rich  ores  of  gold  or  silver, 
the  second  for  the  mediocre  ores,  the  third  for  the  poor  ores,  and  the  fourth 
method  is  for  those  ores  which  contain  copper  or  lead,  whether  they  contain 
precious  metals  or  are  wanting  in  them.  The  smelting  of  the  first  ores  is 
performed  in  the  furnace  of  which  the  tap-hole  is  intermittently  closed  ;  the 
other  three  ores  are  melted  in  furnaces  of  which  the  tap-holes  are  always 
open. 

First,  I  will  speak  of  the  manner  in  which  the  furnaces  are  prepared  for 
the  smelting  of  the  ores,  and  of  the  first  method  of  smelting.  The  powder 
from  which  the  hearth  and  forehearth  should  be  made  is  composed  of  char- 
coal and  earth  (clay  ?).  The  charcoal  is  crushed  by  the  stamps  in  a  mortar- 
box,  the  front  of  which  is  closed  by  a  board  at  the  top,  while  the  charcoal, 


A — TUB.     B— SIEVE.     C — RODS.    D — BENCH-FRAME. 


BOOK    IX. 


375 


crushed  to  powder,  is  removed  through  the  open  part  below  ;  the  stamps  are 
not  shod  with  iron,  but  are  made  entirely  of  wood,  although  at  the  lower 
part  they  are  bound  round  at  the  wide  part  by  an  iron  band. 

The  powder  into  which  the  charcoal  is  crushed  is  thrown  on  to  a  sieve 
whose  bottom  consists  of  interwoven  withes  of  wood.  The  sieve  is  drawn 
backward  and  forward  over  two  wooden  or  iron  rods  placed  in  a  triangular 
position  on  a  tub,  or  over  a  bench-frame  set  on  the  floor  of  the  building  ; 
the  powder  which  falls  into  the  tub  or  on  to  the  floor  is  of  suitable  size, 
but  the  pieces  of  small  charcoal  which  remain  hi  the  sieve  are  emptied  out 
and  thrown  back  under  the  stamps. 

When  the  earth  is  dug  up  it  is  first  exposed  to  the  sun  that  it  may  dry. 
Later  on  it  is  thrown  with  a  shovel  on  to  a  screen — set  up  obliquely  and 
supported  by  poles, — made  of  thick,  loosely  woven  hazel  withes,  and  in  this 
way  the  fine  earth  and  its  small  lumps  pass  through  the  holes  of  the  screen,  but 
the  clods  and  stones  do  not  pass  through,  but  run  down  to  the  ground.  The 
earth  which  passes  through  the  screen  is  conveyed  in  a  two-wheeled  cart  to 
the  works  and  there  sifted.  This  sieve,  which  is  not  dissimilar  to  the  one 


A— SCREEN.     B — POLES.      C— SHOVEL.      D— TWO-WHEELED    CART.      E — HAND-SIEVE. 
F — NARROW  BOARDS.    G — Box.     H — COVERED  PIT. 


376 


BOOK    IX 


described  above,  is  drawn  backward  and  forward  upon  narrow  boards  of 
equal  length  placed  over  a  long  box  ;  the  powder  which  falls  through  the 
sieve  into  the  box  is  suitable  for  the  mixture  ;  the  lumps  that  remain  in  the 
sieve  are  thrown  away  by  some  people,  but  by  others  they  are  placed  under 
the  stamps.  This  powdered  earth  is  mixed  with  powdered  charcoal,  moist- 
ened, and  thrown  into  a  pit,  and  in  order  that  it  may  remain  good  for  a  long 
time,  the  pit  is  covered  up  with  boards  so  that  the  mixture  may  not 
become  contaminated. 

They  take  two  parts  of  pulverised  charcoal  and  one  part  of  powdered 
earth,  and  mix  them  well  together  with  a  rake  ;  the  mixture  is  moistened  by 
pouring  water  over  it  so  that  it  may  easily  be  made  into  shapes  resembling 
snowballs  ;  if  the  powder  be  light  it  is  moistened  with  more  water,  if  heavy 
with  less.  The  interior  of  the  new  furnace  is  lined  with  lute,  so  that  the 
cracks  in  the  walls,  if  there  are  any,  may  be  filled  up,  but  especially  in  order 
to  preserve  the  rock  from  injury  by  fire.  In  old  furnaces  in  which  ore  has 
been  melted,  as  soon  as  the  rocks  have  cooled  the  assistant  chips  away,  with 
a  spatula,  the  accretions  which  adhere  to  the  walls,  and  then  breaks  them 
up  with  an  iron  hoe  or  a  rake  with  five  teeth.  The  cracks  of  the  furnace  are 
first  filled  in  with  fragments  of  rock  or  brick,  which  he  does  by  passing  his 
hand  into  the  furnace  through  its  mouth,  or  else,  having  placed  a  ladder  against 
it,  he  mounts  by  the  rungs  to  the  upper  open  part  of  the  furnace.  To  the 
upper  part  of  the  ladder  a  board  is  fastened  that  he  may  lean  and  recline 
against  it.  Then  standing  on  the  same  ladder,  with  a  wooden  spatula,  he 
smears  the  furnace  walls  over  with  lute  ;  this  spatula  is  four  feet  long,  a  digit 
thick,  and  for  a  foot  upward  from  the  bottom  it  is  a  palm  wide,  or  even 
wider,  generally  two  and  a  half  digits.  He  spreads  the  lute  equally  over  the 
inner  walls  of  the  furnace.  The  mouth  of  the  copper  pipe9  should  not  pro- 
trude from  the  lute,  lest  sows10  form  round  about  it  and  thus  impede  the 
melting,  for  the  furnace  bellows  could  not  force  a  blast  through  them.  Then 
the  same  assistant  throws  a  little  powdered  charcoal  into  the  pit  of  the  fore- 
hearth  and  sprinkles  it  with  pulverised  earth.  Afterward,  with  a  bucket 
he  pours  water  into  it  and  sweeps  this  all  over  the  forehearth  pit,  and  with  the 
broom  drives  the  turbid  water  into  the  furnace  hearth  and  likewise  sweeps 
it  out.  Next  he  throws  the  mixed  and  moistened  powder  into  the  furnace, 
and  then  a  second  time  mounting  the  steps  of  the  ladder,  he  introduces  the 
rammer  into  the  furnace  and  pounds  the  powder  so  that  the  hearth  is  made 
solid.  The  rammer  is  rounded  and  three  palms  long  ;  at  the  bottom  it  is  five 
digits  in  diameter,  at  the  top  three  and  a  half,  therefore  it  is  made  in  the  form 
of  a  truncated  cone  ;  the  handle  of  the  rammer  is  round  and  five  feet  long  and 

9It  has  not  been  considered  necessary  to  introduce  the  modern  term  twyer  in  these  des- 
criptions, as  the  literal  rendering  is  sufficiently  clear. 

l°Ferruminala.  These  accretions  are  practically  always  near  the  hearth,  and  would 
correspond  to  English  "  sows,"  and  therefore  that  term  has  been  adopted.  It  will  be  noted 
that,  like  most  modern  metallurgists,  Agricola  offers  no  method  for  treating  them.  Pliny 
(xxxiv,  37)  describes  a  "  sow,"  and  uses  the  verb  ferruminare  (to  weld  or  solder)  :  "  Some 
"  say  that  in  the  furnace  there  are  certain  masses  of  stone  which  become  soldered  together, 
"  and  that  the  copper  fuses  around  it,  the  mass  not  becoming  liquid  unless  it  is  transferred 
"  to  another  furnace  ;  it  thus  forms  a  sort  of  knot,  as  it  were,  of  the  metal." 


BOOK     IX 


377 


A — FURNACE.  B — LADDER.  C — BOARD  FIXED  TO  IT.  D — HOE.  E — FIVE- 
TOOTHED  RAKE.  F — WOODEN  SPATULA.  G — BROOM.  H — RAMMER.  I — RAMMER,  SAME 

DIAMETER.       K — TWO    WOODEN    SPATULAS.      L — CURVED     BLADE.      M — BRONZE     RAMMER. 

N — ANOTHER  BRONZE   RAMMER.    O — WIDE  SPATULA.     P — ROD.    Q — WICKER  BASKET. 

R — TWO  BUCKETS  OF  LEATHER  IN  WHICH  WATER  IS  CARRIED  FOR  PUTTING  OUT  A  CON- 
FLAGRATION, SHOULD  THE  offitino,  CATCH  FIRE.  S — BRASS  PUMP  WITH  WHICH  THE  WATER 
IS  SQUIRTED  OUT.  T — TWO  HOOKS.  V — RAKE.  X — WORKMAN  BEATING  THE  CLAY  WITH 

AN    IRON    IMPLEMENT. 

two  and  a  half  digits  thick  ;  the  upper  part  of  the  rammer,  where  the  handle 
is  inserted,  is  bound  with  an  iron  band  two  digits  wide.  There  are  some  who, 
instead,  use  two  rounded  rammers  three  and  a  half  digits  in  diameter,  the 
same  at  the  bottom  as  at  the  top.  Some  people  prefer  two  wooden 
spatulas,  or  a  rammer  spatula. 

In  a  similar  manner,  mixed  and  moistened  powder  is  thrown  and  pounded 
with  a  rammer  in  the  forehearth  pit,  which  is  outside  the  furnace.  When 
this  is  nearly  completed,  powder  is  again  put  in,  and  pushed  with  the  rammer 
up  toward  the  protruding  copper  pipe,  so  that  from  a  point  a  digit  under  the 
mouth  of  the  copper  pipe  the  hearth  slopes  down  into  the  crucible  of  the  fore- 
hearth,11  and  the  metal  can  run  down.  The  same  is  repeated  until  the 

"What  are  known  in  English  as  "  crucible,"  "  furnace  well,"  "  forehearth,"  "  dipping- 
pot,"  "tapping-pot,"  "receiving-pot,"  etc.,  are  in  the  text  all  catinus,  i.e.,  crucible.  For 
easier  reading,  however,  we  have  assigned  the  names  indicated  in  the  context. 


378  BOOK    IX. 

forehearth  pit  is  full,  then  afterward  this  is  hollowed  out  with  a  curved 
blade  ;  this  blade  is  of  iron,  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  long,  three  digits 
wide,  blunt  at  the  top  and  sharp  at  the  bottom.  The  crucible  of  the  fore- 
hearth  must  be  round,  a  foot  in  diameter  and  two  palms  deep  if  it  has  to 
contain  a  centumpondium  of  lead,  or  if  only  seventy  librae,  then  three  palms 
in  diameter  and  two  palms  deep  like  the  other.  When  the  forehearth  has 
been  hollowed  out  it  is  pounded  with  a  round  bronze  rammer.  This  is 
five  digits  high  and  the  same  in  diameter,  having  a  curved  round  handle 
one  and  a  half  digits  thick  ;  or  else  another  bronze  rammer  is  used,  which 
is  fashioned  in  the  shape  of  a  cone,  truncated  at  the  top,  on  which  is 
imposed  another  cut  away  at  the  bottom,  so  that  the  middle  part  of  the 
rammer  may  be  grasped  by  the  hand  ;  this  is  six  digits  high,  and  five  digits 
in  diameter  at  the  lower  end  and  four  at  the  top.  Some  use  in  its  place  a 
wooden  spatula  two  and  a  half  palms  wide  at  the  lower  end  and  one  palm 
thick. 

The  assistant,  having  prepared  the  forehearth,  returns  to  the  furnace  and 
besmears  both  sides  as  well  as  the  top  of  the  mouth  with  simple  lute.  In  the 
lower  part  of  the  mouth  he  places  lute  that  has  been  dipped  in  charcoal 
dust,  to  guard  against  the  risk  of  the  lute  attracting  to  itself  the  powder 
of  the  hearth  and  vitiating  it.  Next  he  lays  in  the  mouth  of  the  furnace  a 
straight  round  rod  three  quarters  of  a  foot  long  and  three  digits  in  diameter. 
Afterward  he  places  a  piece  of  charcoal  on  the  lute,  of  the  same  length  and 
width  as  the  mouth,  so  that  it  is  entirely  closed  up  ;  if  there  be  not  at  hand 
one  piece  of  charcoal  so  large,  he  takes  two  instead.  When  the  mouth  is  thus 
closed  up,  he  throws  into  the  furnace  a  wicker  basket  full  of  charcoal,  and  in 
order  that  the  piece  of  charcoal  with  which  the  mouth  of  the  furnace  is  closed 
should  not  then  fall  out,  the  master  holds  it  in  with  his  hand.  The  pieces 
of  charcoal  which  are  thrown  into  the  furnace  should  be  of  medium  size,  for 
if  they  are  large  they  impede  the  blast  of  the  bellows  and  prevent  it  from 
blowing  through  the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth  to  heat  it. 
Then  the  master  covers  over  the  charcoal,  placed  at  the  mouth  of  the  furnace, 
with  lute  and  extracts  the  wooden  rod,  and  thus  the  furnace  is  prepared. 
Afterward  the  assistant  throws  four  or  five  larger  baskets  full  of  charcoal 
into  the  furnace,  filling  it  right  up  ;  he  also  throws  a  little  charcoal 
into  the  forehearth,  and  places  glowing  coals  upon  it  in  order  that  it  may 
be  kindled,  but  in  order  that  the  flames  of  this  fire  should  not  enter  through 
the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  and  fire  the  charcoal  inside,  he  covers  the  tap-hole 
with  lute  or  closes  it  with  fragments  of  pottery.  Some  do  not  warm  the 
forehearth  the  same  evening,  but  place  large  charcoals  round  the  edge  of  it,  one 
leaning  on  the  other  ;  those  who  follow  the  first  method  sweep  out  the 
forehearth  in  the  morning,  and  clean  out  the  little  pieces  of  charcoal  and 
cinders,  while  those  who  follow  the  latter  method  take,  early  in  the  morning, 
burning  firebrands,  which  have  been  prepared  by  the  watchman  of  the  works, 
and  place  them  on  the  charcoal. 

At  the  fourth  hour  the  master  begins  his  work.  He  first  inserts  a 
small  piece  of  glowing  coal  into  the  furnace,  through  the  bronze  nozzle-pipe 


BOOK    IX.  379 

of  the  bellows,  and  blows  up  the  fire  with  the  bellows  ;  thus  within  the  space 
of  half  an  hour  the  forehearth,  as  well  as  the  hearth,  becomes  warmed,  and 
of  course  more  quickly  if  on  the  preceding  day  ores  have  been  smelted  in  the 
same  furnace,  but  if  not  then  it  warms  more  slowly.  If  the  hearth  and 
forehearth  are  not  warmed  before  the  ore  to  be  smelted  is  thrown  in,  the  furnace 
is  injured  and  the  metals  lost ;  or  if  the  powder  from  which  both  are  made 
is  damp  in  summer  or  frozen  in  winter,  they  will  be  cracked,  and,  giving 
out  a  sound  like  thunder,  they  will  blow  out  the  metals  and  other  substances 
with  great  peril  to  the  workmen.  After  the  furnace  has  been  warmed,  the 
master  throws  in  slags,  and  these,  when  melted,  flow  out  through  the  tap- 
hole  into  the  forehearth.  Then  he  closes  up  the  tap-hole  at  once  with 
mixed  lute  and  charcoal  dust  ;  this  plug  he  fastens  with  his  hand  to  a 
round  wooden  rammer  that  is  five  digits  thick,  two  palms  high,  with  a  handle 
three  feet  long.  The  smelter  extracts  the  slags  from  the  forehearth  with  a 
hooked  bar  ;  if  the  ore  to  be  smelted  is  rich  in  gold  or  silver  he  puts  into  the 
forehearth  a  centumpondium  of  lead,  or  half  as  much  if  the  ore  is  poor, 
because  the  former  requires  much  lead,  the  latter  little  ;  he  immediately 
throws  burning  firebrands  on  to  the  lead  so  that  it  melts.  Afterward  he 
performs  everything  according  to  the  usual  manner  and  order,  whereby  he 
first  throws  into  the  furnace  as  many  cakes  melted  from  pyrites12,  as  he 
requires  to  smelt  the  ore  ;  then  he  puts  in  two  wicker  baskets  full  of  ore 
with  litharge  and  hearth-lead13,  and  stones  which  fuse  easily  by  fire  of  the 
second  order,  all  mixed  together  ;  then  one  wicker  basket  full  of  charcoal, 
and  lastly  the  slags.  The  furnace  now  being  filled  with  all  the  things  I 
have  mentioned,  the  ore  is  slowly  smelted  ;  he  does  not  put  too  much  of  it 
against  the  back  wall  of  the  furnace,  lest  sows  should  form  around  the  nozzles 
of  the  bellows  and  the  blast  be  impeded  and  the  fire  burn  less  fiercely. 

This,  indeed,  is  the  custom  of  many  most  excellent  smelters,  who  know 
how  to  govern  the  four  elements14.  They  combine  in  right  proportion  the 
ores,  which  are  part  earth,  placing  no  more  than  is  suitable  in  the  furnaces  ; 
they  pour  in  the  needful  quantity  of  water ;  they  moderate  with  skill  the  air 
from  the  bellows  ;  they  throw  the  ore  into  that  part  of  the  fire  which  burns 
fiercely.  The  master  sprinkles  water  into  each  part  of  the  furnace  to  dampen 
the  charcoal  slightly,  so  that  the  minute  parts  of  ore  may  adhere  to  it, 
which  otherwise  the  blast  of  the  bellows  and  the  force  of  the  fire  would  agitate 
and  blow  away  with  the  fumes.  But  as  the  nature  of  the  ores  to  be  smelted 
varies,  the  smelters  have  to  arrange  the  hearth  now  high,  now  low,  and  to 
place  the  pipe  in  which  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows  are  inserted  sometimes  on  a 
great  and  sometimes  at  a  slight  angle,  so  that  the  blast  of  the  bellows  may 

12Panes  ex  pyrite  conflali.  While  the  term  matte  would  cover  most  cases  where  this 
expression  appears,  and  in  many  cases  would  be  more  expressive  to  the  modern  reader,  yet 
there  are  instances  where  the  expression  as  it  stands  indicates  its  particular  origin,  and  it 
has  been,  therefore.,  considered  advisable  to  adhere  to  the  literal  rendering. 

iaMolybdaena.  See  note  37,  p.  476.  It  was  the  saturated  furnace  bottoms  from 
cupellation. 

14The  four  elements  were  earth,  air,  fire,  and  water. 


380  BOOK    IX. 

blow  into  the  furnace  in  either  a  mild  or  a  vigorous  manner.  For  those  ores 
which  heat  and  fuse  easily,  a  low  hearth  is  necessary  for  the  work  of  the 
smelters,  and  the  pipe  must  be  placed  at  a  gentle  angle  to  produce  a  mild 
blast  from  the  bellows.  On  the  contrary,  those  ores  that  heat  and  fuse 
slowly  must  have  a  high  hearth,  and  the  pipe  must  be  placed  at  a  steep  incline 
in  order  to  blow  a  strong  blast  of  the  bellows,  and  it  is  necessary,  for  this 
kind  of  ore,  to  have  a  very  hot  furnace  in  which  slags,  or  cakes  melted  from 
pyrites,  or  stones  which  melt  easily  in  the  fire15,  are  first  melted,  so  that  the 
ore  should  not  settle  in  the  hearth  of  the  furnace  and  obstruct  and  choke  up 
the  tap-hole,  as  the  minute  metallic  particles  that  have  been  washed  from 
the  ores  are  wont  to  do.  Large  bellows  have  wide  nozzles,  for  if  they  were 
narrow  the  copious  and  strong  blast  would  be  too  much  compressed  and  too 
acutely  blown  into  the  furnace,  and  then  the  melted  material  would  be 
chilled,  and  would  form  sows  around  the  nozzle,  and  thus  obstruct  the  opening 
into  the  furnace,  which  would  cause  great  damage  to  the  proprietors' 
property.  If  the  ores  agglomerate  and  do  not  fuse,  the  smelter,  mounting 
on  the  ladder  placed  against  the  side  of  the  furnace,  divides  the  charge  with 
a  pointed  or  hooked  bar,  which  he  also  pushes  down  into  the  pipe  in 

1S"  Stones  which  easily  melt  in  the  fire."     Nowhere  in  De  Re  Metallica  does  the  author 

explain  these  substances.    However  in  the  Interpretatio  (p.  465)  he  gives  three  genera  or  orders 

with  their  German  equivalents,  as  follows  : — "  Lapides  qui  igni  liquescunt  primi  generis, — 

Schone  fliisse  ;   secundi, — fliisse  zum  schmeltzen  flock  quertze  ;   tertii, — quertze  oder  kiselstein." 

We  confess  our  inability  to  make  certain  of  most  of  the  substances  comprised  in  the  first  and 

second  orders.     We  consider  they  were  in  part  fluor-spar,  and  in  any  event  the  third  order 

embraced  varieties  of  quartz,  flint,  and  silicious  material  generally.     As  the  matter  is  of 

importance  from  a  metallurgical  point  of  view,  we  reproduce  at  some  length  Agricola's  own 

statements  on  the  subject  from  Bermannus  and  De  Natura  Fossilium.     In  the  latter  (p.  268) 

he  states  :   "  Finally  there  now  remain  those  stones  which  I  call   '  stones  which  easily  melt  in 

"  the  fire.'  because  when  thrown  into  hot  furnaces  they  flow  (fluunt).     There  are  three  orders 

"  (genera)  of  these.      The  first  resembles  the  transparent  gems  ;    the  second  is  not  similar, 

"  and    is  generally  not  translucent ;    it  is  translucent  in  some  part,  and  in  rare  instances 

"  altogether  translucent.     The  first  is  sparingly  found  in  silver  and  other  mines  ;    the  second 

"  abounds  in  veins  of  its  own.      The  third  genus  is  the  material  from  which  glass  is  made, 

"  although  it  can  also  be  made  out  of  the  other  two.     The  stones  of  the  first  order  are  not 

"  only  transparent,  but  are  also  resplendent,  and  have  the  colours  of  gems,  for  some  resemble 

"  crystal,  others  emerald,  heliotrope,  lapis  lazuli,  amethyst,  sapphire,  ruby,  chrysolithus,  morion 

"  (cairngorm  ?),  and  other  gems,  but  they  differ  from  them  in  hardness.     ...     To  the 

"  first  genus  belongs  the  lapis  alabandicus  (modern  albandite  ?).  if  indeed  it  was  different 

"  from  the  alabandic  carbuncle.     It  can  be  melted,  according  to  Pliny,  in  the  fire,  and  fused 

"  for    the    preparation    of    glass.      It  is  black,  but  verging   upon   purple.      It    comes    from 

"  Caria.  near  Alabanda,  and  from  Miletus  in  the  same  province.     The  second  order  of  stones 

"  does  not  show  a  great  variety  of  colours,  and  seldom  beautiful  ones,  for  it  is  generally  white, 

"  whitish,  greyish,  or  yellowish.     Because  these  (stones)  very  readily  melt  in  trie  fire,  they  are 

"  added  to  the  ores  from  which  the  metals  are  smelted.     The  small  stones  found  in  veins, 

'  veinlets,  and  the  spaces  between  the  veins,  of  the  highest  peaks  of  the  Sudetic  range  (Sudi- 

'  torum  montium),  belong  partly  to  this  genus  and  partly  to  the  first.     They  differ  in  size, 

'  being  large  and  small ;  and  in  shape,  some  being  round  or  angular  or  pointed  ;  in  colour  they 

'  are  black  or  ash-grey,  or  yellow,  or  purple,  or  violet,  or  iron  colour.     All  of  these  are  lacking 

'  in  metals.     Neither  do  the  little  stones  contain  any  metals  which  are  usually  found  in  the 

'  streams  where  gold  dust  is  collected  by  washing.     ...     In  the  rivers  where  are  collected 

'  the  small  stones  from  which  tin  is  smelted,  there  are  three  genera  of  small  stones  to  be  found, 

'  all  somewhat  rounded  and  of  very  light  weight,  and  devoid  of  all  metals.     The  largest  are 

'  black,  both  on  the  outside  and  inside,  smooth  and  brilliant  like  a  mirror  ;   the  medium-sized 

"  are  either  bluish  black  or  ash-grey  ;   the  smallest  are  of  a  yellowish  colour,  somewhat  like  a 

"  silkworm.     But  because  both  the  former  and  the  latter  stones  are  devoid  of  metals,  and  fly 

"  to  pieces  under  the  blows  of  the  hammer,  we  classify  them  as  sand  or  gravel.     Glass  is  made 

"  from  the  stones  of  the  third  order,  and  particularly  from  sand.     For  when  this  is  thrown 

"  into  the  heated  furnace  it  is  melted  by  the  fire.     .     .     .     This  kind  of  stone  is  either  found 


BOOK    IX.  381 

which  the  nozzle  of  the  bellows  is  placed,  and  by  a  downward  movement 
dislodges  the  ore  and  the  sows  from  around  it. 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  the  lead  which  the  assistant  has  placed 
in  the  forehearth  is  melted,  the  master  opens  the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace 
with  a  tapping-bar.  This  bar  is  made  of  iron,  is  three  and  a  half  feet  long, 
the  forward  end  pointed  and  a  little  curved,  and  the  back  end  hollow  so  that 
into  it  may  be  inserted  a  wooden  handle,  which  is  three  feet  long  and  thick 
enough  to  be  well  grasped  by  the  hand.  The  slag  first  flows  from  the  furnace 
into  the  forehearth,  and  in  it  are  stones  mixed  with  metal  or  with  the  metal 
adhering  to  them  partly  altered,  the  slag  also  containing  earth  and  solidified 
juices.  After  this  the  material  from  the  melted  pyrites  flows  out,  and  then  the 
molten  lead  contained  in  the  forehearth  absorbs  the  gold  and  silver.  When 
that  which  has  run  out  has  stood  for  some  time  in  the  forehearth,  in  order 
to  be  able  to  separate  one  from  the  other,  the  master  first  either  skims  off 
the  slags  with  the  hooked  bar  or  else  lifts  them  off  with  an  iron  fork  ;  the 
slags,  as  they  are  very  light,  float  on  the  top.  He  next  draws  off  the  cakes  of 
melted  pyrites,  which  as  they  are  of  medium  weight  hold  the  middle  place  ; 
he  leaves  in  the  forehearth  the  alloy  of  gold  or  silver  with  the  lead,  for  these 
being  the  heaviest,  sink  to  the  bottom.  As,  however,  there  is  a  difference 

"  in  its  own  veins,  which  are  occasionally  very  wide,  or  else  scattered  through  the  mines.     It 

"  is  less  hard  than  flint,  on  account  of  which  no  fire  can  be  struck  from  it.     It  is  not  trans- 

"  parent,  but  it  is  of  many  colours — that  is  to  say,  white,  yellowish,  ash-grey,  brown,  black, 

"  green,  blue,  reddish  or  red.     This  genus  of  stones  occurs  here  and  there  in  mountainous 

"  regions,  on  banks  of  rivers,  and  in  the  fields.     Those  which  are  black  right  through  to  the 

"  interior,  and  not  merely  on  the  surface,  are  more  rare  ;   and  very  frequently  one  coloured 

"  vein  is  intersected  by  another  of  a  different  colour — for  instance,  a  white  one  by  a  red  one  ; 

"  the  green  is  often  spotted  with  white,  the  ash-grey  with  black,  the  white  with  crimson. 

"  Fragments  of  these  stones  are  frequently  found  on  the   surface  of  the  earth,  and  in  the 

'  running  water  they  become  polished  by  rubbing  against  stones  of  their  own  or  of  another 

'  genus.     In  this  way,  likewise,  fragments  of  rocks  are  not  infrequently  shaped  into  spherical 

'  forms.     .     .     .    This  stone  is  put  to  many  uses  ;  the  streets  are  paved  with  it,  whatever  its 

'  colour  ;  the  blue  variety  is  added  to  the  ash  of  pines  for  making  those  other  ashes  which  are 

'  used  by  wool-dyers.     The  white  variety  is  burned,  ground,  and  sifted,  and  from  this  they 

"  make  the  sand  out  of  which  glass  is  made.     The  whiter  the  sand  is,  the  more  useful  it  is." 

Perusal  of  the  following  from  Bermannus  (p.  458)  can  leave  little  doubt  as  to  the  first  or 
second  order  being  in  part  fluor-spar.  Agricola  derived  the  name  fluores  from  fluo  "to  flow,"  and 
we  in  turn  obtain  "  fluorite,"  or  "  fluorspar,"  from  Agricola.  "  Bermannus.  These  stones  are 
"  similar  to  gems,  but  less  hard.  Allow  me  to  explain  word  for  word.  Our  miners  call  them 
"  fluores,  not  inappropriately  to  my  mind,  for  by  the  heat  of  fire,  like  ice  in  the  sun,  they 
"  liquefy  and  flow  away.  They  are  of  varied  and  bright  colours.  Naevius. — Theophrastus 
"  says  of  them  that  they  are  made  by  a  conflux  in  the  earth.  These  red  fluores,  to  employ 
"  the  words  just  used  by  you,  are  the  ruby  silver  which  you  showed  us  before.  Bermannus. — At 
"  the  first  glance  it  appears  so,  although  it  is  not  infrequently  translucent.  Naevius.—  Then 
"  they  are  rubies  ?  Bermannus. — Not  that  either.  Naevius. — In  what  way,  then,  can  they  be 
"  distinguished  from  rubies  ?  Bermannus. — Chiefly  by  this  sign,  that  they  glitter  more 
"  feebly  when  translucent.  Those  which  are  not  translucent  may  be  distinguished  from 
"  rubies.  Moreover,  fluores  of  all  kinds  melt  when  they  are  subject  to  the  first  fire ;  rubies 
"  do  not  melt  in  fire.  Naevius. — You  distinguish  well.  Bermannus. — You  see  the  other 
"  kind,  of  a  paler  purple  colour  ?  Naevius. — They  appear  to  be  an  inferior  kind  of  amethyst, 
"  such  as  are  found  in  many  places  in  Bohemia.  Bermannus. — Indeed,  they  are  not  very  dis- 
"  similar,  therefore  the  common  people  who  do  not  know  amethysts  well,  set  them  in  rings 
"  for  gems,  and  they  are  easily  sold.  The  third  kind,  as  you  see  here,  is  white.  Naevius. — I 
'  should  have  thought  it  a  crystal.  Bermannus. — A  fourth  is  a  yellow  colour,  a  fifth  ash  colour, 
'  a  sixth  blackish.  Some  are  violet,  some  green,  others  gold-coloured.  Anton. — What  is  the 
'  use  of  fluores  ?  Bermannus. — They  are  wont  to  be  made  use  of  when  metals  are  smelted, 
'  as  they  cause  the  material  in  the  fire  to  be  much  more  fluid,  exactly  like  a  kind  of  stone 
'  which  we  said  is  made  from  pyrites  (matte)  ;  it  is,  indeed,  made  not  far  from  here,  at  Breiten- 
'  brunn,  which  is  near  Schwarzenberg.  Moreover,  from  fluores  they  can  make  colours  which 
"  artists  use." 

27 


382  BOOK     IX. 

in  slags,  the  uppermost  containing  little  metal,  the  middle  more,  and  the 
lowest  much,  he  puts  these  away  separately,  each  in  its  own  place,  in 
order  that  to  each  heap,  when  it  is  re-smelted,  he  may  add  the  proper 
fluxes,  and  can  put  in  as  much  lead  as  is  demanded  for  the  metal  in  the 
slag  ;  when  the  slag  is  re-melted,  if  it  emits  much  odour,  there  is  some 
metal  in  it ;  if  it  emits  no  odour,  then  it  contains  none.  He  puts  the  cakes 
of  melted  pyrites  away  separately,  as  they  were  nearest  in  the  forehearth  to 
the  metal,  and  contain  a  little  more  of  it  than  the  slags  ;  from  all  these 
cakes  a  conical  mound  is  built  up,  by  always  placing  the  widest  of  them 
at  the  bottom.  The  hooked  bar  has  a  hook  on  the  end,  hence  its  name  ; 
otherwise  it  is  similar  to  other  bars. 

Afterward  the  master  closes  up  the  tap-hole  and  fills  the  furnace  with 
the  same  materials  I  described  above,  and  again,  the  ores  having  been  melted, 
he  opens  the  tap-hole,  and  with  a  hooked  bar  extracts  the  slags  and  the  cakes 
melted  from  pyrites,  which  have  run  down  into  the  forehearth.  He  repeats 
the  same  operation  until  a  certain  and  definite  part  of  the  ore  has  been 
smelted,  and  the  day's  work  is  at  an  end  ;  if  the  ore  was  rich  the  work  is 
finished  in  eight  hours  ;  if  poor,  it  takes  a  longer  time.  But  if  the  ore  was 
so  rich  as  to  be  smelted  in  less  than  eight  hours,  another  operation  is  in  the 
meanwhile  combined  with  the  first,  and  both  are  performed  in  the  space  of  ten 
hours.  When  all  the  ore  has  been  smelted,  he  throws  into  the  furnace  a 
basket  full  of  litharge  or  hearth-lead,  so  that  the  metal  which  has  remained 
in  the  accretions  may  run  out  with  these  when  melted.  When  he  has  finally 
drawn  out  of  the  forehearth  the  slags  and  the  cakes  melted  from  pyrites, 
he  takes  out,  with  a  ladle,  the  lead  alloyed  with  gold  or  silver  and  pours  it  into 
little  iron  or  copper  pans,  three  palms  wide  and  as  many  digits  deep,  but 
first  lined  on  the  inside  with  lute  and  dried  by  warming,  lest  the  glowing  molten 
substances  should  break  through.  The  iron  ladle  is  two  palms  wide, 'and  in 
other  respects  it  is  similar  to  the  others,  all  of  which  have  a  sufficiently  long 
iron  shaft,  so  that  the  fire  should  not  burn  the  wooden  part  of  the  handle. 
When  the  alloy  has  been  poured  out  of  the  forehearth,  the  smelter  foreman 
and  the  mine  captain  weigh  the  cakes. 

Then  the  master  breaks  out  the  whole  of  the  mouth  of  the  furnace  with  a 
crowbar,  and  with  that  other  hooked  bar,  the  rabble  and  the  five-toothed  rake, 
he  extracts  the  accretions  and  the  charcoal.  This  crowbar  is  not  unlike 
the  other  hooked  one,  but  larger  and  wider ;  the  handle  of  the  rabble  is  six  feet 
long  and  is  half  of  iron  and  half  of  wood.  The  furnace  having  cooled,  the 
master  chips  off  the  accretions  clinging  to  the  walls  with  a  rectangular 
spatula  six  digits  long,  a  palm  broad,  and  sharp  on  the  front  edge  ;  it  has 
a  round  handle  four  feet  long,  half  of  it  being  of  iron  and  half  of  wood.  This 
is  the  first  method  of  smelting  ores. 

Because  they  generally  consist  of  unequal  constituents,  some  of  which  melt 
rapidly  and  others  slowly,  the  ores  rich  in  gold  and  silver  cannot  be  smelted  as 
rapidly  or  as  easily  by  the  other  methods  as  they  can  by  the  first  method,  for 
three  important  reasons.  The  first  reason  is  that,  as  often  as  the  closed 
tap-hole  of  the  furnace  is  opened  with  a  tapping-bar,  so  often  can  the 


BOOK     IX. 


383 


A,  B,  C — THREE  FURNACES.    AT  THE  FIRST  STANDS  THE  SMELTER,  WHO  WITH  A  LADLE 

POURS  THE  ALLOY  OUT  OF  THE  FOREHEARTH  INTO  THE  MOULDS.  D — FOREHEARTH. 

E — LADLE.     F — MOULDS.    G — ROUND  WOODEN  RAMMER.     H — TAPPING-BAR.     AT  THE 

SECOND  FURNACE  STANDS  THE  SMELTER,  WHO  OPENS  THE  TAP-HOLE  WITH  HIS  TAPPING-BAR. 
THE  ASSISTANT,  STANDING  ON  STEPS  PLACED  AGAINST  THE  THIRD  FURNACE  WHICH  HAS  BEEN 
BROKEN  OPEN,  CHIPS  OFF  THE  ACCRETIONS.  I— STEPS.  K — SPATULA.  L — THE  OTHER 
HOOKED  BAR.  M — MlNE  CAPTAIN  CARRYING  A  CAKE,  IN  WHICH  HE  HAS  STUCK  THE  PICK,  TO 
THE  SCALES  TO  BE  WEIGHED.  N — ANOTHER  MINE  CAPTAIN  OPENS  A  CHEST  IN  WHICH  HIS 

THINGS    ARE    KEPT. 


384  BOOK     IX. 

smelter  observe  whether  the  ore  is  melting  too  quickly  or  too  slowly,  or 
whether  it  is  flaming  in  scattered  bits,  and  not  uniting  in  one  mass  ;  in  the 
first  case  the  ore  is  smelting  too  slowly  and  not  without  great  expense ;  in 
the  second  case  the  metal  mixes  with  the  slag  which  flows  out  of  the 
furnace  into  the  forehearth,  wherefore  there  is  the  expense  of  melting  it  again  ; 
in  the  third  case,  the  metal  is  consumed  by  the  violence  of  the  fire.  Each  of 
these  evils  has  its  remedy  ;  if  the  ore  melts  slowly  or  does  not  come  together, 
it  is  necessary  to  add  some  amount  of  fluxes  which  melt  the  ore  ;  or  if  they 
melt  too  readily,  to  decrease  the  amount. 

The  second  reason  is  that  each  time  that  the  furnace  is  opened  with  a 
tapping-bar,  it  flows  out  into  the  forehearth,  and  the  smelter  is  able  to  test 
the  alloy  of  gold  and  lead  or  of  silver  with  lead,  which  is  called  stannum10. 
When  the  tap-hole  is  opened  the  second  or  third  time,  this  test  shows  us 
whether  the  alloy  of  gold  or  silver  has  become  richer,  or  whether  the  lead  is 
too  debilitated  and  wanting  in  strength  to  absorb  any  more  gold  or  silver.  If 
it  has  become  richer,  some  portion  of  lead  added  to  it  should  renew  its 
strength  ;  if  it  has  not  become  richer,  it  is  poured  out  of  the  forehearth  that 
it  may  be  replaced  with  fresh  lead. 

The  third  reason  is  that  if  the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  is  always  open 
when  the  ore  and  other  things  are  being  smelted,  the  fluxes,  which  are  easily 
melted,  run  out  of  the  furnace  before  the  rich  gold  and  silver  ores,  for  these 
are  sometimes  of  a  kind  that  oppose  and  resist  melting  by  the  fire  for  a  longer 
period.  It  follows  in  this  case,  that  some  part  of  the  ore  is  either  con- 
sumed or  is  mixed  with  the  accretions,  and  as  a  result  little  lumps  of  ore 
not  yet  melted  are  now  and  then  found  in  the  accretions.  Therefore  when 
these  ores  are  being  smelted,  the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  should  be  closed 
for  a  time,  as  it  is  necessary  to  heat  and  mix  the  ore  and  the  fluxes  at  the 
same  time ;  since  the  fluxes  fuse  more  rapidly  than  the  ore,  when  the 
molten  fluxes  are  held  in  the  furnace,  they  thus  melt  the  ore  which  does  not 
readily  fuse  or  mix  with  the  lead.  The  lead  absorbs  the  gold  or  silver,  just 
as  tin  or  lead  when  melted  in  the  forehearth  absorbs  the  other  unmelted 
metal  which  has  been  thrown  into  it.  But  if  the  molten  matter  is  poured 
upon  that  which  is  not  molten,  it  runs  off  on  all  sides  and  consequently  does 
not  melt  it.  It  follows  from  all  this  that  ores  rich  in  gold  or  silver,  when  put 
into  a  furnace  with  its  tap-hole  always  open,  cannot  for  that  reason  be  smelted 
so  successfully  as  in  one  where  the  tap-hole  is  closed  for  a  time,  so  that  during 
this  time  the  ore  may  be  melted  by  the  molten  fluxes.  Afterward,  when  the 
tap-hole  has  been  opened,  they  flow  into  the  forehearth  and  mix  there  with 
the  molten  lead.  This  method  of  smelting  the  ores  is  used  by  us  and  by  the 
Bohemians. 

The  three  remaining  methods  of  smelting  ores  are  similar  to  each  other 
in  that  the  tap-holes  of  the  furnaces  always  remain  open,  so  that  the  molten 
metals  may  continually  run  out.  They  differ  greatly  from  each  other, 

19Stannum  (Inter pretatio, — werck,  modern  werk).  This  term  has  been  rendered  through- 
out as  "  silver-lead  "  or  "  silver-lead  alloy."  It  was  the  argentiferous  lead  suitable  for  cupel- 
lation.  Agricola,  in  using  it  in  this  sense,  was  no  doubt  following  his  interpretation  of  its  use 
by  Pliny.  Further  remarks  upon  this  subject  will  be  found  in  note  33,  p.  473. 


BOOK     IX. 


385 


f^~Tf^f^^fwff^f^f'~"9 ' "^ ^^j^TE^3^^rf^^s^p^^^^3j^^^^^^^^^^T^Qp"^t   "^^w*- 


A,    B — TWO  FURNACES.      C — FOREHEARTHS.      D — DlPPING-POT.      THE  SMELTER  STANDING 
BY  THE  FIRST  FURNACE  DRAWS  OFF  THE   SLAGS  WITH  A  HOOKED  BAR.       E — HOOKED  BAR. 

F — SLAGS.    G— THE  ASSISTANT  DRAWING  A  BUCKET  OF  WATER  WHICH  HE  POURS  OVER  THE 

GLOWING  SLAGS  TO  QUENCH  THEM.       H — BASKET  MADE  OF  TWIGS  OF  WOOD  INTERTWINED. 

I — RABBLE.      K — ORE  TO  BE  SMELTED.     THE  MASTER  STANDS  AT  THE  OTHER  FURNACE 

AND    PREPARES    THE    FOREHEARTH    BY    RAMMING    IT  WITH  TWO  RAMMERS.        M — CROWBAR. 


386  BOOK     IX. 

however,  for  the  tap-hole  of  the  first  of  this  kind  is  deeper  in  the  furnace  and 
narrower  than  that  of  the  third,  and  besides  it  is  invisible  and  concealed. 
It  easily  discharges  into  the  forehearth,  which  is  one  and  a  half  feet  higher 
than  the  floor  of  the  building,  in  order  that  below  it  to  the  left  a  dipping-pot 
can  be  made.  When  the  forehearth  is  nearly  full  of  the  slags,  which  well  up 
from  the  invisible  tap-hole  of  the  furnace,  they  are  skimmed  off  from  the  top 
with  a  hooked  bar  ;  then  the  alloy  of  gold  or  silver  with  lead  and  the  melted 
pyrites,  being  uncovered,  flow  into  the  dipping-pot,  and  the  latter  are  made  into 
cakes  ;  these  cakes  are  broken  and  thrown  back  into  the  furnace  so  that  all 
their  metal  may  be  smelted  out.  The  alloy  is  poured  into  little  iron  moulds. 

The  smelter,  besides  lead  and  cognate  things,  uses  fluxes  which  combine 
with  the  ore,  of  which  I  gave  a  sufficient  account  in  Book  VII.  The  metals 
which  are  melted  from  ores  that  fuse  readily  in  the  fire,  are  profitable  because 
they  are  smelted  in  a  short  time,  while  those  which  are  difficult  to  fuse  are 
not  as  profitable,  because  they  take  a  long  time.  When  fluxes  remain  in  the 
furnace  and  do  not  melt,  they  are  not  suitable  ;  for  this  reason,  accretions  and 
slags  are  the  most  convenient  for  smelting,  because  they  melt  quickly.  It  is 
necessary  to  have  an  industrious  and  experienced  smelter,  who  in  the  first 
place  takes  care  not  to  put  into  the  furnace  more  ores  mixed  with  fluxes  than 
it  can  accommodate. 

The  powder  out  of  which  this  furnace  hearth  and  the  adjoining  fore- 
hearth  and  the  dipping-pot  are  usually  made,  consists  mostly  of  equal  pro- 
portions of  charcoal  dust  and  of  earth,  or  of  equal  parts  of  the  same  and  of 
ashes.  When  the  hearth  of  the  furnace  is  prepared,  a  rod  that  will  reach  to  the 
forehearth  is  put  into  it,  higher  up  if  the  ore  to  be  smelted  readily  fuses,  and 
lower  down  if  it  fuses  with  difficulty.  When  the  dipping-pot  and  forehearth 
are  finished,  the  rod  is  drawn  out  of  the  furnace  so  that  the  tap-hole  is  open, 
and  through  it  the  molten  material  flows  continuously  into  the  forehearth, 
which  should  be  very  near  the  furnace  in  order  that  it  may  keep  very  hot  and 
the  alloy  thus  be  made  purer.  If  the  ore  to  be  smelted  does  not  melt  easily,  the 
hearth  of  the  furnace  must  not  be  made  too  sloping,  lest  the  molten  fluxes 
should  run  down  into  the  forehearth  before  the  ore  is  smelted,  and  the  metal 
thus  remain  in  the  accretions  on  the  sides  of  the  furnace.  The  smelter  must 
not  ram  the  hearth  so  much  that  it  becomes  too  hard,  nor  make  the  mistake 
of  ramming  the  lower  part  of  the  mouth  to  make  it  hard,  for  it  could  not 
breathe17,  nor  could  the  molten  matter  flow  freely  out  of  the  furnace. 
The  ore  which  does  not  readily  melt  is  thrown  as  much  as  possible  to  the 
back  of  the  furnace,  and  toward  that  part  where  the  fire  burns  very 
fiercely,  so  that  it  may  be  smelted  longer.  In  this  way  the  smelter  may  direct 
it  whither  he  wills.  Only  when  it  glows  at  the  part  near  the  bellows'  nozzle 
does  it  signify  that  all  the  ore  is  smelted  which  has  been  thrown  to  the  side  of 
the  furnace  in  which  the  nozzles  are  placed.  If  the  ore  is  easily  melted,  one 
or  two  wicker  baskets  full  are  thrown  into  the  front  part  of  the  furnace  so  that 
the  fire,  being  driven  back  by  it,  may  also  smelt  the  ore  and  the  sows  that 

"Expirare, — to  exhale  or  blow  out. 


I 


BOOK     IX. 


387 


A    \\\\    \ 


\  \  \  \  \\\\  V  \  \  \  \ 


A     'vv\ 


V\xyy\.\\\\ 


A,  B— TWO  FURNACES.  C— FOREHEARTH.  D— DlPPING-POTS.  THE  MASTER  STANDS  AT 
THE  ONE  FURNACE  AND  DRAWS  AWAY  THE  SLAGS  WITH  AN  IRON  FORK.  E — IRON  FORK. 

F — WOODEN  HOE  WITH  WHICH  THE  CAKES  OF  MELTED  PYRITES  ARE  DRAWN  OUT.    G — THE 

FOREHEARTH  CRUCIBLE  :  ONE-HALF  INSIDE  IS  TO  BE  SEEN  OPEN  IN  THE  OTHER  FURNACE. 
H— THE  HALF  OUTSIDE  THE  FURNACE.  I — THE  ASSISTANT  PREPARES  THE  FOREHEARTH, 
WHICH  IS  SEPARATED  FROM  THE  FURNACE  THAT  IT  MAY  BE  SEEN.  K— BAR.  L— WOODEN 

RAMMER.     M — LADDER.     N — LADLE. 


388  BOOK     IX. 

form  round  about  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows.     This  process  of  smelting  is  very 
ancient  among  the  Tyrolese18,  but  not  so  old  among  the  Bohemians. 

The  second  method  of  smelting  ores  stands  in  a  measure  midway  between 
that  one  performed  in  a  furnace  of  which  the  tap-hole  is  closed  intermittently, 
and  the  first  of  the  methods  performed  in  a  furnace  where  the  tap-hole  is 
always  open.  In  this  manner  are  smelted  the  ores  of  gold  and  silver  that  are 
neither  very  rich  nor  very  poor,  but  mediocre,  which  fuse  easily  and  are 
readily  absorbed  by  the  lead.  It  was  found  that  in  this  way  a  large  quantity 
of  ore  could  be  smelted  at  one  operation  without  much  labour  or  great  expense, 
and  could  thus  be  alloyed  with  lead.  This  furnace  has  two  crucibles,  one  of 
which  is  half  inside  the  furnace  and  half  outside,  so  that  the  lead  being  put 
into  this  crucible,  the  part  of  the  lead  which  is  in  the  furnace  absorbs 
the  metals  of  the  ores  which  easily  fuse  ;  the  other  crucible  is  lower,  and 
the  alloy  and  the  molten  pyrites  run  into  it.  Those  who  make  use  of  this 
method  of  smelting,  tap  the  alloy  of  gold  or  silver  with  lead  from  the  upper 
crucible  once  or  twice  if  need  be,  and  throw  in  other  lead  or  litharge,  and 
each  absorbs  that  flux  which  is  nearest.  This  method  of  smelting  is  in  use 
in  Styria19. 

The  furnace  in  the  third  method  of  smelting  ores  has  the  tap-hole  like- 
wise open,  but  the  furnace  is  higher  and  wider  than  the  others,  and  its  bellows 
are  larger  ;  for  these  reasons  a  larger  charge  of  the  ore  can  be  thrown  into 
it.  When  the  mines  yield  a  great  abundance  of  ore  for  the  smelter,  they 
smelt  in  the  same  furnace  continuously  for  three  days  and  three  nights, 
providing  there  be  no  defect  either  in  the  hearth  or  in  the  forehearth.  In  this 
kind  of  a  furnace  almost  every  kind  of  accretion  will  be  found.  The  fore- 
hearth  of  the  furnace  is  not  unlike  the  forehearth  of  the  first  furnace  of  all, 
except  that  it  has  a  tap-hole.  However,  because  large  charges  of  ore 
are  smelted  uninterruptedly,  and  the  melted  material  runs  out  and  the  slags 
are  skimmed  off,  there  is  need  for  a  second  forehearth  crucible,  into  which  the 
molten  material  runs  through  an  opened  tap-hole  when  the  first  is  full.  When 
a  smelter  has  spent  twelve  hours'  labour  on  this  work,  another  always  takes  his 
place.  The  ores  of  copper  and  lead  and  the  poorest  ores  of  gold  and  silver 
are  smelted  by  this  method,  because  they  cannot  be  smelted  by  the  other 
three  methods  on  account  of  the  greater  expense  occasioned.  Yet  by  this 
method  a  centumpondium  of  ore  containing  only  one  or  two  drachmae  of 
gold,  or  only  a  half  to  one  uncia  of  silver,20  can  be  smelted  ;  because  there 
is  a  large  amount  of  ore  in  each  charge,  smelting  is  continuous,  and  without 
expensive  fluxes  such  as  lead,  litharge,  and  hearth-lead.  In  this  method 
of  smelting  we  must  use  only  cupriferous  pyrites  which  easily  melt  in  the 
fire,  in  truth  the  cakes  melted  out  from  this,  if  they  no  longer  absorb 

lsRhetos.  The  ancient  Rhaetia  comprised  not  only  the  greater  part  of  Tyrol, 
but  also  parts  of  Switzerland  and  Lombardy.  The  mining  section  was,  however,  in 
Tyrol. 

™Noricum  was  a  region  south  of  the  Danube,  embracing  not  only  modern  Styria,  but 
also  parts  of  Austria,  Salzberg,  and  Carinthia. 

*°One  drachma  of  gold  to  a  centumpondium  would  be  (if  we  assume  these  were  Roman 
weights)  3  ozs.  i  dwt.  Troy  per  short  ton.  One-half  uncia  of  silver  would  be  12  ozs.  3  dwts. 
per  short  ton. 


BOOK     IX. 


389 


A,    B — TWO    FURNACES.      C — TAP-HOLES     OF     FURNACES.      D — FOREHEARTHS.      E — THEIR 

TAP-HOLES.  F — DIPPING-POTS.  G — AT  THE  ONE  FURNACE  STANDS  THE  SMELTER  CARRYING 

A  WICKER  BASKET  FULL  OF  CHARCOAL.  AT  THE  OTHER  FURNACE  STANDS  A  SMELTER  WHO 
WITH  THE  THIRD  HOOKED  BAR  BREAKS  AWAY  THE  MATERIAL  WHICH  HAS  FROZEN  THE  TAP- 
HOLE  OF  THE  FURNACE.  H — HOOKED  BAR.  I — HEAP  OF  CHARCOAL.  K— BARROW  ON 
WHICH  IS  A  BOX  MADE  OF  WICKER  WORK  IN  WHICH  THE  COALS  ARE  MEASURED.  L — IRON 

SPADE. 


390  BOOK     IX. 

much  gold  or  silver,  are  replenished  again  from  crude  pyrites  alone.  If 
from  this  poor  ore,  with  melted  pyrites  alone,  material  for  cakes  cannot 
be  made,  there  are  added  other  fluxes  which  have  not  previously  been 
melted.  These  fluxes  are,  namely,  lead  ore,  stones  easily  fused  by  fire 
of  the  second  order  and  sand  made  from  them,  limestone,  tophus,  white 
schist,  and  iron  stone21. 

Although  this  method  of  smelting  ores  is  rough  and  might  not  seem  to 
be  of  great  use,  yet  it  is  clever  and  useful  ;  for  a  great  weight  of  ores,  in 
which  the  gold,  silver,  or  copper  are  in  small  quantities,  may  be  reduced  into 
a  few  cakes  containing  all  the  metal.  If  on  being  first  melted  they  are  too 
crude  to  be  suitable  for  the  second  melting,  in  which  the  lead  absorbs  the 
precious  metals  that  are  in  the  cakes,  or  in  which  the  copper  is  melted  out  of 
them,  yet  they  can  be  made  suitable  if  they  are  repeatedly  roasted,  some- 
times as  often  as  seven  or  eight  times,  as  I  have  explained  in  the  last  book. 
Smelters  of  this  kind  are  so  clever  and  expert,  that  in  smelting  they  take  out 
all  the  gold  and  silver  which  the  assayer  in  assaying  the  ores  has  stated  to  be 
contained  in  them,  because  if  during  the  first  operation,  when  he  makes  the 
cakes,  there  is  a  drachma  of  gold  or  half  an  uncia  of  silver  lost  from  the  ores, 
the  smelter  obtains  it  from  the  slags  by  the  second  smelting.  This  method  of 
smelting  ores  is  old  and  very  common  to  most  of  those  who  use  other  methods. 

Although  lead  ores  are  usually  smelted  in  the  third  furnace  —  whose  tap- 
hole  is  always  open,  —  yet  not  a  few  people  melt  them  in  special  furnaces  by  a 
method  which  I  will  briefly  explain.  The  Carni22  first  burn  such  lead  ores, 
and  afterward  break  and  crush  them  with  large  round  mallets.  Between 
the  two  low  walls  of  a  hearth,  which  is  inside  a  furnace  made  of  and  vaulted 
with  a  rock  that  resists  injury  by  the  fire  and  does  not  burn  into  chalk,  they 
place  green  wood  with  a  layer  of  dry  wood  on  the  top  of  it  ;  then  they  throw 
the  ore  on  to  this,  and  when  the  wood  is  kindled  the  lead  drips  down  and 
runs  on  to  the  underlying  sloping  hearth23.  This  hearth  is  made  of  pulverised 


discussion  of  these  fluxes  see  note  page  232. 

MCarni.     Probably  the  people  of  modern  Austrian  Carniola,  which  lies  south  of  Styria 
and  west  of  Croatia. 

^HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  SMELTING  LEAD  AND  SILVER.  —  The  history  of  lead  and  silver 
smelting  is  by  no  means  a  sequent  array  of  exact  facts.  With  one  possible  exception,  lead  does 
not  appear  upon  the  historical  horizon  until  long  after  silver,  and  yet  their  metallurgy  is  so 
inextricably  mixed  that  neither  can  be  considered  wholly  by  itself.  As  silver  does  not  occur 
native  in  any  such  quantities  as  would  have  supplied  the  amounts  possessed  by  the  Ancients, 
we  must,  therefore,  assume  its  reduction  by  either  (i)  intricate  chemical  processes,  (2)  amalga- 
mation, (3)  reduction  with  copper,  (4)  reduction  with  lead.  It  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  the 
first  with  the  ancient  knowledge  of  chemistry  ;  the  second  (see  note  12,  p.  297)  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  known  until  after  Roman  times  ;  in  any  event,  quicksilver  appears  only  at  about 
400  B.C.  The  third  was  impossible,  as  the  parting  of  silver  from  copper  without  lead  involves 
metallurgy  only  possible  during  the  last  century.  Therefore,  one  is  driven  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  fourth  case  obtained,  and  that  the  lead  must  have  been  known  practically  contem- 
poraneously with  silver.  There  is  a  leaden  figure  exhibited  in  the  British  Museum  among  the 
articles  recovered  from  the  Temple  of  Osiris  at  Abydos,  and  considered  to  be  of  the  Archaic 
period  —  prior  to  3800  B.C.  The  earliest  known  Egyptian  silver  appears  to  be  a  necklace 
of  beads,  supposed  to  be  of  the  XII.  Dynasty  (2400  B.C.),  which  is  described  in  the  iyth 
Memoir,  Egyptian  Exploration  Fund  (London,  1898,  p.  22).  With  this  exception  of  the 
above-mentioned  lead  specimen,  silver  articles  antedate  positive  evidence  of  lead  by  nearly  a 
millennium,  and  if  we  assume  lead  as  a  necessary  factor  in  silver  production,  we  must  conclude 
it  was  known  long  prior  to  any  direct  (except  the  above  solitary  possibility)  evidence  of  lead 
itself.  Further,  if  we  are  to  conclude  its  necessary  association  with  silver,  we  must  assume  a 
knowledge  of  cupellation  for  the  parting  of  the  two  metals.  Lead  is  mentioned  in  1500  B.C. 


I 


BOOK     IX.  391 

charcoal  and  earth,  as  is  also  a  large  crucible,  one-half  of  which  lies  under  the 
furnace  and  the  other  half  outside  it,  into  which  runs  the  lead.  The 
smelter,  having  first  skimmed  off  the  slags  and  other  things  with  a  hoe,  pours 
the  lead  with  a  ladle  into  moulds,  taking  out  the  cakes  after  they  have 
cooled.  At  the  back  of  the  furnace  is  a  rectangular  hole,  so  that  the  fire 
may  be  allowed  more  draught,  and  so  that  the  smelter  can  crawl  through  it 
into  the  furnace  if  necessity  demands. 

The  Saxons  who  inhabit  Gittelde,  when  smelting  lead  ore  in  a  furnace 
not  unlike  a  baking  oven,  put  the  wood  in  through  a  hole  at  the  back  of  the 
furnace,  and  when  it  begins  to  burn  vigorously  the  lead  trickles  out  of  the 
ore  into  a  forehearth.  When  this  is  full,  the  smelting  being  accomplished, 
the  tap-hole  is  opened  with  a  bar,  and  in  this  way  the  lead,  together  with  the 
slags,  runs  into  the  dipping-pots  below.  Afterward  the  cakes  of  lead,  when 
they  are  cold,  are  taken  from  the  moulds. 

In  Westphalia  they  heap  up  ten  wagon-loads  of  charcoal  on  some  hill- 
side which  adjoins  a  level  place,  and  the  top  of  the  heap  being  made  flat, 
straw  is  thrown  upon  it  to  the  thickness  of  three  or  four  digits.  On  the  top  of 

among  the  spoil  captured  by  Thotmes  III.  Leaden  objects  have  frequently  been  found  in 
Egyptian  tombs  as  early  as  Rameses  III.  (1200  B.C.).  The  statement  is  made  by  Pulsifer 
(Notes  for  a  History  of  Lead,  New  York  1888,  p.  146)  that  Egyptian  pottery  was  glazed  with 
lead.  We  have  been  unable  to  find  any  confirmation  of  this.  It  may  be  noted,  incidentally, 
that  lead  is  not  included  in  the  metals  of  the  "  Tribute  of  Yii  "  in  the  Shoo  King  (The  Chinese 
Classics,  2500  B.C.  ?),  although  silver  is  so  included. 

After  1200  or  1300  B.C.  evidences  of  the  use  of  lead  become  frequent.  Moses  (Numbers 
xxxi,  22-23)  directs  the  Israelites  with  regard  to  their  plunder  from  the  Midianites  (1300  B.C.)  : 
"  Only  the  gold  and  the  silver,  the  brass  [sic],  the  iron,  the  tin,  and  the  lead.  Everything 
"  that  may  abide  the  fire,  ye  shall  make  it  go  through  the  fire,  and  it  shall  be  clean  ;  neverthe- 
"  less,  it  shall  be  purified  with  the  water  of  separation,  and  all  that  abideth  not  the  fire  ye  shall 
"  make  go  through  the  water."  Numerous  other  references  occur  in  the  Scriptures  (Psalms 
xii,  6 ;  Proverbs  xvii,  3  ;  xxv.  4,  etc.),  one  of  the  most  pointed  from  a  metallur- 
gical point  of  view  being  that  of  Jeremiah  (600  B.C.),  who  says  (vi,  29-30)  :  "  The  bellows 
"  are  burned,  the  lead  is  consumed  of  the  fire  ;  the  founder  melteth  in  vain  ;  for  the  wicked 
"  are  not  plucked  away.  Reprobate  silver  shall  men  call  them  because  the  Lord  hath  rejected 
"  them."  From  the  number  of  his  metaphors  in  metallurgical  terms  we  may  well  conclude  that 
Jeremiah  was  of  considerable  metallurgical  experience,  which  may  account  for  his  critical 
tenor  of  mind.  These  Biblical  references  all  point  to  a  knowledge  of  separating  silver  and  lead. 
Homer  mentions  lead  (Iliad  xxiv,  109),  and  it  has  been  found  in  the  remains  of  ancient  Troy 
and  Mycenae  (H.  Schliemann,  "Troy  and  its  Remains,"  London,  1875.  and  "Mycenae," 
New  York,  1877).  Both  Herodotus  (i,  186)  and  Diodorus  (n,  i)  speak  of  the  lead  used 
to  fix  iron  clamps  in  the  stone  bridge  of  Nitocris  (600  B.C.)  at  Babylon. 

Our  best  evidence  of  ancient  lead-silver  metallurgy  is  the  result  of  the  studies  at  Mt. 
Laurion  by  Edouard  Ardaillon  (Mines  du  Laurion  dans  VAntiquite,  Paris,  1897).  Here  the  very 
extensive  old  workings  and  the  slag  heaps  testify  to  the  greatest  activity.  The  re-opening  of 
the  mines  in  recent  years  by  a  French  Company  has  well  demonstrated  their  technical  char- 
acter, and  the  frequent  mention  in  Greek  History  easily  determines  their  date.  These  deposits 
of  argentiferous  galena  were  extensively  worked  before  500  B.C.,  and  while  the  evidence  of 
concentration  methods  is  ample,  there  is  but  little  remaining  of  the  ancient  smelters.  Enough, 
however,  remains  to  demonstrate  that  the  galena  was  smelted  in  small  furnaces  at  low  heat, 
with  forced  draught,  and  that  it  was  subsequently  cupelled.  In  order  to  reduce  the  sulphides 
the  ancient  smelters  apparently  depended  upon  partial  roasting  in  the  furnace  at  a  pre- 
liminary period  in  reduction,  or  else  upon  the  ferruginous  character  of  the  ore,  or  upon 
both.  See  notes  p.  27  and  p.  265.  Theognis  (6th  century  B.C.)  and  Hippocrates  (5th  century 
B.C.)  are  frequently  referred  to  as  mentioning  the  refining  of  gold  with  lead  ;  an  inspec- 
tion of  the  passages  fails  to  corroborate  the  importance  which  has  been  laid  upon  them. 
Among  literary  evidences  upon  lead  metallurgy  of  later  date,  Theophrastus  (300  B.C.) 
describes  the  making  of  white-lead  with  lead  plates  and  vinegar.  Diodorus  Siculus  (ist 
century  B.C.),  in  his  well-known  quotation  from  Agatharchides  (2nd  century  B.C.)  with 
regard  to  gold  mining  and  treatment  in  Egypt,  describes  the  refining  of  gold  with  lead. 
(See  note  8  p.  279.)  Strabo  (63  B.C.— 24  A.D.)  says  (in,  2,  8)  :  "  The  furnaces  for 


392  BOOK     IX. 

this  is  laid  as  much  pure  lead  ore  as  the  heap  can  bear  ;  then  the  charcoal  is 
kindled,  and  when  the  wind  blows,  it  fans  the  fire  so  that  the  ore  is  smelted. 
In  this  wise  the  lead,  trickling  down  from  the  heap,  flows  on  to  the  level  and 
forms  broad  thin  slabs.  A  few  hundred  pounds  of  lead  ore  are  kept  at  hand, 
which,  if  things  go  well,  are  scattered  over  the  heap.  These  broad  slabs  are 
impure  and  are  laid  upon  dry  wood  which  in  turn  is  placed  on  green  wood 
laid  over  a  large  crucible,  and  the  former  having  been  kindled,  the  lead  is 
re-melted. 

The  Poles  use  a  hearth  of  bricks  four  feet  high,  sloping  on  both  sides  and 
plastered  with  lute.  On  the  upper  level  part  of  the  hearth  large  pieces  of 
wood  are  piled,  and  on  these  is  placed  small  wood  with  lute  put  in  between  ; 
over  the  top  are  laid  wood  shavings,  and  upon  these  again  pure  lead  ore 
covered  with  large  pieces  of  wood.  When  these  are  kindled,  the  ore  melts  and 

'  silver  are  constructed  lofty  in   order   that  the  vapour,  which  is  dense   and    pestilent, 
'  may  be  raised  and  carried  off."     And  again  (in,  2,  10),  in  quoting  from  Polybius  (204- 
125  B.C.)  :    "  Polybius,  speaking  of  the  silver  mines  of  New  Carthage,  tells  us  that  they 
'  are  extremely  large,  distant  from  the  city  about   20   stadia,  and  occupy  a  circuit  of  400 
'  stadia ;    that  there  are  40,000  men  regularly  engaged  in  them,  and  that  they  yield  daily 
'  to  the  Roman  people  (a  revenue  of)  25,000  drachmae.     The  rest  of  the  process  I  pass  over, 
'  as  it  is  too  long ;   but  as  for  the  silver  ore  collected,  he  tells  us  that  it  is  broken  up   and 
'  sifted  through  sieves  over  water  ;   that  what  remains  is  to  be  again  broken,  and  the  water 
'  having  been  strained  off-  it  is  to  be  sifted  and  broken  a  third  time.     The  dregs  which  remain 
'  after  the  fifth  time  are  to  be  melted,  and  the  lead  being  poured  off,  the  silver  is  obtained 
'  pure.     These  silver  mines  still  exist ;   however,  they  are  no  longer  the  property  of  the  State, 
'  neither  these  nor  those  elsewhere,  but  are  possessed  by  private  individuals.     The  gold 
'  mines,  on  the  contrary,  nearly  all  belong  to  the  State.     Both  at  Castlon  and  other  places  there 
'  are  singular  lead  mines  worked.     They  contain  a  small  proportion  of  silver,  but  not  sufficient 
'  to  pay  for  the  expense  of  refining  "  (Hamilton's  Trans.).     Dioscorides  (ist  century  A.D.), 
among  his  medicines,  describes  several  varieties  of  litharge,  their  origin,  and  the  manner  of 
making  white-lead  (see  on  pp.  465,  440),  but  he  gives  no  very  tangible  information  on  lead 
smelting.     Pliny,  at  the  same  period  in  speaking  of  silver,  (xxxm,  31),  says  :    "  After  this 
'  we  speak  of  silver,  the  next  folly.     Silver  is  only  found  in  shafts,  there  being  no  indications 
'  like  shining  particles  as  in  the  case  of  gold.     This  earth  is  sometimes  red,  sometimes  of  an 
'  ashy  colour.     It  is  impossible  to  melt  it  except  with  lead  ore  (vena  plumbi),  called  galena, 
'  which  is  generally  found  next  to  silver  veins.     And  this  the  same  agency  of  fire  separates 
'  part  into  lead,  which  floats  on  the  silver  like  oil  on  water."     (We  have  transferred  lead  and 
silver  in  this  last  sentence,  otherwise  it  means  nothing.)     Also  (xxxiv,  47)  he  says  :  "  There 
'  are  two  different  sources  of  lead,  it  being  smelted  from  its  own  ore,  whence  it  comes  without 
'  the  admixture  of  any  other  substance,  or  else  from  an  ore  which  contains  it  in  common 
'  with  silver.    The  metal,  which  flows  liquid  at  the  first  melting  in  the  furnace,  is  called 
'  stannum  that  at  the  second  melting  is  silver  ;   that  which  remains  in  the  furnace  is  galena, 
'  which  is  added  to  a  third  part  of  the  ore.       This  being  again  melted,  produces  lead  with 
'  a  deduction  of  two-ninths."      We  have,  despite  some  grammatical  objections,  rendered 
this  passage  quite  differently  from  other  translators,  none  of  whom  have  apparently  had  any 
knowledge  of  metallurgy  ;  and  we  will  not,  therefore,  take  the  several  pages  of  space  necessary 
to  refute  their  extraordinary  and  unnecessary  hypotheses.     From  a  metallurgical  point  of 
view,  two  facts  must  be  kept  in  mind, — first,  that  galena  in  this  instance  was  the  same  sub- 
stance as  molybdaena,  and  they  were  both  either  a  variety  of  litharge  or  of  lead  carbonates  ; 
second,  that  the  stannum  of  the  Ancients  was  silver-lead  alloy.   Therefore,  the  metallurgy  of 
this  paragraph  becomes  a  simple  melting  of  an  argentiferous  lead  ore,  its  subsequent  cupellation, 
with  a  return  of  the  litharge  to  the  furnace.     Pliny  goes  into  considerable  detail  as  to  varieties 
of  litharge,  for  further  notes  upon  which  see  p.  466.    The  Romans  were  most  active  lead-silver 
miners,  not  only  in  Spain,  but  also  in  Britain.     There  are  scores  of  lead  pigs  of  the  Roman  era 
in  various  English  museums,  many  marked  "  ex  argent."     Bruce  (The  Roman  Wall,  London, 
1852,  p.  432)  describes  some  Roman  lead  furnaces  in  Cumberland  where  the  draught  was 
secured  by  driving  a  tapering  tunnel  into  the  hills.     The  Roman  lead  slag  ran  high  in  metal, 
and  formed  a  basis  for  quite  an  industry  in  England  in  the  early  i8th  century  (Hunt,  British 
Mining,  London,  1887,  p.  26,  etc.).     There  is  nothing  in  mediaeval  literature  which  carries  us 
further  with  lead  metallurgy  than  the  knowledge  displayed  by  Pliny,  until  we  arrive  at  Agri- 
cola's  period.     The  history  of  cupellation  is  specially  dealt  with  in  note  on  p.  465. 


BOOK    IX. 


393 


,,,,A .\ v, ,v.  ,.\:.  ...\, 


A— FURNACE  OF  THE  GARNI.  B — Low  WALL.  C— WOOD.  D— ORE  DRIPPING  LEAD. 
E — LARGE  CRUCIBLE.  F— MOULDS.  G — LADLE.  H— SLABS  OF  LEAD.  I— RECTANGULAR 

HOLE  AT  THE  BACK  OF  THE  FURNACE.  K — SAXON  FURNACE.  L — OPENING  IN  THE  BACK 
OF  THE  FURNACE.  M— WOOD.  N — UPPER  CRUCIBLE.  O — DlPPING-POT.  P — WESTPHALIAN 
METHOD  OF  MELTING.  Q— HEAPS  OF  CHARCOAL.  R — STRAW.  S — WlDE  SLABS. 

T — CRUCIBLES.    V — POLISH  HEARTH. 


394  BOOK     IX. 

runs  down  on  to  the  lower  layer  of  wood  ;  and  when  this  is  consumed  by 
the  fire,  the  metal  is  collected.  If  necessity  demand,  it  is  melted  over  and 
over  again  in  the  same  manner,  but  it  is  finally  melted  by  means  of  wood 
laid  over  the  large  crucible,  the  slabs  of  lead  being  placed  upon  it. 

The  concentrates  from  washing  are  smelted  together  with  slags  (fluxes  ?) 
in  a  third  furnace,  of  which  the  tap-hole  is  always  open. 

It  is  worth  while  to  build  vaulted  dust-chambers  over  the  furnaces, 
especially  over  those  in  which  the  precious  ores  are  to  be  smelted,  in  order 
that  the  thicker  part  of  the  fumes,  in  which  metals  are  not  wanting,  may  be 
caught  and  saved.  In  this  way  two  or  more  furnaces  are  combined  under  the 
same  vaulted  ceiling,  which  is  supported  by  the  wall,  against  which  the 
furnaces  are  built,  and  by  four  columns.  Under  this  the  smelters  of  the 
ore  perform  their  work.  There  are  two  openings  through  which  the  fumes 
rise  from  the  furnaces  into  the  wide  vaulted  chamber,  and  the  wider  this  is  the 
more  fumes  it  collects  ;  in  the  middle  of  this  chamber  over  the  arch  is  an  opening 
three  palms  high  and  two  wide.  This  catches  the  fumes  of  both  furnaces, 
which  have  risen  up  from  both  sides  of  the  vaulted  chamber  to  its  arch,  and 
have  fallen  again  because  they  could  not  force  their  way  out ;  and  they  thus 
pass  out  through  the  opening  mentioned,  into  the  chimney  which  the  Greeks 
call  KawvoSoxn,  the  name  being  taken  from  the  object.  The  chimney  has 
thin  iron  plates  fastened  into  the  walls,  to  which  the  thinner  metallic  sub- 
stances adhere  when  ascending  with  the  fumes.  The  thicker  metallic 
substances,  or  cadmia,Z5  adhere  to  the  vaulted  chamber,  and  often 
harden  into  stalactites.  On  one  side  of  the  chamber  is  a  window  in  which 
are  set  panes  of  glass,  so  that  the  light  may  be  transmitted,  but  the  fumes 
kept  in  ;  on  the  other  side  is  a  door,  which  is  kept  entirely  closed  while  the 
ores  are  being  smelted  in  the  furnaces,  so  that  none  of  the  fumes  may  escape. 
It  is  opened  in  order  that  the  workman,  passing  through  it,  may  be  enabled 
to  enter  the  chamber  and  remove  the  soot  and  pompholyx26  and  chip  off 

ZbCadmia.     In  the  German  Translation  this  is  given  as  kobelt.    It  would  be  of  uncertain 
character,  but  no  doubt  partially  furnace  calamine.     (See  note  on  p.  112.) 

zePompholyx  (Interpretatio  gives  the  German  as  Weisser  hutten  ranch  als  ober  dem  garherde 
und  ober  dem  kupfer  ofen).     This  was  the  impure  protoxide  of  zinc  deposited  in  the  furnace 
outlets,   and  is   modern     "  tutty."     The   ancient  products,   no   doubt,   contained   arsenical 
oxides  as  well.     It  was  well  known  to  the  Ancients,  and  used  extensively  for  medicinal  pur- 
poses, they  dividing  it  into  two  species — pompholyx  and  spodos.    The  first  adequate  des- 
cription is  by  Dioscorides  (v,  46) :    "  Pompholyx  differs  from  spodos  in  species,  not  in  genus. 
'  For  spodos  is  blacker,  and  is  often  heavier,  full  of  straws  and  hairs,  like  the  refuse  that  is 
'  swept  from  the  floors  of  copper  smelters.     But  pompholyx  is  fatty,  unctuous,  white  and  light 
'  enough  to  fly  in  the  air.     Of  this  there  are  two  kinds — the  one  inclines  to  sky  blue  and  is 
'  unctuous  ;    the  other  is  exceedingly  white,  and  is  extremely  light.     White  pompholyx  is 
'  made  every  time  that  the  artificer,  in  the  preparation  and  perfecting  of  copper  (brass  ?) 
'  sprinkles  powdered  cadmia  upon  it  to  make  it  more  perfect,  for  the  soot  which  rises  being 
'  very  fine  becomes  pompholyx.     Other  pompholyx  is  made,   not  only  in   working  copper 
'  (brass  ?),  but  is  also  made  from  cadmia  by  continually  blowing  with  bellows.     The  manner 
'  of  doing  it  is  as  follows  : — The  furnace  is  constructed  in  a  two-storied  building,  and  there 
'  is  a  medium-sized  aperture  opening  to  the  upper  chamber  ;    the  building  wall  nearest  the 
'  furnace  is  pierced  with  a  small  opening  to  admit  the  nozzle  of  the  bellows.     The  building  must 
'  have  a  fair-sized  door  for  the  artificer  to  pass  in  and  out.     Another  small  building  must 
'  adjoin  this,  in  which  are  the  bellows  and  the  man  who  works  them.     Then  the  charcoal 
'  in  the  furnace  is  lighted,  and  the  artificer  continually  throws  broken  bits  of  cadmia  from 
'  the  place  above  the  furnace,  whilst  his  assistant,  who  is  below,  throws  in  charcoals,  until 
'  all  of  the  cadmia  inside  is  consumed.     By  this  means  the  finest  and  lightest  part  of  the 


I 


BOOK     IX. 


A — FURNACES.     B — VAULTED  ROOF.    C— COLUMNS.     D — DUST-CHAMBER.     E — OPENING. 
F — CHIMNEY.     G — WINDOW.     H — DOOR.     I — CHUTE. 


396  BOOK     IX. 

the  cadmia  ;  this  sweeping  is  done  twice  a  year.  The  soot  mixed  with 
pompholyx  and  the  cadmia,  being  chipped  off,  is  thrown  down  through 
a  long  chute  made  of  four  boards  joined  in  the  shape  of  a  rectangle, 
that  they  should  not  fly  away.  They  fall  on  to  the  floor,  and  are  sprinkled 
with  salt  water,  and  are  again  smelted  with  ore  and  litharge,  and  become 
an  emolument  to  the  proprietors.  Such  chambers,  which  catch  the  metallic 
substances  that  rise  with  the  fumes,  are  profitable  for  all  metalliferous 
ores  ;  but  especially  for  the  minute  metallic  particles  collected  by  washing 
crushed  ores  and  rock,  because  these  usually  fly  out  with  the  fire  of  the 
furnaces. 

I  have  explained  the  four  general  methods  of  smelting  ores  ;  now  I 
will  state  how  the  ores  of  each  metal  are  smelted,  or  how  the  metal  is  obtained 
from  the  ore.  I  will  begin  with  gold.  Its  sand,  the  concentrates  from 
washing,  or  the  gold  dust  collected  in  any  other  manner,  should  very  often 
not  be  smelted,  but  should  be  mixed  with  quicksilver  and  washed  with  tepid 
water,  so  that  all  the  impurities  may  be  eliminated.  This  method  I  ex- 
plained in  Book  VII.  Or  they  are  placed  in  the  aqua  which  separates 
gold  from  silver,  for  this  also  separates  its  impurities.  In  this  method  we 
see  the  gold  sink  in  the  glass  ampulla,  and  after  all  the  aqua  has  been  drained 
from  the  particles,  it  frequently  remains  as  a  gold-coloured  residue  at  the 
bottom  ;  this  powder,  when  it  has  been  moistened  with  oil  made  from 
argol27,  is  then  dried  and  placed  in  a  crucible,  where  it  is  melted  with  borax 
or  with  saltpetre  and  salt  ;  or  the  same  very  fine  dust  is  thrown  into  molten 
silver,  which  absorbs  it,  and  from  this  it  is  again  parted  by  aqua  valens28. 

It  is  necessary  to  smelt  gold  ore  either  outside  the  blast  furnace  in  a 
crucible,  or  inside  the  blast  furnace ;  in  the  former  case  a  small  charge  of  ore 
is  used,  in  the  latter  a  large  charge  of  it.  Rudis  gold,  of  whatever  colour 
it  is,  is  crushed  with  a  libra  each  of  sulphur  and  salt,  a  third  of  a  libra  of  copper, 

stuff  flies  up  with  the  smoke  to  the  upper  chamber,  and  adheres  to  the  walls  of  the  roof. 
The  substance  which  is  thus  formed  has  at  first  the  appearance  of  bubbles  on  water,  after- 
ward increasing  in  size,  it  looks  like  skeins  of  wool.     The  heaviest  parts  settle  in  the  bottom, 
while  some  fall  over  and  around  the  furnaces,  and  some  lie  on  the  floor  of  the  building. 
This  latter  part  is  considered  inferior,  as  it  contains  a  lot  of  earth  and  becomes  full  of  dirt." 
Pliny   (xxxiv,   33)    appears    somewhat   confused   as   to  the  difference  between  the 
two  species  :    "  That  which  is  called  pompholyx  and  spodos  is  found  in  the  copper-smelting 
furnaces,  the  difference  between  them  being  that  pompholyx  is  separated  by  washing,  while 
spodos  is  not  washed.     Some  have  called  that  which  is  white  and  very  light  pompholyx,  and 
it  is  the  soot  of  copper  and  cadmia  ;   whereas  spodos  is  darker  and  heavier.     It  is  scraped 
from  the  walls  of  the  furnace,  and  is  mixed  with  particles  of  metal,  and  sometimes  with 
charcoal."     (xxxiv,  34.)      "  The  Cyprian    spodos  is   the  best.     It  is  formed   by  fusing 
cadmia  with  copper  ore.     This  being  the  lightest  part  of  the  metal,  it  flies  up  in  the  fumes 
from  the  furnace,  and  adheres  to  the  roof,  being  distinguished  from  the  soot  by  its  whiteness. 
That  which  is  less  white  is  immature  from  the  furnace,  and  it  is  this  which  some  call  '  pom- 
pholyx.' '      Agricola  (De  Natura  Fossilium,  p.  350)  traverses  much  the  same  ground  as  the 
authors  previously  quoted,  and  especially  recommends  the  pompholyx  produced  when  making 
brass  by  melting  alternate  layers  of  copper  and  calamine  (cadmia  fossilis). 

"Oleo,  ex  fece  vini  sicca  confecto.  This  oil,  made  from  argol,  is  probably  the 
same  substance  mentioned  a  few  lines  further  on  as  "  wine,"  distilled  by  heating  argol  in  a 
retort.  Still  further  on,  salt  made  from  argol  is  mentioned.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  this 
argol  was  crude  tartrates  from  wine  vats,  and  probably  contained  a  good  deal  of  organic 
matter.  Heating  argol  sufficiently  would  form  potash,  but  that  the  distillation  product  could 
be  anything  effective  it  is  difficult  to  see. 

Z8Aqua  valens.  No  doubt  mainly  nitric  acid,  the  preparation  of  which  is  explained 
at  length  in  Book  X,  p.  439). 


BOOK     IX.  397 

and  a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  argol  ;  they  should  be  melted  in  a  crucible  on  a 
slow  fire  for  three  hours,  then  the  alloy  is  put  into  molten  silver  that  it 
may  melt  more  rapidly.  Or  a  libra  of  the  same  crude  gold,  crushed  up,  is 
mixed  together  with  half  a  libra  of  stibium  likewise  crushed,  and  put 
into  a  crucible  with  half  an  uncia  of  copper  filings,  and  heated  until  they 
melt,  then  a  sixth  part  of  granulated  lead  is  thrown  into  the  same  crucible. 
As  soon  as  the  mixture  emits  an  odour,  iron-filings  are  added  to  it,  or  if  these 
are  not  at  hand,  iron  hammer-scales,  for  both  of  these  break  the  strength  of 
the  stibium.  When  the  fire  consumes  it,  not  alone  with  it  is  some  strength 
of  the  stibium  consumed,  but  some  particles  of  gold  and  also  of  silver,  if  it 
be  mixed  with  the  gold29.  When  the  button  has  been  taken  out  of  the 
crucible  and  cooled,  it  is  melted  in  a  cupel,  first  until  the  antimony  is  exhaled, 
and  thereafter  until  the  lead  is  separated  from  it. 

Crushed  pyrites  which  contains  gold  is  smelted  in  the  same  way  ;  it 
and  the  stibium  should  be  of  equal  weight,  and  in  truth  the  gold  may  be 
made  from  them  in  a  number  of  different  ways30.  One  part  of  crushed 
material  is  mixed  with  six  parts  of  copper,  one  part  of  sulphur,  half  a  part  of 
salt,  and  they  are  all  placed  in  a  pot  and  over  them  is  poured  wine  distilled 
by  heating  liquid  argol  in  an  ampulla.  The  pot  is  covered  and  smeared 
over  with  lute  and  is  put  in  a  hot  place,  so  that  the  mixture  moistened  with 
wine  may  dry  for  the  space  of  six  days,  then  it  is  heated  for  three  hours  over 
a  gentle  fire  that  it  may  combine  more  rapidly  with  the  lead.  Finally  it  is  put 
into  a  cupel  and  the  gold  is  separated  from  the  lead31. 

Or  else  one  libra  of  the  concentrates  from  washing  pyrites,  or  other  stones 
to  which  gold  adheres,  is  mixed  with  half  a  libra  of  salt,  half  a  libra  of  argol, 
a  third  of  a  libra  of  glass-galls,  a  sixth  of  a  libra  of  gold  or  silver  slags,  and  a 
sicilicus  of  copper.  The  crucible  into  which  these  are  put,  after  it  has  been 
covered  with  a  lid,  is  sealed  with  lute  and  placed  in  a  small  furnace  that  is 
provided  with  small  holes  through  which  the  air  is  drawn  in,  and  then  it  is 
heated  until  it  turns  red  and  the  substances  put  in  have  alloyed  ;  this  should 
take  place  within  four  or  five  hours.  The  alloy  having  cooled,  it  is  again 
crushed  to  powder  and  a  pound  of  litharge  is  added  to  it  ;  then  it  is  heated 
again  in  another  crucible  until  it  melts.  The  button  is  taken  out,  purged  of 
slag,  and  placed  in  a  cupel,  where  the  gold  is  separated  from  the  lead. 

*9Quod  cum  ignis  consumil  non  modo  una  cum  eo,  quae  ipsius  stibii  vis  est,  aliqua  auri 
particula,  sed  etiam  argenti,  si  cum  auro  fuerit  permistum,  consumitur.  The  meaning  is  by  no 
means  clear.  On  p.  451  is  set  out  the  old  method  of  parting  silver  from  gold  with  antimony 
sulphide,  of  which  this  may  be  a  variation.  The  silver  combines  with  sulphur,  and  the  reduced 
antimony  forms  an  alloy  with  the  gold.  The  added  iron  and  copper  would  also  combine  with 
the  sulphur  from  the  antimony  sulphide,  and  no  doubt  assist  by  increasing  the  amount  of  free 
collecting  agent  and  by  increasing  the  volume  of  the  matte.  (See  note  17,  p.  451.) 

3  "There  follow  eight  different  methods  of  treating  crude  bullion  or  rich  concentrates. 
In  a  general  way  three  methods  are  involved, — 1st,  reduction  with  lead  or  antimony,  and 
cupellation  ;  2nd,  reduction  with  silver,  and  separation  with  nitric  acid  ;  3rd,  reduction 
with  lead  and  silver,  followed  by  cupellation  and  parting  with  nitric  acid.  The  use  of  sulphur 
or  antimony  sulphide  would  tend  to  part  out  a  certain  amount  of  silver,  and  thus  obtain 
fairly  pure  bullion  upon  cupellation.  But  the  introduction  of  copper  could  only  result 
deleteriously,  except  that  it  is  usually  accompanied  by  sulphur  in  some  form,  and  would  thus 
probably  pass  off  harmlessly  as  a  matte  carrying  silver.  (See  note  33  below.) 

31It  is  not  very  clear  where  this  lead  comes  from.  Should  it  be  antimony  ?  The 
German  translation  gives  this  as  "  silver." 

28 


398  BOOK     IX. 

Or  to  a  libra  of  the  powder  prepared  from  such  metalliferous 
concentrates,  is  added  a  libra  each  of  salt,  of  saltpetre,  of  argol,  and  of 
glass-galls,  and  it  is  heated  until  it  melts.  When  cooled  and  crushed,  it  is  washed, 
then  to  it  is  added  a  libra  of  silver,  a  third  of  copper  filings,  a  sixth  of  litharge, 
and  it  is  likewise  heated  again  until  it  melts.  After  the  button  has  been 
purged  of  slag,  it  is  put  into  the  cupel,  and  the  gold  and  silver  are  separated 
from  the  lead  ;  the  gold  is  parted  from  the  silver  with  aqua  valens.  Or  else 
a  libra  of  the  powder  prepared  from  such  metalliferous  concentrates, 
a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  copper  filings,  and  two  librae  of  that  second  powder32 
which  fuses  ores,  are  heated  until  they  melt.  The  mixture  when  cooled  is  again 
reduced  to  powder,  roasted  and  washed,  and  in  this  manner  a  blue  powder  is 
obtained.  Of  this,  and  silver,  and  that  second  powder  which  fuses  ores,  a 
libra  each  are  taken,  together  with  three  librae  of  lead,  and  a  quarter  of  a 
libra  of  copper,  and  they  are  heated  together  until  they  melt ;  then  the 
button  is  treated  as  before.  Or  else  a  libra  of  the  powder  prepared  from 
such  metalliferous  concentrates,  half  a  libra  of  saltpetre,  and  a  quarter  of  a 
libra  of  salt  are  heated  until  they  melt.  The  alloy  when  cooled  is  again 
crushed  to  powder,  one  libra  of  which  is  absorbed  by  four  pounds  of  molten 
silver.  Or  else  a  libra  of  the  powder  made  from  that  kind  of  concentrates, 
together  with  a  libra  of  sulphur,  a  libra  and  a  half  of  salt,  a  third  of  a  libra  of 
salt  made  from  argol,  and  a  third  of  a  libra  of  copper  resolved  into  powder 
with  sulphur,  are  heated  until  they  melt.  Afterward  the  lead  is  re-melted, 
and  the  gold  is  separated  from  the  other  metals.  Or  else  a  libra  of  the 
powder  of  this  kind  of  concentrates,  together  with  two  librae  of  salt,  half  a 
libra  of  sulphur,  and  one  libra  of  litharge,  are  heated,  and  from  these  the 
gold  is  melted  out.  By  these  and  similar  methods  concentrates  containing 
gold,  if  there  be  a  small  quantity  of  them  or  if  they  are  very  rich,  can  be 
smelted  outside  the  blast  furnace. 

If  there  be  much  of  them  and  they  are  poor,  then  they  are  smelted  in  the 
blast  furnace,  especially  the  ore  which  is  not  crushed  to  powder,  and  particularly 
when  the  gold  mines  yield  an  abundance  of  it33.  The  gold  concentrates  mixed 
with  litharge  and  hearth-lead,  to  which  are  added  iron-scales,  are  smelted  in  the 
blast  furnace  whose  tap-hole  is  intermittently  closed,  or  else  in  the  first  or  the 
second  furnaces  in  which  the  tap-hole  is  always  open.  In  this  manner  an 

8ZThese  powders  are  described  in  Book  VII.,  p.  236.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  the 
second  really  is.  There  are  numbers  of  such  recipes  in  the  Probierbuchlein  (see  Appendix  B), 
with  which  a  portion  of  these  are  identical. 

33A  variety  of  methods  are  involved  in  this  paragraph  :  ist,  crude  gold  ore  is  smelted 
direct ;  2nd,  gold  concentrates  are  smelted  in  a  lead  bath  with  some  addition  of  iron — which 
would  simply  matte  off — the  lead  bullion  being  cupelled  ;  3rd,  roasted  and  unroasted  pyrites 
and  cadmia  (probably  blende,  cobalt,  arsenic,  etc.)  are  melted  into  a  matte ;  this  matte  is 
repeatedly  roasted,  and  then  re-melted  in  a  lead  bath  ;  4th,  if  the  material  "  flies  out  of  the 
furnace  "  it  is  briquetted  with  iron  ore  and  lime,  and  the  briquettes  smelted  with  copper 
matte.  Three  products  result :  (a)  slag ;  (b)  matte ;  (c)  copper-gold-silver  alloy.  The 
matte  is  roasted,  re-smelted  with  lead,  and  no  doubt  a  button  obtained,  and  further  matte. 
The  process  from  this  point  is  not  clear.  It  appears  that  the  copper  bullion  is  melted  with 
lead,  and  normally  this  product  would  be  taken  to  the  liquation  furnace,  but  from  the  text  it 
would  appear  that  the  lead-copper  bullion  was  melted  again  with  iron  ore  and  pyrites,  in 
which  case  some  of  the  copper  would  be  turned  into  the  matte,  and  the  lead  alloy  would  be 
richer  in  gold  and  silver. 


I 


I 


BOOK     IX.  399 

alloy  of  gold  and  lead  is  obtained  which  is  put  into  the  cupellation  furnace. 
Two  parts  of  roasted  pyrites  or  cadmia  which  contain  gold,  are  put  with 
one  part  of  unroasted,  and  are  smelted  together  in  the  third  furnace  whose 
tap-hole  is  always  open,  and  are  made  into  cakes.  When  these  cakes  have 
been  repeatedly  roasted,  they  are  re-smelted  in  the  furnace  whose  tap- 
hole  is  temporarily  closed,  or  in  one  of  the  two  others  whose  tap-holes  are 
always  open.  In  this  manner  the  lead  absorbs  the  gold,  whether  pure  or 
argentiferous  or  cupriferous,  and  the  alloy  is  taken  to  the  cupellation 
furnace.  Pyrites,  or  other  gold  ore  which  is  mixed  with  much  material  that 
is  consumed  by  fire  and  flies  out  of  the  furnace,  is  melted  with  stone  from 
which  iron  is  melted,  if  this  is  at  hand.  Six  parts  of  such  pyrites,  or  of  gold 
ore  reduced  to  powder  and  sifted,  four  of  stone  from  which  iron  is  made,  like- 
wise crushed,  and  three  of  slaked  lime,  are  mixed  together  and  moistened 
with  water  ;  to  these  are  added  two  and  a  half  parts  of  the  cakes  which 
contain  some  copper,  together  with  one  and  a  half  parts  of  slag.  A  basket- 
ful of  fragments  of  the  cakes  is  thrown  into  the  furnace,  then  the  mixture 
of  other  things,  and  then  the  slag.  Now  when  the  middle  part  of  the 
forehearth  is  filled  with  the  molten  material  which  runs  down  from  the 
furnace,  the  slags  are  first  skimmed  off,  and  then  the  cakes  made  of  pyrites  ; 
afterward  the  alloy  of  copper,  gold  and  silver,  which  settles  at  the  bottom, 
is  taken  out.  The  cakes  are  gently  roasted  and  re-smelted  with  lead,  and 
made  into  cakes,  which  are  carried  to  other  works.  The  alloy  of  copper, 
gold,  and  silver  is  not  roasted,  but  is  re-melted  again  in  a  crucible  with  an 
equal  portion  of  lead.  Cakes  are  also  made  much  richer  in  copper  and  gold 
than  those  I  spoke  of.  In  order  that  the  alloy  of  gold  and  silver  may  be 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  GOLD. — There  is  ample  evidence  of  gold  being  used  for  ornamental 
purposes  prior  to  any  human  record.  The  occurrence  of  large  quantities  of  gold  in  native 
form,  and  the  possibility  of  working  it  cold,  did  not  necessitate  any  particular  metallurgical 
ingenuity.  The  earliest  indications  of  metallurgical  work  are,  of  course,  among  the 
Egyptians,  the  method  of  washing  being  figured  as  early  as  the  monuments  of  the  IV 
Dynasty  (prior  to  3800  B.C.).  There  are  in  the  British  Museum  two  stelae  of  the  XII  Dynasty 
(2400  B.C.)  (144  Bay  i  and  145  Bay  6)  relating  to  officers  who  had  to  do  with  gold  mining  in 
Nubia,  and  upon  one  there  are  references  to  working  what  appears  to  be  ore.  If  this  be  true, 
it  is  the  earliest  reference  to  this  subject.  The  Papyrus  map  (1500  B.C.)  of  a  gold  mine,  in 
the  Turin  Museum  (see  note  16,  p.  129),  probably  refers  to  a  quartz  mine.  Of  literary  evidences 
there  is  frequent  mention  of  refining  gold  and  passing  it  through  the  fire  in  the  Books  of  Moses, 
arts  no  doubt  learned  from  the  Egyptians.  As  to  working  gold  ore  as  distinguished  from 
alluvial,  we  have  nothing  very  tangible,  unless  it  be  the  stelae  above,  until  the  description  of 
Egyptian  gold  mining  by  Agatharcides  (see  note  8,  p.  279).  This  geographer,  of  about  the 
2nd  century  B.C.,  describes  very  clearly  indeed  the  mining,  crushing,  and  concentration  of  ore 
and  the  refining  of  the  concentrates  in  crucibles  with  lead,  salt,  and  barley  bran.  We  may 
mention  in  passing  that  Theognis  (6th  Century  B.C.)  is  often  quoted  as  mentioning  the 
refining  of  gold  with  lead,  but  we  do  not  believe  that  the  passage  in  question  (1101)  : 
"  But  having  been  put  to  the  test  and  being  rubbed  beside  (or  against)  lead  as  being  refined 
"  gold,  you  will  be  fair,"  etc.  ;  or  much  the  same  statement  again  (418)  will  stand  much 
metallurgical  interpretation.  In  any  event,  the  myriads  of  metaphorical  references  to  fining 
and  purity  of  gold  in  the  earliest  shreds  of  literature  do  not  carry  us  much  further  than  do  those 
of  Shakespeare  or  Milton.  Vitruvius  and  Pliny  mention  the  recovery  or  refining  of  gold  with 
mercury  (see  note  12,  p.  297  on  Amalgamation)  ;  and  it  appears  to  us  that  gold  was  parted 
from  silver  by  cementation  with  salt  prior  to  the  Christian  era.  We  first  find  mention  of  parting 
with  sulphur  in  the  I2th  century,  with  nitric  acid  prior  to  the  I4th  century,  by  antimony 
sulphide  prior  to  the  I5th  century,  and  by  cementation  with  nitre  by  Agricola.  (See  historical 
note  on  parting  gold  and  silver,  p.  458.)  The  first  mention  of  parting  gold  from  copper  occurs 
in  the  early  i6th  century  (see  note  24,  p.  462).  The  first  comprehensive  description  of  gold 
metallurgy  in  all  its  branches  is  in  De  Re  Metallica. 


400  BOOK     IX. 

made  richer,  to  eighteen  librae  of  it  are  added  forty-eight  librae  of  crude 
ore,  three  librae  of  the  stone  from  which  iron  is  made,  and  three-quarters 
of  a  libra  of  the  cakes  made  from  pyrites,  and  mixed  with  lead,  all  are 
heated  together  in  the  crucible  until  they  melt.  When  the  slag  and  the 
cakes  melted  from  pyrites  have  been  skimmed  off,  the  alloy  is  carried  to 
other  furnaces. 

There  now  follows  silver,  of  which  the  native  silver  or  the  lumps  of  rudis 
silver34  obtained  from  the  mines  are  not  smelted  in  the  blast  furnaces,  but  in 
small  iron  pans,  of  which  I  will  speak  at  the  proper  place  ;  these  lumps 
are  heated  and  thrown  into  molten  silver-lead  alloy  in  the  cupellation  furnace 
when  the  silver  is  being  separated  from  the  lead,  and  refined.  The  tiny  flakes 
or  tiny  lumps  of  silver  adhering  to  stones  or  marble  or  rocks,  or  again  the 
same  little  lumps  mixed  with  earth,  or  silver  not  pure  enough,  should  be 
smelted  in  the  furnace  of  which  the  tap-hole  is  only  closed  for  a  short  time, 
together  with  cakes  melted  from  pyrites,  with  silver  slags,  and  with  stones 
which  easily  fuse  in  fire  of  the  second  order. 

In  order  that  particles  of  silver  should  not  fly  away35  from  the  lumps 
of  ore  consisting  of  minute  threads  of  pure  silver  and  twigs  of  native  silver, 
they  are  enclosed  in  a  pot,  and  are  placed  in  the  same  furnace  where  the  rest  of 
the  silver  ores  are  being  smelted.  Some  people  smelt  lumps  of  native  silver 
not  sufficiently  pure,  in  pots  or  triangular  crucibles,  whose  lids  are  sealed  with 
lute.  They  do  not  place  these  pots  in  the  blast  furnace,  but  arrange  them  in 
the  assay  furnace  into  which  the  draught  of  the  air  blows  through  small  holes. 
To  one  part  of  the  native  silver  they  add  three  parts  of  powdered  litharge,  as 
many  parts  of  hearth-lead,  half  a  part  of  galena36,  and  a  small  quantity  of 
salt  and  iron-scales.  The  alloy  which  settles  at  the  bottom  of  the  other 
substances  in  the  pot  is  carried  to  the  cupellation  furnace,  and  the  slags  are 
re-melted  with  the  other  silver  slags.  They  crush  under  the  stamps  and 
wash  the  pots  or  crucibles  to  which  silver-lead  alloy  or  slags  adhere,  and 
having  collected  the  concentrates  they  smelt  them  together  with  the  slags. 
This  method  of  smelting  rudis  silver,  if  there  is  a  small  quantity  of  it,  is  the 
best,  because  the  smallest  portion  of  silver  does  not  fly  out  of  the  pot  or  the 
crucible,  and  get  lost. 

If  bismuth  ore  or  antimony  ore  or  lead  ore37  contains  silver,  it  is 
smelted  with  the  other  ores  of  silver ;  likewise  galena  or  pyrites,  if  there  is 
a  small  amount  of  it.  If  there  be  much  galena,  whether  it  contain  a  large 
or  a  small  amount  of  silver,  it  is  smelted  separately  from  the  others ; 
which  process  I  will  explain  a  little  further  on. 

**Rudis  silver  comprised  all  fairly  pure  silver  ores,  such  as  silver  sulphides,  chlorides, 
arsenides,  etc.  This  is  more  fully  discussed  in  note  6,  p.  108. 

35Evolent, — volatilize  ? 

**Lapidis  plumbarii  facile  liquescentis.  The  German  Translation  gives  glantz,  i.e.,  Galena, 
and  the  Interpretatio  also  gives  glantz  for  lapis  plumbarius.  We  are,  however,  uncertain 
whether  this  "  easily  melting  "  material  is  galena  or  some  other  lead  ore. 

"Molybdaena  is  usually  hearth-lead  in  De  Re  Metallica,  but  the  German  translation 
in  this  instance  uses  pleyertz,  lead  ore.  From  the  context  it  would  not  appear  to  mean  hearth- 
lead — saturated  bottoms  of  cupellation  furnaces — for  such  material  would  not  contain 
appreciable  silver.  Agricola  does  confuse  what  are  obviously  lead  carbonates  with  his  other 
molybdaena  (see  note  37,  p.  476). 


BOOK     IX. 


401 


Because  lead  and  copper  ores  and  their  metals  have  much  in  common 
with  silver  ores,  it  is  fitting  that  I  should  say  a  great  deal  concerning  them, 
both  now  and  later  on.  Also  in  the  same  manner,  pyrites  are  smelted  separ- 
ately if  there  be  much  of  them.  To  three  parts  of  roasted  lead  or  copper 
ore  and  one  part  of  crude  ore,  are  added  concentrates  if  they  were  made  by 
washing  the  same  ore,  together  with  slags,  and  all  are  put  in  the  third  furnace 
whose  tap-hole  is  always  open.  Cakes  are  made  from  this  charge,  which, 
when  they  have  been  quenched  with  water,  are  roasted.  Of  these  roasted 
cakes  generally  four  parts  are  again  mixed  with  one  part  of  crude  pyrites 
and  re-melted  in  the  same  furnace.  Cakes  are  again  made  from  this  charge, 
and  if  there  is  a  large  amount  of  copper  in  these  cakes,  copper  is  made 
immediately  after  they  have  been  roasted  and  re-melted  ;  if  there  is  little 
copper  in  the  cakes  they  are  also  roasted,  but  they  are  re-smelted  with  a  little 
soft  slag.  In  this  method  the  molten  lead  in  the  forehearth  absorbs  the 
silver.  From  the  pyritic  material  which  floats  on  the  top  of  the  forehearth 
are  made  cakes  for  the  third  time,  and  from  them  when  they  have  been 
roasted  and  re-smelted  is  made  copper.  Similarly,  three  parts  of  roasted 
cadmia38  in  which  there  is  silver,  are  mixed  with  one  part  of  crude  pyrites, 
together  with  slag,  and  this  charge  is  smelted  and  cakes  are  made  from  it ; 
these  cakes  having  been  roasted  are  re-smelted  in  the  same  furnace.  By  this 
method  the  lead  contained  in  the  forehearth  absorbs  the  silver,  and  the  silver- 
lead  is  taken  to  the  cupellation  furnace.  Crude  quartz  and  stones  which 
easily  fuse  in  fire  of  the  third  order,  together  with  other  ores  in  which  there 
is  a  small  amount  of  silver,  ought  to  be  mixed  with  crude  roasted  pyrites  or 
cadmia,  because  the  roasted  cakes  of  pyrites  or  cadmia  cannot  be 
profitably  smelted  separately.  In  a  similar  manner  earths  which  contain 
little  silver  are  mixed  with  the  same ;  but  if  pyrites  and  cadmia  are  not 
available  to  the  smelter,  he  smelts  such  silver  ores  and  earths  with  litharge, 
hearth-lead,  slags,  and  stones  which  easily  melt  in  the  fire.  The  concentrates39 
originating  from  the  washing  of  rudis  silver,  after  first  being  roasted40  until 
they  melt,  are  smelted  with  mixed  litharge  and  hearth-lead,  or  else,  after 
being  moistened  with  water,  they  are  smelted  with  cakes  made  from  pyrites 
and  cadmia.  By  neither  of  these  methods  do  (the  concentrates)  fall 
back  in  the  furnace,  or  fly  out  of  it,  driven  by  the  blast  of  the  bellows  and  the 
agitation  of  the  fire.  If  the  concentrates  originated  from  galena  they  are 
smelted  with  it  after  having  been  roasted  ;  and  if  from  pyrites,  then  with 
pyrites. 

Pure  copper  ore,  whether  it  is  its  own  colour  or  is  tinged  with  chrysocolla 
or  azure,  and  copper  glance,  or  grey  or  black  rudis  copper,  is  smelted  in  a 
furnace  of  which  the  tap-hole  is  closed  for  a  very  short  time,  or  else  is  always 

88The  term  cadmia  is  used  in  this  paragraph  without  the  usual  definition.  Whether 
it  was  cadmia  fornacis  (furnace  accretions)  or  cadmia  metallica  (cobalt-arsenic-blende  mixture) 
is  uncertain.  We  believe  it  to  be  the  former. 

39Ramentum  si  lotura  ex  argento  rudi.  This  expression  is  generally  used  by  the  author 
to  indicate  concentrates,  but  it  is  possible  that  in  this  sentence  it  means  the  tailings  after 
washing  rich  silver  minerals,  because  the  treatment  of  the  rudis  silver  has  been  already 
discussed  above. 

*°Ustum.  This  might  be  rendered  "  burnt."  In  any  event,  it  seems  that  the  material 
is  sintered. 


402  BOOK    IX. 

open41.  If  there  is  a  large  amount  of  silver  in  the  ore  it  is  run  into  the  fore- 
hearth,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  silver  is  absorbed  by  the  molten  lead,  and 
the  remainder  is  sold  with  the  copper  to  the  proprietor  of  the  works  in  which 
silver  is  parted  from  copper42.  If  there  is  a  small  amount  of  silver  in  the  ore, 
no  lead  is  put  into  the  forehearth  to  absorb  the  silver,  and  the  above- 

*lAes  purum  sive  proprius  ei  color  insederit,  sive  chrysocolla  vel  caeruleo  fuerit  tinctum, 
et  rude  plumbei  colons,  aut  fusci,  aut  nigri.  There  are  six  copper  minerals  mentioned  in  this 
sentence,  and  from  our  study  of  Agricola's  De  Natura  Fossilium  we  hazard  the  following  : — 
Proprius  ei  color  insederit, — "  its  own  colour," — probably  cuprite  or  "  ruby  copper." 
Tinctum  chrysocolla — partly  the  modern  mineral  of  that  name  and  partly  malachite.  Tinc- 
tum caeruleo,  partly  azurite  and  partly  other  blue  copper  minerals.  Rude  plumbei  coloris, — 
"  lead  coloured," — was  certainly  chalcocite  (copper  glance).  We  are  uncertain  of  fusci  aut 
nigri,  but  they  were  probably  alteration  products.  For  further  discussion  see  note  on  p.  109. 

"HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  COPPER  SMELTING. — The  discoverer  of  the  reduction  of  copper 
by  fusion,  and  his  method,  like  the  discoverer  of  tin  and  iron,  will  never  be  known,  because 
he  lived  long  before  humanity  began  to  make  records  of  its  discoveries  and  doings.  Moreover, 
as  different  races  passed  independently  and  at  different  times  through  the  so-called  "  Bronze 
Age,"  there  may  have  been  several  independent  discoverers.  Upon  the  metallurgy  of 
pre-historic  man  we  have  some  evidence  in  the  many  "  founders'  hoards  "  or  "  smelters' 
hoards  "  of  the  Bronze  Age  which  have  been  found,  and  they  indicate  a  simple  shallow  pit  in  the 
ground  into  which  the  ore  was  placed,  underlaid  with  charcoal.  Rude  round  copper  cakes  eight 
to  ten  inches  in  diameter  resulted  from  the  cooling  of  the  metal  in  the  bottom  of  the  pit. 
Analyses  of  such  Bronze  Age  copper  by  Professor  Gowland  and  others  show  a  small  percentage 
of  sulphur,  and  this  is  possible  only  by  smelting  oxidized  ores.  Copper  objects  appear  in  the 
pre-historic  remains  in  Egypt,  are  common  throughout  the  first  three  dynasties,  and  bronze 
articles  have  been  found  as  early  as  the  IV  Dynasty  (from  3800  to  4700  B.C.,  according  to  the 
authority  adopted).  The  question  of  the  origin  of  this  bronze,  whether  from  ores  containing 
copper  and  tin  or  by  alloying  the  two  metals,  is  one  of  wide  difference  of  opinion,  and  we 
further  discuss  the  question  in  note  53,  p.  411,  under  Tin.  It  is  also  interesting  to  note  that 
the  crucible  is  the  emblem  of  copper  in  the  hieroglyphics.  The  earliest  source  of  Egyptian 
copper  was  probably  the  Sinai  Peninsula,  where  there  are  reliefs  as  early  as  Seneferu  (about  3700 
B.C.),  indicating  that  he  worked  the  copper  mines.  Various  other  evidences  exist  of  active 
copper  mining  prior  to  2500  B.C.  (Petrie,  Researches  in  Sinai,  London,  1906,  p.  51,  etc.).  The 
finding  of  crucibles  here  would  indicate  some  form  of  refining.  Our  knowledge  of  Egyptian 
copper  metallurgy  is  limited  to  deductions  from  their  products,  to  a  few  pictures  of  crude 
furnaces  and  bellows,  and  to  the  minor  remains  on  the  Sinai  Peninsula  ;  none  of  the  pictures 
were,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  prior  to  2300  B.C.,  but  they  indicate  a  considerable  advance  over 
the  crude  hearth,  for  they  depict  small  furnaces  with  forced  draught — first  a  blow-pipe,  and  in 
the  XVIII  Dynasty  (about  1500  B.C.)  the  bellows  appear.  Many  copper  articles  have  been 
found  scattered  over  the  Eastern  Mediterranean  and  Asia  Minor  of  pre-Mycenaean  Age,  some 
probably  as  early  as  3000  B.C.  This  metal  is  mentioned  in  the  "  Tribute  of  Yii  "  in  the  Shoo 
King  (2500  B.C.  ?) ;  but  even  less  is  known  of  early  Chinese  metallurgy  than  of  the  Egyptian. 
The  remains  of  Mycenaean,  Phoenician,  Babylonian,  and  Assyrian  civilizations,  stretching 
over  the  period  from  1800  to  500  B.C.,  have  yielded  endless  copper  and  bronze  objects,  the 
former  of  considerable  purity,  and  the  latter  a  fairly  constant  proportion  of  from  10%  to  14% 
tin.  The  copper  supply  of  the  pre-Roman  world  seems  to  have  come  largely,  first  from 
Sinai,  and  later  from  Cyprus,  and  from  the  latter  comes  our  word  copper,  by  way  of  the  Romans 
shortening  aes  cyprium  (Cyprian  copper)  to  cuprum.  Research  in  this  island  shows  that  it 
produced  copper  from  3000  B.C.,  and  largely  because  of  its  copper  it  passed  successively 
under  the  domination  of  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Phoenicians,  Greeks,  Persians,  and 
Romans.  The  bronze  objects  found  in  Cyprus  show  2%  to  10%  of  tin,  although  tin  does  not, 
so  far  as  modern  research  goes,  occur  on  that  island.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Greeks 
obtained  their  metallurgy  from  the  Egyptians,  either  direct  or  second-hand — possibly  through 
Mycenae  or  Phoenicia.  Their  metallurgical  gods  and  the  tradition  of  Cadmus  indicate 
this  much. 

By  way  of  literary  evidences,  the  following  lines  from  Homer  (Iliad,  xvm.)  have 
interest  as  being  the  first  preserved  description  in  any  language  of  a  metallurgical  work. 
Hephaestus  was  much  interrupted  by  Thetis,  who  came  to  secure  a  shield  for  Achilles,  and 
whose  general  conversation  we  therefore  largely  omit.  We  adopt  Pope's  translation  :— 

There  the  lame  architect  the  goddess  found 
Obscure  in  smoke,  his  forges  flaming  round, 
While  bathed  in  sweat  from  fire  to  fire  he  flew  ; 


BOOK     IX.  403 

mentioned  proprietors  buy  it  in  with  the  copper  ;  if  there  be  no  silver,  copper 
is  made  direct.  If  such  copper  ore  contains  some  minerals  which  do  not 
easily  melt,  as  pyrites  or  cadmia  metalUca  fossilis*3,  or  stone  from  which  iron 
is  melted,  then  crude  pyrites  which  easily  fuse  are  added  to  it,  together 
with  slag.  From  this  charge,  when  smelted,  they  make  cakes  ;  and  from 

And  puffing  loud  the  roaring  bellows  blew. 

****** 

In  moulds  prepared,  the  glowing  ore  (metal  ?)  he  pours. 

****** 

"  Vouchsafe,  oh  Thetis  !   at  our  board  to  share 
The  genial  rites  and  hospitable  fare  ; 
While  I  the  labours  of  the  forge  forego, 
And  bid  the  roaring  bellows  cease  to  blow." 
Then  from  his  anvil  the  lame  artist  rose  ; 
Wide  with  distorted  legs  oblique  he  goes, 
And  stills  the  bellows,  and  (in  order  laid) 
Locks  in  their  chests  his  instruments  of  trade  ; 
Then  with  a  sponge,  the  sooty  workman  dress'd 
His  brawny  arms  embrown'd  and  hairy  breast. 
****** 

Thus  having  said,  the  father  of  the  fires 

To  the  black  labours  of  his  forge  retires. 

Soon  as  he  bade  them  blow  the  bellows  turn'd 

Their  iron  mouths  ;    and  where  the  furnace  burn'd 

Resounding  breathed  :   at  once  the  blast  expires, 

And  twenty  forges  catch  at  once  the  fires  ; 

Just  as  the  God  directs,  now  loud,  now  low, 

They  raise  a  tempest,  or  they  gently  blow  ; 

In  hissing  flames  huge  silver  bars  are  roll'd, 

And  stubborn  brass  (copper  ?)  and  tin,  and  solid  gold  ; 

Before,  deep  fixed,  the  eternal  anvils  stand. 

The  ponderous  hammer  loads  his  better  hand  ; 

His  left  with  tongs  turns  the  vex'd  metal  round. 

And  thick,  strong  strokes,  the  doubling  vaults  rebound 

Then  first  he  formed  the  immense  and  solid  shield  ; 

Even  if  we  place  the  siege  of  Troy  at  any  of  the  various  dates  from  1350  to  noo  B.C., 
it  does  not  follow  that  the  epic  received  its  final  form  for  many  centuries  later,  probably 
900-800  B.C.  ;  and  the  experience  of  the  race  in  metallurgy  at  a  much  later  period  than 
Troy  may  have  been  drawn  upon  to  fill  in  details.  It  is  possible  to  fill  a  volume  with  indirect 
allusion  to  metallurgical  facts  and  to  the  origins  of  the  art,  from  Greek  mythology,  from  Greek 
poetry,  from  the  works  of  the  grammarians,  and  from  the  Bible.  But  they  are  of  no  more 
technical  value  than  the  metaphors  from  our  own  tongue.  Greek  literature  in  general  is 
singularly  lacking  in  metallurgical  description  of  technical  value,  and  it  is  not  until  Dios- 
corides  (ist  Century  A.D.)  that  anything  of  much  importance  can  be  adduced.  Aristotle,  how- 
ever, does  make  an  interesting  reference  to  what  may  be  brass  (see  note  on  p.  410),  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  if  we  had  the  lost  work  of  Aristotle's  successor,  Theophrastus  (372-288 
B.C.),  on  metals  we  should  be  in  possession  of  the  first  adequate  work  on  metallurgy.  As  it 
is,  we  find  the  green  and  blue  copper  minerals  from  Cyprus  mentioned  in  his  "  Stones." 
And  this  is  the  first  mention  of  any  particular  copper  ore.  He  also  mentions  (xix.) 
pyrites  "  which  melt,"  but  whether  it  was  a  copper  variety  cannot  be  determined.  Theo- 
phrastus further  describes  the  making  of  verdigris  (see  note  4,  p.  440).  From  Dioscorides 
we  get  a  good  deal  of  light  on  copper  treatment,  but  as  his  objective  was  to  describe  medicinal 
preparations,  the  information  is  very  indirect.  He  states  (v,  100)  that  "  pyrites  is  a  stone 
from  which  copper  is  made."  He  mentions  chalcitis  (copper  sulphide,  see  note  on,  p.  573)  ; 
while  his  misy,  sory,  melanteria,  caeruleum,  and  chrysocolla  were  all  oxidation  copper  or  iron 
minerals.  (See  notes  on  p.  573.)  In  giving  a  method  of  securing  pompholyx  (zinc  oxide), 
"  the  soot  flies  up  when  the  copper  refiners  sprinkle  powdered  cadmia  over  the  molten  metal  " 
(see  note  26,  p.  394)  ;  he  indirectly  gives  us  the  first  definite  indication  of  making  brass,  and 
further  gives  some  details  as  to  the  furnaces  there  employed,  which  embraced  bellows  and  dust 
chambers.  In  describing  the  making  of  flowers  of  copper  (see  note  26,  p.  538)  he  states  that 
in  refining  copper,  when  the  "  molten  metal  flows  through  its  tube  into  a  receptacle,  the  work- 


metalUca  fossilis  (see  note  on  p.  112).  This  was  undoubtedly  the  complex 
cobalt-arsenic-zinc  minerals  found  in  Saxony.  In  the  German  translation,  however,  this  is 
given  as  Kalmey,  calamine,  which  is  unlikely  from  the  association  with  pyrites. 


404  BOOK     IX. 

these,  when  they  have  been  roasted  as  much  as  is  necessary  and  re-smelted, 
the  copper  is  made.  But  if  there  be  some  silver  in  the  cakes,  for  which  an 
outlay  of  lead  has  to  be  made,  then  it  is  first  run  into  the  forehearth,  and 
the  molten  lead  absorbs  the  silver. 

Indeed,  rudis  copper  ore  of  inferior  quality,  whether  ash-coloured  or 
purple,  blackish  and  occasionally  in  parts  blue,  is  smelted  in  the  first 
furnace  whose  tap-hole  is  always  open.  This  is  the  method  of  the  Tyrolese. 
To  as  much  rudis  copper  ore  as  will  fill  eighteen  vessels,  each  of  which  holds 

"  men  pour  cold  water  on  it,  the  copper  spits  and  throws  off  the  flowers."  He  gives  the  first 
description  of  vitriol  (see  note  n,  p.  572),  and  describes  the  pieces  as  "  shaped  like  dice  which 
stick  together  in  bunches  like  grapes."  Altogether,  from  Dioscorides  we  learn  for  the  first 
time  of  copper  made  from  sulphide  ores,  and  of  the  recovery  of  zinc  oxides  from  furnace 
fumes  ;  and  he  gives  us  the  first  certain  description  of  making  brass,  and  finally  the  first 
notice  of  blue  vitriol. 

The  next  author  we  have  who  gives  any  technical  detail  of  copper  work  is  Pliny  (23-79 
A.D.),  and  while  his  statements  carry  us  a  little  further  than  Dioscorides,  they  are  not  as 
complete  as  the  same  number  of  words  could  have  afforded  had  he  ever  had  practical  contact 
with  the  subject,  and  one  is  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  he  was  not  himself  much  of  a  metal- 
lurgist. Pliny  indicates  that  copper  ores  were  obtained  from  veins  by  underground  mining. 
He  gives  the  same  minerals  as  Dioscorides,  but  is  a  good  deal  confused  over  chrysocolla  and 
chalcitis.  He  gives  no  description  of  the  shapes  of  furnaces,  but  frequently  mentions  the 
bellows,  and  speaks  of  the  cadmia  and  pompholyx  which  adhered  to  the  walls  and  arches  of 
the  furnaces.  He  has  nothing  to  say  as  to  whether  fluxes  are  used  or  not.  As  to  fuel,  he  says 
(xxxm,  30)  that "  for  smelting  copper  and  iron  pine  wood  is  the  best."  The  following  (xxxiv, 
20)  is  of  the  greatest  interest  on  the  subject : — "  Cyprian  copper  is  known  as  coronarium  and 
"  regulars  ;  both  are  ductile.  ...  In  other  mines  are  made  that  known  as  regulare  and 
"  caldarium.  These  differ,  because  the  caldarium  is  only  melted,  and  is  brittle  to  the  hammer  ; 
"  whereas  the  regulare  is  malleable  or  ductile.  All  Cyprian  copper  is  this  latter  kind.  But 
"  in  other  mines  with  care  the  difference  can  be  eliminated  from  caldarium,  the  impurities  being 
"  carefully  purged  away  by  smelting  with  fire,  it  is  made  into  regulare.  Among  the  remaining 
"  kinds  of  copper  the  best  is  that  of  Campania,  which  is  most  esteemed  for  vessels  and  utensils. 
"  This  kind  is  made  in  several  ways.  At  Capua  it  is  melted  with  wood,  not  with  charcoal, 
"  after  which  it  is  sprinkled  with  water  and  washed  through  an  oak  sieve.  After  it  is  melted 
"  a  number  of  times  Spanish  plumbum  argentum  (probably  pewter)  is  added  to  it  in  pro- 
"  portion  of  ten  pounds  of  the  lead  to  one  hundred  pounds  of  copper,  and  thereby  it  is 
"  made  pliable  and  assumes  that  pleasing  colour  which  in  other  kinds  of  copper  is  effected 
"  by  oil  and  the  sun.  In  many  parts  of  the  Italian  provinces  they  make  a  similar  kind 
"  of  metal ;  but  there  they  add  eight  pounds  of  lead,  and  it  is  re-melted  over  charcoal 
"  because  of  the  scarcity  of  wood.  Very  different  is  the  method  carried  on  in  Gaul,  par- 
"  ticularly  where  the  ore  is  smelted  between  red  hot  stones,  for  this  burns  the  metal  and  renders 
"  it  black  and  brittle.  Moreover,  it  is  re-melted  only  a  single  time,  whereas  the  oftener  this 
"  operation  is  repeated  the  better  the  quality  becomes.  It  is  well  to  remark  that  all  copper 
"  fuses  best  when  the  weather  is  intensely  cold."  The  red  hot  stones  in  Gaul  were  prob- 
ably as  much  figments  of  imagination  as  was  the  assumption  of  one  commentator  that 
they  were  a  reverberatory  furnace.  Apart  from  the  above,  Pliny  says  nothing  very  direct  on 
refining  copper.  It  is  obvious  that  more  than  one  melting  was  practised,  but  that  anything 
was  known  of  the  nature  of  oxidation  by  a  blast  and  reduction  by  poling  is  uncertain.  We 
produce  the  three  following  statements  in  connection  with  some  bye-products  used  for  medicinal 
purposes,  which  at  least  indicate  operations  subsequent  to  the  original  melting.  As  to  whether 
they  represent  this  species  of  refining  or  not,  we  leave  it  to  the  metallurgical  profession  (xxxiv, 
24) : — "  The  flowers  of  copper  are  used  in  medicine ;  they  are  made  by  fusing  copper  and  moving 
"  it  to  another  furnace,  where  the  rapid  blast  separates  it  into  a  thousand  particles,  which 
"  are  called  flowers.  These  scales  are  also  made  when  the  copper  cakes  are  cooled  in  water 
"  (xxxiv,  35).  Smega  is  prepared  in  the  copper  works  ;  when  the  metal  is  melted  and 
"  thoroughly  smelted  charcoal  is  added  to  it  and  gradually  kindled  ;  after  this,  being  blown 
"  upon  by  a  powerful  bellows,  it  spits  out,  as  it  were,  copper  chaff  (xxxiv,  37).  There  is 
"  another  product  of  these  works  easily  distinguished  from  smega,  which  the  Greeks  call 
"  diphrygum.  This  substance  has  three  different  origins.  .  .  A  third  way  of  making  it 
"  is  from  the  residues  which  fall  to  the  bottom  in  copper  furnaces.  The  difference  between 
"  the  different  substances  (in  the  furnace)  is  that  the  copper  itself  flows  into  a  receiver  ;  the 
"  slag  makes  its  escape  from  the  furnace  ;  the  flowers  float  on  the  top  (of  the  copper  ?),  and 
"  the  diphrygum  remains  behind.  Some  say  that  in  the  furnace  there  are  certain  masses  of 
"  stone  which,  being  smelted,  become  soldered  together,  and  that  the  copper  fuses  around  it, 
"  the  mass  not  becoming  liquid  unless  it  is  transferred  to  another  furnace.  It  thus  forms  a 
"  sort  of  knot,  as  it  were,  in  the  metal." 


BOOK     IX.  405 

almost  as  much  as  seven  Roman  moduli**,  the  first  smelter — for  there  are 
three — adds  three  cartloads  of  lead  slags,  one  cartload  of  schist,  one  fifth  of 
a  centumpondium  of  stones  which  easily  fuse  in  the  fire,  besides  a  small 
quantity  of  concentrates  collected  from  copper  slag  and  accretions,  all  of 
which  he  smelts  for  the  space  of  twelve  hours,  and  from  which  he  makes  six 
centumpondia  of  primary  cakes  and  one-half  of  a  centumpondium  of  alloy. 
One  half  of  the  latter  consists  of  copper  and  silver,  and  it  settles  to  the  bottom 
of  the  forehearth.  In  every  centumpondium  of  the  cakes  there  is  half  a  libra 
of  silver  and  sometimes  half  an  undo,  besides  ;  in  the  half  of  a  centumpondium 

Pliny  is  a  good  deal  confused  over  the  copper  alloys,  failing  to  recognise  aurichalcum 
as  the  same  product  as  that  made  by  mixing  cadmia  and  molten  copper.  Further,  there  is 
always  the  difficulty  in  translation  arising  from  the  fact  that  the  Latin  aes  was  indiscriminately 
copper,  brass,  and  bronze.  He  does  not,  except  in  one  instance  (xxxiv.,  2),  directly  describe 
the  mixture  of  cadmia  and  copper.  "  Next  to  Livian  (copper)  this  kind  (corduban,  from 
"  Spain)  most  readily  absorbs  cadmia,  and  becomes  almost  as  excellent  as  aurichalcum  for 
"  making  sesterces."  As  to  bronze,  there  is  no  very  definite  statement ;  but  the  argenialium 
given  in  the  quotation  above  from  xxxiv,  20,  is  stated  in  xxxiv,  48,  to  be  a  mixture  of 
tin  and  lead.  The  Romans  carried  on  most  extensive  copper  mining  in  various  parts  of  their 
empire  ;  these  activities  extended  from  Egypt  through  Cyprus,  Central  Europe,  the  Spanish 
Peninsula,  and  Britain.  The  activity  of  such  works  is  abundantly  evidenced  in  the  mines,  but 
very  little  remains  upon  the  surface  to  indicate  the  equipment ;  thus,  while  mining  methods 
are  clear  enough,  the  metallurgy  receives  little  help  from  these  sources.  At  Rio  Tinto  there 
still  remain  enormous  slag  heaps  from  the  Romans,  and  the  Phoenician  miners  before  them. 
Professor  W.  A.  Carlyle  informs  us  that  the  ore  worked  must  have  been  almost  exclusively 
sulphides,  as  only  negligible  quantities  of  carbonates  exist  in  the  deposits ;  they  probably 
mixed  basic  and  siliceous  ores.  There  is  some  evidence  of  roasting,  and  the  slags  run  from 
.2  to  .6%.  They  must  have  run  down  mattes,  but  as  to  how  they  ultimately  arrived  at 
metallic  copper  there  is  no  evidence  to  show. 

The  special  processes  for  separating  other  metals  from  copper  by  liquation  and  matting, 
or  of  refining  by  poling,  etc.,  are  none  of  them  clearly  indicated  in  records  or  remains  until 
we  reach  the  I2th  century.     Here  we  find  very  adequate  descriptions  of  copper  smelting  and 
refining  by  the  Monk  Theophilus  (see  Appendix  B).     We  reproduce  two  paragraphs  of  interest 
from  Hendrie's  excellent  translation  (p.  305  and  313)  :    "  Copper  is  engendered  in  the  earth. 
"  When  a  vein  of  which  is  found,  it  is  acquired  with  the  greatest  labour  by  digging  and  break- 
"  ing.     It  is  a  stone  of  a  green  colour  and  most  hard,  and  naturally  mixed  with  lead.     This 
"  stone,  dug  up  in  abundance,  is  placed  upon  a  pile  and  burned  after  the  manner  of  chalk, 
'  nor  does  it  change  colour,  but  yet  loses  its  hardness,  so  that  it  can  be  broken  up.      Then, 
'  being  bruised  small,  it  is  placed  in  the  furnace  ;    coals  and  the  bellows  being  applied,  it  is 
'  incessantly  forged  by  day  and  night.      This   should  be  done  carefully  and  with  caution  ; 
'  that  is,  at  first  coals  are  placed  in,  then  small  pieces  of  stone  are  distributed  over  them, 
'  and  again  coals,  and  then  stone  anew,  and  it  is  thus  arranged  until  it  is  sufficient  for  the 
size  of  the  furnace.     And  when  the  stone  has  commenced  to  liquefy,  the  lead  flows  out 
'  through  some  small  cavities,  and  the  copper  remains  within.  (313)  Of  the  purification  of  cop- 
'  per.     Take  an  iron  dish  of  the  size  you  wish,  and  line  it  inside  and  out  with  clay  strongly 
'  beaten  and  mixed,  and  it  is  carefully  dried.    Then  place  it  before  a  forge  upon  the  coals, 
'  so  that  when  the  bellows  act  upon  it  the  wind  may  issue  partly  within  and  partly  above  it, 
'  and  not  below  it.      And  very  small  coals  being  placed  round  it,  place  copper  in  it  equally, 
'  and  add  over  it  a  heap  of  coals.     When,  by  blowing  a  long  time,  this  has  become  melted, 
'  uncover  it  and  cast  immediately  fine  ashes  of  coals  over  it,  and  stir  it  with  a  thin  and  dry 
'  piece  of  wood  as  if  mixing  it,  and  you  will  directly  see  the  burnt  lead  adhere  to  these  ashes 
'  like  a  glue.     Which  being  cast  out  again  superpose  coals,  and  blowing  for  a  long  time,  as 
'  at  first,  again  uncover  it,  and  then  do  as  you  did  before.     You  do  this  until  at  length,  by 
'  cooking  it,  you  can  withdraw  the  lead  entirely.     Then  pour  it  over  the  mould  which  you  have 
'  prepared  for  this,  and  you  will  thus  prove  if  it  be  pure.     Hold  it  with  pincers,  glowing  as  it 
'  is,  before  it  has  become  cold,  and  strike  it  with  a  large  hammer  strongly  over  the  anvil,  and 
'  if  it  be  broken  or  split  you  must  liquefy  it  anew  as  before." 

The  next  writer  of  importance  was  Biringuccio,  who  was  contemporaneous  with 
Agricola,  but  whose  book  precedes  De  Re  Metallica  by  15  years.  That  author  (in,  2)  is 
the  first  to  describe  particularly  the  furnace  used  in  Saxony  and  the  roasting  prior  to  smelting, 
and  the  first  to  mention  fluxes  in  detail.  He,  however,  describes  nothing  of  matte  smelting  ; 
in  copper  refining  he  gives  the  whole  process  of  poling,  but  omits  the  pole.  It  is  not  until 
we  reach  De  Re  Metallica  that  we  find  adequate  descriptions  of  the  copper  minerals, 
roasting,  matte  smelting,  liquation,  and  refining,  with  a  wealth  of  detail  which  eliminates 
the  necessity  for  a  large  amount  of  conjecture  regarding  technical  methods  of  the  time. 

*4The  Roman  modius  (modulus  ?)  held  about  550  cubic  inches,  the  English  peck  holding 
535  cubic  inches.  Then,  perhaps,  his  seven  moduli  would  be  roughly,  I  bushel  3  pecks,  and  18 
vessels  full  would  be  about  31  bushels — say,  roughly,  5,400  Ibs.  of  ore. 


406  BOOK     IX. 

of  the  alloy  there  is  a  bes  or  three-quarters  of  silver.  In  this  way  every  week, 
if  the  work  is  for  six  days,  thirty-six  centumpondia  of  cakes  are  made  and 
three  centumpondia  of  alloy,  in  all  of  which  there  is  often  almost  twenty-four 
librae  of  silver.  The  second  smelter  separates  from  the  primary  cakes  the 
greater  part  of  the  silver  by  absorbing  it  in  lead.  To  eighteen  centumpondia 
of  cakes  made  from  crude  copper  ore,  he  adds  twelve  centumpondia  of  hearth- 
lead  and  litharge,  three  centumpondia  of  stones  from  which  lead  is  smelted, 
five  centumpondia  of  hard  cakes  rich  in  silver,  and  two  centumpondia  of 
exhausted  liquation  cakes45 ;  he  adds  besides,  some  of  the  slags  resulting 
from  smelting  crude  copper,  together  with  a  small  quantity  of  concentrates 
made  from  accretions,  all  of  which  he  melts  for  the  space  of  twelve  hours, 
and  makes  eighteen  centumpondia  of  secondary  cakes,  and  twelve  centum- 
pondia of  copper-lead-silver  alloy ;  in  each  centumpondium  of  the  latter 
there  is  half  a  libra  of  silver.  After  he  has  taken  off  the  cakes  with  a 
hooked  bar,  he  pours  the  alloy  out  into  copper  or  iron  moulds  ;  by  this 
method  they  make  four  cakes  of  alloy,  which  are  carried  to  the  works  in 
which  silver  is  parted  from  copper.  On  the  following  day,  the  same  smelter, 
taking  eighteen  centumpondia  of  the  secondary  cakes,  again  adds  twelve 
centumpondia  of  hearth-lead  and  litharge,  three  centumpondia  of  stones 
from  which  lead  is  smelted,  five  centumpondia  of  hard  cakes  rich  in  silver, 
together  with  slags  from  the  smelting  of  the  primary  cakes,  and  with  concen- 
trates washed  from  the  accretions  which  are  usually  made  at  that  time. 
This  charge  is  likewise  smelted  for  the  space  of  twelve  hours,  and  he  makes  as 
many  as  thirteen  centumpondia  of  tertiary  cakes  and  eleven  centumpondia 
of  copper-lead-silver  alloy,  each  centumpondium  of  which  contains  one- 
third  of  a  libra  and  half  an  uncia  of  silver.  When  he  has  skimmed  off  the 
tertiary  cakes  with  a  hooked  bar,  the  alloy  is  poured  into  copper  moulds,  and 
by  this  method  four  cakes  of  alloy  are  made,  which,  like  the  preceding  four 
cakes  of  alloy,  are  carried  to  the  works  in  which  silver  is  parted  from  copper. 
By  this  method  the  second  smelter  makes  primary  cakes  on  alternate  days 
and  secondary  cakes  on  the  intermediate  days.  The  third  smelter  takes 
eleven  cartloads  of  the  tertiary  cakes  and  adds  to  them  three  cartloads  of 
hard  cakes  poor  hi  silver,  together  with  the  slag  from  smelting  the  secondary 
cakes,  and  the  concentrates  from  the  accretions  which  are  usually  made 
at  that  tune.  From  this  charge  when  smelted,  he  makes  twenty  centum- 
pondia of  quaternary  cakes,  which  are  called  "  hard  cakes,"  and  also 
fifteen  centumpondia  of  those  "  hard  cakes  rich  in  silver,"  each  centum- 
pondium of  which  contains  a  third  of  a  libra  of  silver.  These  latter  cakes  the 
second  smelter,  as  I  said  before,  adds  to  the  primary  and  secondary  cakes 
when  he  re-melts  them.  In  the  same  way,  from  eleven  cartloads  of  qua- 
ternary cakes  thrice  roasted,  he  makes  the  "  final  "  cakes,  of  which  one 
centumpondinm  contains  only  half  an  uncia  of  silver.  In  this  operation  he 
also  makes  fifteen  centumpondia  of  "  hard  cakes  poor  in  silver,"  in  each 
centumpondium  of  which  is  a  sixth  of  a  libra  of  silver.  These  hard  cakes  the 

"Exhausted  liquation  cakes  (panes  aerei  fathiscentes).  This  is  the  copper  sponge  resulting 
from  the  first  liquation  of  lead,  and  still  contains  a  considerable  amount  of  lead.  The  liquation 
process  is  discussed  in  great  detail  in  Book  XI. 


BOOK     IX. 


407 


third  smelter,  as  I  have  said,  adds  to  the  tertiary  cakes  when  he  re-smelts 
them,  while  from  the  "  final  "  cakes,  thrice  roasted  and  re-smelted,  is  made 
black  copper46. 

The  rudis  copper  from  which  pure  copper  is  made,  if  it  contains  little 
silver  or  if  it  does  not  easily  melt,  is  first  smelted  in  the  third  furnace  of  which 
the  tap-hole  is  always  open  ;  and  from  this  are  made  cakes,  which  after 
being  seven  times  roasted  are  re-smelted,  and  from  these  copper  is  melted 
out ;  the  cakes  of  copper  are  carried  to  a  furnace  of  another  kind,  in  which 
they  are  melted  for  the  third  time,  hi  order  that  in  the  copper  "  bottoms  " 
there  may  be  more  silver,  while  hi  the  "  tops  "  there  may  be  less,  which 
process  is  explained  in  Book  XI. 


46The  method  of  this  paragraph  involves  two  main  objectives — first,  the  gradual 
enrichment  of  matte  to  blister  copper  ;  and,  second,  the  creation  of  large  cakes  of  copper- 
lead-silver  alloy  of  suitable  size  and  ratio  of  metals  for  liquation.  This  latter  process  is 
described  in  detail  in  Book  XI.  The  following  groupings  show  the  circuit  of  the  various 
products,  the  "  Ibs."  being  Roman  librae  : — 

CHARGE. 

Crude  ore      . .          . .     5,400  Ibs. 
Lead  slags     . .          •  •     3  cartloads 
.  Schist  . .          . .     i  cartload 

I  Flux  . .          . .     20  Ibs. 

Concentrates 


ist 


2nd 


3rd 


4th 


5th 


6th 


from 
\     slags  &  accretions 


Primary  matte  (i) 
Hearth-lead  &  litharge 
Lead  ore 

Rich  hard  cakes  (A  ^) 
Liquated  cakes 
Slags  (B) 

Concentrates   from 
accretions 

Secondary  matte  (2) 
Hearth-lead  &  litharge 
Lead  ore 

Rich  hard  cakes  (A  4) 
Slags  (B  a) 
Concentrates  from 
j     accretions 


/Tertiary  matte  (3)  .. 

Poor  hard  cakes  (A  5) 
-(Slags  (B3) 

Concentrates  from 
'     accretions 

[Roasted  quartz 

•I  Matte  (4)  (three  times 

(     roasted) 

Final 
The 
(i.) 

(2.) 
(3-) 

(4.) 

A. 

A2 

A3 

A4 

A5 


Small  quantity 

i, 800  Ibs. 
1,200    ,, 

300    „ 

500    „ 

200 


PRODUCTS. 
Primary  matte  (i)  . .        600  Ibs. 


Silver-copper  alloy  (A) 
Slags  (B) 


Secondary  matte  (2)       1,800  Ibs. 


i, 800  Ibs. 

1,200  „ 

300  „ 

500  ,, 


ii  cartloads 


Silver-copper-lead 
alloy  (liquation 
cakes)  (A  2) 

Slags  (B  a) 


Tertiary  matte  (3) 
Silver-copper-lead 
alloy  (liquation 
cakes)  (A  3) 
Slags  (B  3) 


1,200     „ 

1,300  Ibs. 

1,100    „ 


ii  cartloads 


Quaternary  hard  cakes 

matte  (4)  . .          . .     2,000  Ibs. 

Rich  hard  cakes  of 

matte  (A  4 )  . .     1,500  , 


Poor  hard  cakes  of 

matte  (A  5)  . .     1,500  Ibs. 

Final  cakes  of  matte  (5) 


matte  three  times  roasted  is  smelted  to  blister  copper. 

following  would  be  a  rough  approximation  of  the  value  of  the  various  products  ; 


Primary  matte 
Secondary  matte  . . 
Tertiary  matte 

Quaternary  matte 
spper-silver  alloy 
Copper-silver-lead  alloy 

»  »»          f> 

Rich  hard  cakes 
Poor  hard  cakes 
Final  blister  copper 


158  ounces  troy  per  short  ton. 

85       »  >•  ., 

60       „ 

Indeterminate. 

388  ounces  Troy  per  short  ton. 
145      „ 
J°9      „          „  „ 

97 

Indeterminate. 
12  ozs.  Troy  per  short  ton. 


408  BOOK     IX. 

Pyrites,  when  they  contain  not  only  copper,  but  also  silver,  are  smelted 
in  the  manner  I  described  when  I  treated  of  ores  of  silver.  But  if  they  are 
poor  in  silver,  and  if  the  copper  which  is  melted  out  of  them  cannot  easily  be 
treated,  they  are  smelted  according  to  the  method  which  I  last  explained. 

Finally,  the  copper  schists  containing  bitumen  or  sulphur  are  roasted, 
and  then  smelted  with  stones  which  easily  fuse  in  a  fire  of  the  second  order, 
and  are  made  into  cakes,  on  the  top  of  which  the  slags  float.  From 
these  cakes,  usually  roasted  seven  times  and  re-melted,  are  melted  out 
slags  and  two  kinds  of  cakes ;  one  kind  is  of  copper  and  occupies  the 
bottom  of  the  crucible,  and  these  are  sold  to  the  proprietors  of  the  works  in 
which  silver  is  parted  from  copper  ;  the  other  kind  of  cakes  are  usually 
re-melted  with  primary  cakes.  If  the  schist  contains  but  a  small  amount  of 
copper,  it  is  burned,  crushed  under  the  stamps,  washed  and  sieved,  and 
the  concentrates  obtained  from  it  are  melted  down  ;  from  this  are  made 
cakes  from  which,  when  roasted,  copper  is  made.  If  either  chrysocolla  or  azure, 
or  yellow  or  black  earth  containing  copper  and  silver,  adheres  to  the  schist, 
it  is  not  washed,  but  is  crushed  and  smelted  with  stones  which  easily 
fuse  in  fire  of  the  second  order. 

Lead  ore,  whether  it  be  molybdaena*1 ,  pyrites,  (galena  ?)  or  stone  from 
which  it  is  melted,  is  often  smelted  in  a  special  furnace,  of  which  I  have 
spoken  above,  but  no  less  often  in  the  third  furnace  of  which  the  tap-hole 
is  always  open.  The  hearth  and  forehearth  are  made  from  powder  containing 
a  small  portion  of  iron  hammer-scales  ;  iron  slag  forms  the  principal  flux 
for  such  ores  ;  both  of  these  the  expert  smelters  consider  useful  and  to 
the  owner's  advantage,  because  it  is  the  nature  of  iron  to  attract  lead.  If 
it  is  molybdaena  or  the  stone  from  which  lead  is  smelted,  then  the  lead  runs 
down  from  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth,  and  when  the  slags  have  been 
skimmed  off,  the  lead  is  poured  out  with  a  ladle.  If  pyrites  are  Smelted, 
the  first  to  flow  from  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth,  as  may  be  seen  at 
Goslar,  is  a  white  molten  substance,  injurious  and  noxious  to  silver,  for  it 
consumes  it.  For  this  reason  the  slags  which  float  on  the  top  having  been 
skimmed  off,  this  substance  is  poured  out ;  or  if  it  hardens,  then  it  is  taken 
out  with  a  hooked  bar  ;  and  the  walls  of  the  furnace  exude  the  same  substance48. 

47This  expression  is  usually  used  for  hearth-lead,  but  in  this  case  the  author  is  apparently 
confining  himself  to  lead  ore,  and  apparently  refers  to  lead  carbonates.  The  German  Trans- 
lation gives  pleyschweiss.  The  pyrites  mentioned  in  this  paragraph  may  mean  galena,  as 
pyrites  was  to  Agricola  a  sort  of  genera. 

ta(Excoquitur)  ..."  si  verb  pyrites,  primd  e  fornace,  ut  Goselariae  videre  licet,  in 
"  catinum  deftuit  liquor  quidam  candidus,  argento  inimicus  et  nocivus  ;  id  enim  comburit  : 
"  quo  circa  recrementis,  quae  supernatant,  detractis  effunditur  :  vel  induratus  conto  uncinato 
"  extrahitur  :  eundem  liquorem  parietes  fornacis  exudant."  In  the  Glossary  the  following 
statement  appears  :  "  Liquor  candidus  primo  e  fornace  deftuens  cum  Goselariae  excoquitur 
"pyrites, — kobelt ;  quern  parietes  fornacis  exudant, — conterfei."  In  this  latter  statement 
Agricola  apparently  recognised  that  there  were  two  different  substances,  i.e.,  that  the  sub- 
stance found  in  the  furnace  walls — conterfei — was  not  the  same  substance  as  that  which 
first  flowed  from  the  furnace — kobelt.  We  are  at  no  difficulty  in  recognizing  conterfei  as 
metallic  zinc  ;  it  was  long  known  by  that  term,  and  this  accidental  occurrence  is  repeatedly 
mentioned  by  other  authors  after  Agricola.  The  substance  which  first  flowed  into  the  fore- 
hearth  presents  greater  difficulties  ;  it  certainly  was  not  zinc.  In  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p. 
347),  Agricola  says  that  at  Goslar  the  lead  has  a  certain  white  slag  floating  upon  it,  the 
"  colour  derived  from  the  pyrites  (pyriten  argenteum)  from  which  it  was  produced."  Pyriten 
argenteum  was  either  marcasite  or  mispickel,  neither  of  which  offers  much  suggestion  ;  nor  are 
we  able  to  hazard  an  explanation  of  value. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  ZINC.     The  history  of  zinc  metallurgy  falls  into  two  distinct 


BOOK     IX.  409 

Then  the  stannum  runs  out  of  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth  ;  this  is  an  alloy 
of  lead  and  silver.  From  the  silver-lead  alloy  they  first  skim  off  the  slags, 
not  rarely  white,  as  some  pyrites49  are,  and  afterward  they  skim  off  the 
cakes  of  pyrites,  if  there  are  any.  In  these  cakes  there  is  usually  some  copper  ; 
but  since  there  is  usually  but  a  very  small  quantity,  and  as  the  forest 

lines — first,  that  of  the  metal,  and  second,  that  of  zinc  ore,  for  the  latter  was  known  and  used  to 
make  brass  by  cementation  with  copper  and  to  yield  oxides  by  sublimation  for  medicinal 
purposes,  nearly  2,000  years  before  the  metal  became  generally  known  and  used  in  Europe. 

There  is  some  reason  to  believe  that  metallic  zinc  was  known  to  the  Ancients,  for 
bracelets  made  of  it,  found  in  the  ruins  of  Cameros  (prior  to  500  B.C.),  may  have  been  of  that 
age  (Raoul  Jagnaux,  Traiti  de  Chimie  Generale,  1887,  II,  385) ;  and  further,  a  passage  in 
Strabo  (63  B.C. — 24  A.D.)  is  of  much  interest.  He  states  :  (xm,  i,  56)  "  There  is  found  at 
"  Andeira  a  stone  which  when  burnt  becomes  iron.  It  is  then  put  into  a  furnace,  together 
"  with  some  kind  of  earth,  when  it  distils  a  mock  silver  (pseudargyrum),  or  with  the  addition 
"  of  copper  it  becomes  the  compound  called  orichalcum.  There  is  found  a  mock  silver  near 
"  Tismolu  also."  (Hamilton's  Trans.,  II,  p.  381).  About  the  Christian  era  the  terms 
orichalcum  or  aurichalcum  undoubtedly  refer  to  brass,  but  whether  these  terms  as  used  by 
earlier  Greek  writers  do  not  refer  to  bronze  only,  is  a  matter  of  considerable  doubt.  Beyond 
these  slight  references  we  are  without  information  until  the  i6th  Century.  If  the  metal  was 
known  to  the  Ancients  it  must  have  been  locally,  for  by  its  greater  adaptability  to  brass- 
making  it  would  probably  have  supplanted  the  crude  melting  of  copper  with  zinc  minerals. 
It  appears  that  the  metal  may  have  been  known  in  the  Far  East  prior  to  such  knowledge 
in  Europe  ;  metallic  zinc  was  imported  in  considerable  quantities  from  the  East  as  early  as 
the  i6th  and  zyth  centuries  under  such  terms  as  tuteneque,  tuttanego,  calaem,  and  spiauter — the 
latter,  of  course,  being  the  progenitor  of  our  term  spelter.  The  localities  of  Eastern 
production  have  never  been  adequately  investigated.  W.  Hommel  (Engineering  and  Mining 
Journal,  June  15,  1912)  gives  a  very  satisfactory  review  of  the  Eastern  literature  upon  the 
subject,  and  considers  that  the  origin  of  manufacture  was  in  India,  although  the  most  of  the 
i6th  and  xyth  Century  product  came  from  China.  The  earliest  certain  description  seems  to 
be  some  recipes  for  manufacture  quoted  by  Praphulla  Chandra  Ray  (A  History  of  Hindu 
Chemistry,  London,  1902,  p.  39)  dating  from  the  nth  to  the  I4th  Centuries.  There  does 
not  appear  to  be  any  satisfactory  description  of  the  Chinese  method  until  that  of  Sir 
George  Staunton  (Journal  Asiatique  Paris,  1835,  p.  141.)  We  may  add  that  spelter 
was  produced  in  India  by  crude  distillation  of  calamine  in  clay  pots  in  the  early  part  of  the 
igth  Century  (Brooke,  Jour.  Asiatic  Soc.  of  Bengal,  vol.  xix,  1850,  p.  212),  and  the  remains 
of  such  smelting  in  Rajputana  are  supposed  to  be  very  ancient. 

The  discovery  of  zinc  in  Europe  seems  to  have  been  quite  independent  of  the   East, 

but   precisely   where    and    when    is    clouded    with    much    uncertainty.      The    marchasita 

aurea  of  Albertus  Magnus  has  been  called  upon  to  serve  as  metallic  zinc,  but  such  belief 

requires  a  hypothesis  based  upon  a  great  deal  of  assumption.     Further,  the  statement  is 

frequently  made  that  zinc  is  mentioned  in  Basil  Valentine's  Triumphant  Chariot  of  Antimony 

(the  only  one  of  the  works  attributed  to  this  author  which  may  date  prior  to  the  tyth  Century), 

but  we  have  been  unable  to  find  any  such  reference.     The  first  certain  mention  of  metallic  zinc 

is  generally  accredited  to  Paracelsus  (1493-1541),  who  states  (Liber  Mineralium  n.)  :    "  More- 

'  over  there  is  another  metal  generally  unknown  called  zinken.     It  is  of  peculiar  nature  and 

'  origin  ;   many  other  metals  adulterate  it.     It  can  be  melted,  for  it  is  generated  from  three 

'  fluid  principles  ;   it  is  not  malleable.     Its  colour  is  different  from  other  metals  and  does  not 

'  resemble  others  in  its  growth.     Its  ultimate  matter  (ultima  materia]  is  not  to  me  yet  fully 

'  known.     It  admits  of  no  mixture  and  does  not  permit  of  the  fabricationes  of  other  metals. 

'  It  stands  alone  entirely  to  itself."     We  do  not  believe  that  this  book  was  published  until 

after  Agricola's  works.     Agricola  introduced  the  following  statements  into  his  revised  edition 

of  Bermannus  (p.  431),  published  in  1558  :    "  It  (a  variety  of  pyrites)  is  almost  the  colour 

"  of  galena,  but  of  entirely  different  components.     From  it  there  is  made  gold  and  silver,  and 

"  a  great  quantity  is  dug  in  Reichenstein,  which  is  in  Silesia,  as  was  recently  reported  to  me. 

"  Much  more  is  found  at  Raurici,  which  they  call  zincum,  which  species  differs  from  pyrites, 

"  for  the  latter  contains  more  silver  than  gold,  the  former  only  gold  or  hardly  any  silver." 

In  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  368)  :    "  For  this  cadmia  is  put,  in  the  same  way  as  quicksilver, 

"  in  a  suitable  vessel  so  that  the  heat  of  the  fire  will  cause  it  to  sublime,  and  from  it  is  made 

"  a   black  or    brown     or    grey  body   which   the   Alchemists   call    cadmia  suHimata.     This 

"  possesses  corrosive  properties  to  the  highest  degree.     Cognate  with  this  cadmia  and  pyrites 

"  is  a  compound  which  the  Noricans  and  Rhetians  call  zincum."      We  leave  it  to  readers  to 

decide  how   near   this    comes   to   metallic   zinc ;    in    any  event,    he    apparently   did    not 

4* "     .     .     .     non    raro,    ut    nonnulli    Pyritae    sunt,    Candida     .     .     .     ."      This    is 
apparently  the  unknown  substance  mentioned  above. 


410  BOOK    IX. 

charcoal  is  not  abundant,  no  copper  is  made  from  them.  From  the  silver- 
lead  poured  into  iron  moulds  they  likewise  make  cakes  ;  when  these  cakes 
have  been  melted  in  the  cupellation  furnace,  the  silver  is  parted  from  the 
lead,  because  part  of  the  lead  is  transformed  into  litharge  and  part  into 
hearth-lead,  from  which  in  the  blast  furnace  on  re-melting  they  make 

recognise  his  conterfei  from  the  furnaces  as  the  same  substance  as  the  zincum  from  Silesia. 
The  first  correlation  of  these  substances  was  apparently  by  Lohneys,  in  1617,  who  says 
(Vom  Bergwerk,  p.  83-4) :  "  When  the  people  in  the  smelting  works  are  smelting,  there  is 
"  made  under  the  furnace  and  in  the  cracks  in  the  walls  among  the  badly  plastered  stones,  a 
"  metal  which  is  called  zinc  or  counterfeht,  and  when  the  wall  is  scraped  it  falls  into  a  vessel 
"  placed  to  receive  it.  This  metal  greatly  resembles  tin,  but  it  is  harder  and  less  malleable. 
"  .  .  .  .  The  Alchemists  have  a  great  desire  for  this  zinc  or  bismuth."  That  this  metal 
originated  from  blende  or  calamine  was  not  recognised  until  long  after,  and  Libavis 
(Alchymia,  Frankfort,  1606),  in  describing  specimens  which  came  from  the  East, 
did  not  so  identify  it,  this  office  being  performed  by  Glauber,  who  says  (De  Prosperitale 
Germanias,  Amsterdam,  1656) :  "  Zink  is  a  volatile  mineral  or  half-ripe  metal  when  it  is 
extracted  from  its  ore.  It  is  more  brilliant  than  tin  and  not  so  fusible  or  malleable  .  .  . 
it  turns  (copper)  into  brass,  as  does  lapis  calaminaris,  for  indeed  this  stone  is  nothing  but 
infusible  zinc,  and  this  zinc  might  be  called  a  fusible  lapis  calaminaris,  inasmuch  as  both 
of  them  partake  of  the  same  nature.  ...  It  sublimates  itself  up  into  the  cracks  of  the 
furnace,  whereupon  the  smelters  frequently  break  it  out."  The  systematic  distillation 
of  zinc  from  calamine  was  not  discovered  in  Europe  until  the  i8th  Century.  Henkel  is 
generally  accredited  with  the  first  statement  to  that  effect.  In  a  contribution  published  as 
an  Appendix  to  his  other  works,  of  which  we  have  had  access  only  to  a  French  translation 
(Pyritologie,  Paris,  1760,  p.  494),  he  concludes  that  zinc  is  a  half-metal  of  which  the  best  ore 
is  calamine,  but  believes  it  is  always  associated  with  lead,  and  mentions  that  an  Englishman 
lately  arrived  from  Bristol  had  seen  it  being  obtained  from  calamine  in  his  own  country.  He 
further  mentions  that  it  can  be  obtained  by  heating  calamine  and  lead  ore  mixed  with  coal 
in  a  thick  earthen  vessel.  The  Bristol  works  were  apparently  those  of  John  Champion, 
established  about  1740.  The  art  of  distillation  was  probably  learned  in  the  East. 

Definite  information  as  to  the  zinc  minerals  goes  back  to  but  a  little  before  the 
Christian  Era,  unless  we  accept  nebular  references  to  aurichalcum  by  the  poets,  or  what  is 
possibly  zinc  ore  in  the  "  earth  "  mentioned  by  Aristotle  (De  Mirabilibus,  62)  :  "  Men  say 
"  that  the  copper  of  the  Mossynoeci  is  very  brilliant  and  white,  no  tin  being  mixed  with  it ; 
"  but  there  is  a  kind  of  earth  there  which  is  melted  with  it."  This  might  quite  well  be  an 
arsenical  mineral.  But  whether  we  can  accept  the  poets  or  Aristotle  or  the  remark  of 
Strabo  given  above,  as  sufficient  evidence  or  not,  there  is  no  difficulty  with  the-  descrip- 
tion of  cadmia  and  pompholyx  and  spodos  of  Dioscorides  (ist  Century),  parts  of  which 
we  reproduce  in  note  26,  p.  394.  His  cadmia  is  described  as  rising  from  the  copper  furnaces 
and  clinging  to  the  iron  bars,  but  he  continues  :  "  Cadmia  is  also  prepared  by  burning  the 
"  stone  called  pyrites,  which  is  found  near  Mt.  Soloi  in  Cyprus.  .  .  .  Some  say  that 
"  cadmia  may  also  be  found  in  stone  quarries,  but  they  are  deceived  by  stones  having  a 
"  resemblance  to  cadmia."  Pompholyx  and  spodos  are  evidently  furnace  calamine.  From 
reading  the  quotation  given  on  p.  394,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  these  materials,  natural  or 
artificial,  were  used  to  make  brass,  for  he  states  (v,  46)  :  "  White  pompholyx  is  made  every 
"  time  that  the  artificer  in  the  working  and  perfecting  of  the  copper  sprinkles  powdered 
"  cadmia  upon  it  to  make  it  more  perfect,  the  soot  arising  from  this  ....  is  pompholyx." 
Pliny  is  confused  between  the  mineral  cadmia  and  furnace  calamine,  and  none  of  his  statements 
are  very  direct  on  the  subject  of  brass  making.  His  most  pointed  statement  is  (xxxiv,  2) : 
"  .  .  .  .  Next  to  Livian  (copper)  this  kind  best  absorbs  cadmia,  and  is  almost  as  good 
as  aurichalcum  for  making  sesterces  and  double  asses."  As  stated  above,  there  can  be  little 
doubt  that  the  aurichalcum  of  the  Christian  Era  was  brass,  and  further,  we  do  know  of  brass 
sesterces  of  this  period.  Other  Roman  writers  of  this  and  later  periods  refer  to  earth  used 
with  copper  for  making  brass.  Apart  from  these  evidences,  however,  there  is  the  evidence  of 
analyses  of  coins  and  objects,  the  earliest  of  which  appears  to  be  a  large  brass  of  the  Cassia 
family  of  20  B.C.,  analyzed  by  Phillips,  who  found  17.3%  zinc  (Records  of  Mining  and 
Metallurgy,  London,  1857,  P-  J3)-  Numerous  analyses  of  coins  and  other  objects  dating 
during  the  following  century  corroborate  the  general  use  of  brass.  Professor  Gowland 
(Presidential  Address,  Inst.  of  Metals,  1912)  rightly  considers  the  Romans  were  the  first  to 
make  brass,  and  at  about  the  above  period,  for  there  appears  to  be  no  certainty  of  any  earlier 
production.  The  first  adequate  technical  description  of  brass  making  is  in  about  1200  A.D., 
being  that  of  Theophilus,  who  describes  (Hendrie's  Trans.,  p.  307)  calcining  calamina  and 
mixing  it  with  finely  divided  copper  in  glowing  crucibles.  The  process  -was  repeated  by 
adding  more  calamine  and  copper  until  the  pots  were  full  of  molten  metal.  This  method 
is  repeatedly  described  with  minor  variations  by  Biringuccio,  Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos.),  and 
others,  down  to  the  i8th  Century.  For  discussion  of  the  zinc  minerals  see  note  on  p.  112. 


BOOK     IX.  411 

de-silverized  lead,  for  in  this  lead  each  centumpondium  contains  only  a 
drachma  of  silver,  when  before  the  silver  was  parted  from  it  each  centumpon- 
dium contained  more  or  less  than  three  undue  of  silver50. 

The  little  black  stones51  and  others  from  which  tin  is  made,  are  smelted 
in  their  own  kind  of  furnace,  which  should  be  narrower  than  the  other 
furnaces,  that  there  may  be  only  the  small  fire  which  is  necessary  for  this 
ore.  These  furnaces  are  higher,  that  the  height  may  compensate  for  the 
narrowness  and  make  them  of  almost  the  same  capacity  as  the  other  furnaces. 
At  the  top,  in  front,  they  are  closed  and  on  the  other  side  they  are  open,  where 
there  are  steps,  because  they  cannot  have  the  steps  in  front  on  account  of  the 
forehearth  ;  the  smelters  ascend  by  these  steps  to  put  the  tin-stone  into  the 
furnace.  The  hearth  of  the  furnace  is  not  made  of  powdered  earth  and  char- 
coal, but  on  the  floor  of  the  works  are  placed  sandstones  which  are  not  too 
hard  ;  these  are  set  on  a  slight  slope,  and  are  two  and  three-quarters  feet 
long,  the  same  number  of  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  thick,  for  the  thicker  they  are 
the  longer  they  last  in  the  fire.  Around  them  is  constructed  a  rectangular 
furnace  eight  or  nine  feet  high,  of  broad  sandstones,  or  of  those  common 
substances  which  by  nature  are  composed  of  diverse  materials52.  On  the 
inside  the  furnace  is  everywhere  evenly  covered  with  lute.  The  upper  part 
of  the  interior  is  two  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide,  but  below  it  is  not  so  long 
and  wide.  Above  it  are  two  hood-walls,  between  which  the  fumes  ascend 
from  the  furnace  into  the  dust  chamber,  and  through  this  they  escape  by  a 
narrow  opening  in  the  roof.  The  sandstones  are  sloped  at  the  bed  of  the 
furnace,  so  that  the  tin  melted  from  the  tin-stone  may  flow  through  the  tap- 
hole  of  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth.53 

"One  drachma  is  about  3  ounces  Troy  per  short  ton.  Three  unciae  are  about  72 
ounces  6  dwts.  Troy  per  short  ton. 

51In  this  section,  which  treats  of  the  metallurgy  of  plumbum  candidum,  "  tin,"  the 
word  candidum  is  very  often  omitted  in  the  Latin,  leaving  only  plumbum,  which  is  confusing 
at  times  with  lead.  The  black  tin-stone,  lapilli  nigri  has  been  treated  in  a  similar  manner, 
lapilli  (small  stones)  constantly  occurring  alone  in  the  Latin.  This  has  been  rendered  as 
"  tin-stone  "  throughout,  and  the  material  prior  to  extraction  of  the  lapilli  nigri  has  been 
rendered  "  tin-stuff,"  after  the  Cornish. 


81 "     .     .     .     ex   saxis   vilibus,    quae    natura  de   diver sa   materia   composuit."      The 
Glossary  gives  grindstein.     Granite  (?). 


: 

"HISTORICAL  NOTES  ON  TIN  METALLURGY.  The  first  appearance  of  tin  lies  in  the 
ancient  bronzes.  And  while  much  is  written  upon  the  "  Bronze  Age  "  by  archaeologists, 
we  seriously  doubt  whether  or  not  a  large  part  of  so-called  bronze  is  not  copper.  In  any 
event,  this  period  varied  with  each  race,  and  for  instance,  in  Britain  may  have  been  much 
later  than  Egyptian  historic  times.  The  bronze  articles  of  the  IV  Dynasty  (from  3800  to 
4700  B.C.  depending  on  the  authority)  place  us  on  certain  ground  of  antiquity.  Professor 
Gowland  (Presidential  Address,  Inst.  of  Metals,  London,  1912)  maintains  that  the  early 
bronzes  were  the  result  of  direct  smelting  of  stanniferous  copper  ores,  and  while  this  may  be 
partially  true  for  Western  Europe,  the  distribution  and  nature  of  the  copper  deposits  do  not 
warrant  this  assumption  for  the  earlier  scenes  of  human  activity — Asia  Minor,  Egypt,  and 
India.  Further,  the  lumps  of  rough  tin  and  also  of  copper  found  by  Borlase  (Tin  Mining 
in  Spain,  Past  and  Present,  London,  1897,  p.  25)  in  Cornwall,  mixed  with  bronze  celts  under 
conditions  certainly  indicating  the  Bronze  Age,  is  in  itself  of  considerable  evidence  of  inde- 
pendent melting.  To  our  mind  the  vast  majority  of  ancient  bronzes  must  have  been  made 
from  copper  and  tin  mined  and  smelted  independently.  As  to  the  source  of  supply  of  ancient 
tin,  we  are  on  clear  ground  only  with  the  advent  of  the  Phoenicians,  1500-1000  B.C.,  who, 
as  is  well  known,  distributed  to  the  ancient  world  a  supply  from  Spain  and  Britain.  What  the 
source  may  have  been  prior  to  this  time  has  been  subject  to  much  discussion,  and  while  some 


412  BOOK     IX. 

As  there  is  no  need  for  the  smelters  to  have  a  fierce  fire,  it  is  not  necessary 
to  place  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows  in  bronze  or  iron  pipes,  but  only  through  a 
hole  in  the  furnace  wall.  They  place  the  bellows  higher  at  the  back  so  that 
the  blast  from  the  nozzles  may  blow  straight  toward  the  tap-hole  of  the 
furnace.  That  it  may  not  be  too  fierce,  the  nozzles  are  wide,  for  if  the  fire 
were  fiercer,  tin  could  not  be  melted  out  from  the  tin-stone,  as  it  would  be 
consumed  and  turned  into  ashes.  Near  the  steps  is  a  hollowed  stone, 
in  which  is  placed  the  tin-stone  to  be  smelted  ;  as  often  as  the  smelter 
throws  into  the  furnace  an  iron  shovel-ful  of  this  tin-stone,  he  puts  on  char- 
coal that  was  first  put  into  a  vat  and  washed  with  water  to  be  cleansed  from  the 
grit  and  small  stones  which  adhere  to  it,  lest  they  melt  at  the  same  time  as  the 
tin-stone  and  obstruct  the  tap-hole  and  impede  the  flow  of  tin  from  the 
furnace.  The  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  is  always  open  ;  in  front  of  it  is  a  fore- 
hearth  a  little  more  than  half  a  foot  deep,  three-quarters  of  two  feet  long  and 
one  foot  wide  ;  this  is  lined  with  lute,  and  the  tin  from  the  tap-hole  flows  into  it. 
On  one  side  of  the  forehearth  is  a  low  wall,  three-quarters  of  a  foot  wider 
and  one  foot  longer  than  the  forehearth,  on  which  lies  charcoal  powder. 
On  the  other  side  the  floor  of  the  building  slopes,  so  that  the  slags  may  con- 
veniently run  down  and  be  carried  away.  As  soon  as  the  tin  begins  to  run 
from  the  tap-hole  of  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth,  the  smelter  scrapes 

slender  threads  indicate  the  East,  we  believe  that  a  more  local  supply  to  Egypt,  etc.,  is  not 
impossible.  The  discovery  of  large  tin  fields  in  Central  Africa  and  the  native-made  tin 
ornaments  in  circulation  among  the  negroes,  made  possible  the  entrance  of  the  metal  into 
Egypt  along  the  trade  routes.  Further,  we  see  no  reason  why  alluvial  tin  may  not  have 
existed  within  easy  reach  and  have  become  exhausted.  How  quickly  such  a  source  of  metal 
supply  can  be  forgotten  and  no  evidence  remain,  is  indicated  by  the  seldom  remembered 
alluvial  gold  supply  from  Ireland.  However,  be  these  conjectures  as  they  may,  the  East 
has  long  been  the  scene  of  tin  production  and  of  transportation  activity.  Among  the  slender 
evidences  that  point  in  this  direction  is  that  the  Sanskrit  term  for  tin  is  kastira,  a  term  also 
employed  by  the  Chaldeans,  and  represented  in  Arabic  by  kasdir,  and  it  may  have  b'een  the 
progenitor  of  the  Greek  cassiteros.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Phoenicians  also  traded 
with  Malacca,  etc,  but  beyond  these  threads  there  is  little  to  prove  the  pre-western  source. 
The  strained  argument  of  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions,  vol.  n.,  p.  207)  that  the  cassiteros 
of  Homer  and  the  bedil  of  the  Hebrews  was  possibly  not  tin,  and  that  tin  was  unknown  at  this 
time,  falls  to  the  ground  in  the  face  of  the  vast  amount  of  tin  which  must  have  been  in  circula- 
tion to  account  for  the  bronze  used  over  a  period  2,000  years  prior  to  those  peoples.  Tin  is 
early  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures  (Numbers  xxxi,  22),  being  enumerated  among  the  spoil 
of  the  Midianites  (1200  B.C.  ?),  also  Ezekiel  (600  B.C.,  xxvn,  12)  speaks  of  tin  from  Tarshish 
(the  Phoenician  settlement  on  the  coast  of  Spain).  According  to  Homer  tin  played  con- 
siderable part  in  Vulcan's  metallurgical  stores.  Even  approximately  at  what  period  the 
Phoenicians  began  their  distribution  from  Spain  and  Britain  cannot  be  determined.  They 
apparently  established  their  settlements  at  Gades  (Cadiz)  in  Tarshish,  beyond  Gibraltar, 
about  noo  B.C.  The  remains  of  tin  mining  in  the  Spanish  peninsula  prior  to  the  Christian 
Era  indicate  most  extensive  production  by  the  Phoenicians,  but  there  is  little  evidence  as 
to  either  mining  or  smelting  methods.  Generally  as  to  the  technical  methods  of  mining  and 
smelting  tin,  we  are  practically  without  any  satisfactory  statement  down  to  Agricola. 
However,  such  scraps  of  information  as  are  available  are  those  in  Homer  (see  note  on  p.  402), 
Diodorus,  and  Pliny. 

Diodorus  says  (v,  2)  regarding  tin  in  Spain  :  "  They  dig  it  up,  and  melt  it  down  in  the 
'  same  way  as  they  do  gold  and  silver  ;  "  and  again,  speaking  of  the  tin  in  Britain,  he  says : 
'  These  people  make  tin,  which  they  dig  up  with  a  great  deal  of  care  and  labour  ;  being 
'  rocky,  the  metal  is  mixed  with  earth,  out  of  which  they  melt  the  metal,  and  then  refine 
'  it."  Pliny  (xxxiv,  47),  in  the  well-known  and  much-disputed  passage  :  "  Next  to  be 
'  considered  are  the  characteristics  of  lead,  which  is  of  two  kinds,  black  and  white.  The 
'  most  valuable  is  the  white  ;  the  Greeks  called  it  cassiteros,  and  there  is  a  fabulous  story  of  its 
'  being  searched  for  and  carried  from  the  islands  of  Atlantis  in  barks  covered  with  hides. 
'  Certainly  it  is  obtained  in  Lusitania  and  Gallaecia  on  the  surface  of  the  earth  from  black- 
'  coloured  sand.  It  is  discovered  by  its  great  weight,  and  it  is  mixed  with  small  pebbles  in 


BOOK     IX.  413 

down  some  of  the  powdered  charcoal  into  it  from  the  wall,  so  that  the  slags 
may  be  separated  from  the  hot  metal,  and  so  that  it  may  be  covered,  lest 
any  part  of  it,  being  very  hot,  should  fly  away  with  the  fumes.  If  after 
the  slag  has  been  skimmed  off,  the  powder  does  not  cover  up  the  whole  of  the 
tin,  the  smelter  draws  a  little  more  charcoal  off  the  wall  with  a  scraper.  After 
he  has  opened  the  tap-hole  of  the  forehearth  with  a  tapping-bar,  in  order 
that  the  tin  can  flow  into  the  tapping-pot,  likewise  smeared  with  lute,  he 
again  closes  the  tap-hole  with  pure  lute  or  lute  mixed  with  powdered  charcoal. 
The  smelter,  if  he  be  diligent  and  experienced,  has  brooms  at  hand  with  which 
he  sweeps  down  the  walls  above  the  furnace  ;  to  these  walls  and  to  the 
dust  chamber  minute  tin-stones  sometimes  adhere  with  part  of  the  fumes. 
If  he  be  not  sufficiently  experienced  in  these  matters  and  has  melted  at  the 
same  time  all  of  the  tin-stone, — which  is  commonly  of  three  sizes,  large, 
medium,  and  very  small, — not  a  little  waste  of  the  proprietor's  tin  results  ; 
because,  before  the  large  or  the  medium  sizes  have  melted,  the  small  have  either 
been  burnt  up  in  the  furnace,  or  else,  flying  up  from  it,  they  not  only  adhere  to 
the  walls  but  also  fall  in  the  dust  chamber.  The  owner  of  the  works  has 
the  sweepings  by  right  from  the  owner  of  the  ore.  For  the  above  reasons 
the  most  experienced  smelter  melts  them  down  separately  ;  indeed,  he 
melts  the  very  small  size  in  a  wider  furnace,  the  medium  in  a  medium-sized 
furnace,  and  the  largest  size  in  the  narrowest  furnace.  When  he  melts  down 
the  small  size  he  uses  a  gentle  blast  from  the  bellows,  with  the  medium-sized 
a  moderate  one,  with  the  large  size  a  violent  blast ;  and  when  he  smelts 
the  first  size  he  needs  a  slow  fire,  for  the  second  a  medium  one,  and  for  the 
third  a  fierce  one  ;  yet  he  uses  a  much  less  fierce  fire  than  when  he  smelts 
the  ores  of  gold,  silver,  or  copper.  When  the  workmen  have  spent  three 
consecutive  days  and  nights  in  this  work,  as  is  usual,  they  have  finished 
their  labours  ;  in  this  time  they  are  able  to  melt  out  a  large  weight  of  small 

the  dried  beds  of  torrents.  The  miners  wash  these  sands,  and  that  which  settles  they  heat 
in  the  furnace.  It  is  also  found  in  gold  mines,  which  are  called  alutiae.  A  stream  of  water 
passing  through  detaches  small  black  pebbles  variegated  with  white  spots,  the  weight  of 
which  is  the  same  as  gold.  Hence  it  is  that  they  remain  in  the  baskets  of  the  gold  collectors 
with  the  gold  ;  afterward,  they  are  separated  in  a  camillum  and  when  melted  become  white 
lead." 

There  is  practically  no  reference  to  the  methods  of  Cornish  tin-working  over  the  whole 
period  of  2,000  years  that  mining  operations  were  carried  on  there  prior  to  the  Norman 
occupation.  From  then  until  Agricola's  time,  a  period  of  some  four  centuries,  there  are 
occasional  references  in  Stannary  Court  proceedings,  Charters,  and  such-like  official  documents 
which  give  little  metallurgical  insight.  From  a  letter  of  William  de  Wrotham,  Lord  Warden 
of  the  Stannaries,  in  1198,  setting  out  the  regulations  for  the  impost  on  tin,  it  is  evident  that 
the  black  tin  was  smelted  once  at  the  mines  and  that  a  second  smelting  or  refining  was  carried 
out  in  specified  towns  under  the  observation  of  the  Crown  Officials.  In  many  other  official 
documents  there  are  repeated  references  to  the  right  to  dig  turfs  and  cut  wood  for  smelting 
the  tin.  Under  note  8,  p.  282,  we  give  some  further  information  on  tin  concentration,  and 
the  relation  of  Cornish  and  German  tin  miners.  Biringuccio  (1540)  gives  very  little  informa- 
tion on  tin  metallurgy,  and  we  are  brought  to  De  Re  Metallica  for  the  first  clear  exposition. 

As  to  the  description  on  these  pages  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  tin-stone  has  been 
already  roasted,  thus  removing  some  volatile  impurities  and  oxidizing  others,  as  described 
on  page  348.  The  furnaces  and  the  methods  of  working  the  tin,  here  described,  are  almost 
identical  with  those  in  use  in  Saxony  to-day.  In  general,  since  Agricola's  time  tin  has  not  seen 
the  mechanical  and  metallurgical  development  of  the  other  metals.  The  comparatively 
small  quantities  to  be  dealt  with  ;  the  necessity  of  maintaining  a  strong  reducing  atmosphere, 
and  consequently  a  mild  cold  blast ;  and  the  comparatively  low  temperature  demanded, 
gave  little  impetus  to  other  than  crude  appliances  until  very  modern  times. 

29 


414  BOOK     IX. 

sized  tin-stone  which  melts  quickly,  but  less  of  the  large  ones  which  melt 
slowly,  and  a  moderate  quantity  of  the  medium-sized  which  holds  the  middle 
course.  Those  who  do  not  smelt  the  tin-stone  in  furnaces  made  sometimes 
wide,  sometimes  medium,  or  sometimes  narrow,  in  order  that  great  loss 
should  not  be  occasioned,  throw  in  first  the  smallest  size,  then  the  medium, 
then  the  large  size,  and  finally  those  which  are  not  quite  pure  ;  and  the  blast 
of  the  bellows  is  altered  as  required.  In  order  that  the  tin-stone  thrown 
into  the  furnace  should  not  roll  off  from  the  large  charcoal  into  the  forehearth 
before  the  tin  is  melted  out  of  it,  the  smelter  uses  small  charcoal ;  first  some 
of  this  moistened  with  water  is  placed  in  the  furnace,  and  then  he  frequently 
repeats  this  succession  of  charcoal  and  tin-stone. 

The  tin-stone,  collected  from  material  which  during  the  summer  was 
washed  in  a  ditch  through  which  a  stream  was  diverted,  and  during  the  winter 
was  screened  on  a  perforated  iron  plate,  is  smelted  in  a  furnace  a  palm  wider 
than  that  in  which  the  fine  tin-stone  dug  out  of  the  earth  is  smelted.  For 
the  smelting  of  these,  a  more  vigorous  blast  of  the  bellows  and  a  fiercer  fire 
is  needed  than  for  the  smelting  of  the  large  tin-stone.  Whichever  kind  of 
tin-stone  is  being  smelted,  if  the  tin  first  flows  from  the  furnace,  much  of  it  is 
made,  and  if  slags  first  flow  from  the  furnace,  then  only  a  little.  It  happens 
that  the  tin-stone  is  mixed  with  the  slags  when  it  is  either  less  pure  or 
ferruginous — that  is,  not  enough  roasted — and  is  imperfect  when  put  into 
the  furnace,  or  when  it  has  been  put  in  in  a  larger  quantity  than  was  neces- 
sary ;  then,  although  it  may  be  pure  and  melt  easily,  the  ore  either  runs 
out  of  the  furnace  at  the  same  time,  mixed  with  the  slags,  or  else  it  settles 
so  firmly  at  the  bottom  of  the  furnace  that  the  operation  of  smelting  being 
necessarily  interrupted,  the  furnace  freezes  up. 

The  tap-hole  of  the  forehearth  is  opened  and  the  tin  is  diverted  into  the 
dipping-pot,  and  as  often  as  the  slags  flow  down  the  sloping  floor  of  the  build- 
ing they  are  skimmed  off  with  a  rabble  ;  as  soon  as  the  tin  has  run  out  of 
the  forehearth,  the  tap-hole  is  again  closed  up  with  lute  mixed  with  powdered 
charcoal.  Glowing  coals  are  put  in  the  dipping-pot  so  that  the  tin,  after  it 
has  run  out,  should  not  get  chilled.  If  the  metal  is  so  impure  that  nothing 
can  be  made  from  it,  the  material  which  has  run  out  is  made  into  cakes  to  be 
re-smelted  in  the  hearth,  of  which  I  shall  have  something  to  say  later ;  if  the 
metal  is  pure,  it  is  poured  immediately  upon  thick  copper  plates,  at  first  in 
straight  lines  and  then  transversely  over  these  to  make  a  lattice.  Each  of 
these  lattice  bars  is  impressed  with  an  iron  die  ;  if  the  tin  was  melted  out 
of  ore  excavated  from  mines,  then  one  stamp  only,  namely,  that  of  the 
Magistrate,  is  usually  imprinted,  but  if  it  is  made  from  tin-stone  collected  on 
the  ground  after  washing,  then  it  is  impressed  with  two  seals,  one  the 
Magistrate's  and  the  other  a  fork  which  the  washers  use.  Generally,  three 
of  this  kind  of  lattice  bars  are  beaten  and  amalgamated  into  one  mass  with  a 
wooden  mallet. 

The  slags  that  are  skimmed  off  are  afterward  thrown  with  an  iron  shovel 
into  a  small  trough  hollowed  from  a  tree,  and  are  cleansed  from  charcoal 


BOOK     IX. 


415 


A— FURNACE.    B — ITS  TAP-HOLE.     C— FOREHEARTH.      D — ITS  TAP-HOLE.      E — SLAGS. 

F— SCRAPER.        G — DIPPING-POT.        H — WALLS  OF  THE  CHIMNEY.        I — BROOM. 
K — COPPER  PLATE.      L — LATTICEWORK  BARS.      M — IRON  SEAL  OR  DIE.     N — HAMMER. 


416  BOOK    IX. 

by  agitation  ;  when  taken  out  they  are  broken  up  with  a  square  iron  mallet, 
and  then  they  are  re-melted  with  the  fine  tin-stone  next  smelted.  There 
are  some  who  crush  the  slags  three  times  under  wet  stamps  and  re-melt  them 
three  times  ;  if  a  large  quantity  of  this  be  smelted  while  still  wet,  little 
tin  is  melted  from  it,  because  the  slag,  soon  melted  again,  flows  from  the 
furnace  into  the  forehearth.  Under  the  wet  stamps  are  also  crushed  the 
lute  and  broken  rock  with  which  such  furnaces  are  lined,  and  also  the 
accretions,  which  often  contain  fine  tin-stone,  either  not  melted  or  half- 
melted,  and  also  prills  of  tin.  The  tin-stone  not  yet  melted  runs  out 
through  the  screen  into  a  trough,  and  is  washed  in  the  same  way  as  tin- 
stone, while  the  partly  melted  and  the  prills  of  tin  are  taken  from  the  mortar- 
box  and  washed  in  the  sieve  on  which  not  very  minute  particles  remain,  and 
thence  to  the  canvas  strake.  The  soot  which  adheres  to  that  part  of  the 
chimney  which  emits  the  smoke,  also  often  contains  very  fine  tin-stone  which 
flies  from  the  furnace  with  the  fumes,  and  this  is  washed  in  the  strake  which 
I  have  just  mentioned,  and  in  other  sluices.  The  prills  of  tin  and  the  partly 
melted  tin-stone  that  are  contained  in  the  lute  and  broken  rock  with  which 
the  furnace  is  lined,  and  in  the  remnants  of  the  tin  from  the  forehearth  and 
the  dipping-pot,  are  smelted  together  with  the  tin-stone. 

When  tin-stone  has  been  smelted  for  three  days  and  as  many  nights  in  a 
furnace  prepared  as  I  have  said  above,  some  little  particles  of  the  rock  from 
which  the  furnace  is  constructed  become  loosened  by  the  fire  and  fall  down ; 
and  then  the  bellows  being  taken  away,  the  furnace  is  broken  through  at  the 
back,  and  the  accretions  are  first  chipped  off  with  hammers,  and  afterward 
the  whole  of  the  interior  of  the  furnace  is  re-fitted  with  the  prepared  sand- 
stone, and  again  evenly  lined  with  lute.  The  sandstone  placed  on  the  bed 
of  the  furnace,  if  it  has  become  faulty,  is  taken  out,  and  another  is  laid  down 
in  its  place  ;  those  rocks  which  are  too  large  the  smelter  chips  off  and  fits 
with  a  sharp  pick. 

Some  build  two  furnaces  against  the  wall  just  like  those  I  have  described, 
and  above  them  build  a  vaulted  ceiling  supported  by  the  wall  and  by  four 
pillars.  Through  holes  in  the  vaulted  ceiling  the  fumes  from  the  furnaces 
ascend  into  a  dust  chamber,  similar  to  the  one  described  before,  except  that 
there  is  a  window  on  each  side  and  there  is  no  door.  The  smelters,  when 
they  have  to  clear  away  the  flue-dust,  mount  by  the  steps  at  the  side  of  the 
furnaces,  and  climb  by  ladders  into  the  dust  chamber  through  the  apertures 
in  the  vaulted  ceilings  over  the  furnaces.  They  then  remove  the  flue-dust 
from  everywhere  and  collect  it  in  baskets,  which  are  passed  from  one  to  the 
other  and  emptied.  This  dust  chamber  differs  from  the  other  described,  in 
the  fact  that  the  chimneys,  of  which  it  has  two,  are  not  dissimilar  to  those 
of  a  house  ;  they  receive  the  fumes  which,  being  unable  to  escape  through  the 
upper  part  of  the  chamber,  are  turned  back  and  re-ascend  and  release  the 
tin  ;  thus  the  tin  set  free  by  the  fire  and  turned  to  ash,  and  the  little  tin- 
stones which  fly  up  with  the  fumes,  remain  in  the  dust  chamber  or  else  adhere 
to  copper  plates  in  the  chimney. 


BOOK    IX. 


417 


A — FURNACES.  B — FOREHEARTHS.    C— THEIR  TAP-HOLES.    D — DIPPING-POTS.  E — PILLARS. 
F — DUST-CHAMBER.     G — WINDOW.      H — CHIMNEYS.      I — TUB  IN  WHICH  THE  COALS  ARE 

WASHED. 


418 


BOOK     IX. 


If  the  tin  is  so  impure  that  it  cracks  when  struck  with  the  hammer,  it 
is  not  immediately  made  into  lattice-like  bars,  but  into  the  cakes  which  I  have 
spoken  of  before,  and  these  are  refined  by  melting  again  on  a  hearth.  This 
hearth  consists  of  sandstones,  which  slope  toward  the  centre  and  a  little 
toward  a  dipping-pot ;  at  their  joints  they  are  covered  with  lute.  Dry 
logs  are  arranged  on  each  side,  alternately  upright  and  lengthwise,  and  more 
closely  in  the  middle  ;  on  this  wood  are  placed  five  or  six  cakes  of  tin  which 
all  together  weigh  about  six  centumpondia  ;  the  wood  having  been  kindled, 


A — HEARTHS.      B — DIPPING-POTS.      C — WOOD.      D— CAKES.      E — LADLE.      F— COPPER 
PLATE.    G — LATTICE-SHAPED    BARS.    H — IRON    DIES.    I — WOODEN    MALLET.     K — MASS 

OF   TIN    BARS.      L — SHOVEL. 

the  tin  drips  down  and  flows  continuously  into  the  dipping-pot  which 
is  on  the  floor.  The  impure  tin  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  this  dipping-pot 
and  the  pure  tin  floats  on  the  top  ;  then  both  are  ladled  out  by  the  master, 
who  first  takes  out  the  pure  tin,  and  by  pouring  it  over  thick  plates  of  copper 
makes  lattice-like  bars.  Afterward  he  takes  out  the  impure  tin  from  which 
he  makes  cakes  ;  he  discriminates  between  them,  when  he  ladles  and  pours, 
by  the  ease  or  difficulty  of  the  flow.  One  centumpondium  of  the  lattice-like 
bare  sells  for  more  than  a  centumpondium  of  cakes,  for  the  price  of  the  former 


BOOK     IX. 


419 


exceeds  the  price  of  the  latter  by  a  gold  coin54.  These  lattice-like  bars  are 
lighter  than  the  others,  and  when  five  of  them  are  pounded  and  amalgamated 
with  a  wooden  mallet,  a  mass  is  made  which  is  stamped  with  an  iron  die. 
There  are  some  who  do  not  make  a  dipping-pot  on  the  floor  for  the  tin  to  run 
into,  but  in  the  hearth  itself  ;  out  of  this  the  master,  having  removed  the 
charcoal,  ladles  the  tin  and  pours  it  over  the  copper-plate.  The  dross  which 
adheres  to  the  wood  and  the  charcoal,  having  been  collected,  is  re-smelted 
in  the  furnace. 


iTrrrmrriTrrny 


A — FURNACE.       B— BELLOWS.       C — IRON  Disc.       D— NOZZLE.       E — WOODEN  Disc. 
F — BLOW-HOLE.     G — HANDLE.     H — HAFT.     I — HOOPS.     K — MASSES  OF  TIN. 

Some  of  the  Lusitanians  melt  tin  from  tin-stone  in  small  furnaces.  They 
use  round  bellows  made  of  leather,  of  which  the  fore  end  is  a  round  iron  disc 
and  the  rear  end  a  disc  of  wood  ;  in  a  hole  in  the  former  is  fixed  the  nozzle, 
in  the  middle  of  the  latter  the  blow-hole.  Above  this  is  the  handle  or  haft, 
which  draws  open  the  round  bellows  and  lets  in  the  air,  or  compresses  it  and 
drives  the  air  out.  Between  the  discs  are  several  iron  hoops  to  which  the 
leather  is  fastened,  making  such  folds  as  are  to  be  seen  in  paper  lanterns  that 

s*Aureo  nummo.  German  Translation  gives  reinschen  gulden,  which  was  the  equivalent 
of  about  $1.66,  or  6.9  shillings.  The  purchasing  power  of  money  was,  however,  several  times 
as  great  as  at  present. 


420  BOOK     IX. 

are  folded  together.  Since  this  kind  of  bellows  does  not  give  a  vigorous  blast, 
because  they  are  drawn  apart  and  compressed  slowly,  the  smelter  is  not 
able  during  a  whole  day  to  smelt  much  more  than  half  a  centumpondium  of 
tin. 

Very  good  iron  ore  is  smelted55  in  a  furnace  almost  like  the  cupellation 
furnace.  The  hearth  is  three  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  five  feet  long  and 
wide  ;  in  the  centre  of  it  is  a  crucible  a  foot  deep  and  one  and  a  half  feet 
wide,  but  it  may  be  deeper  or  shallower,  wider  or  narrower,  according  to  whether 
more  or  less  ore  is  to  be  made  into  iron.  A  certain  quantity  of  iron  ore  is 
given  to  the  master,  out  of  which  he  may  smelt  either  much  or  little  iron. 
He  being  about  to  expend  his  skill  and  labour  on  this  matter,  first  throws 
charcoal  into  the  crucible,  and  sprinkles  over  it  an  iron  shovel-ful  of  crushed 
iron  ore  mixed  with  unslaked  lime.  Then  he  repeatedly  throws  on  charcoal 
and  sprinkles  it  with  ore,  and  continues  this  until  he  has  slowly  built  up  a 
heap  ;  it  melts  when  the  charcoal  has  been  kindled  and  the  fire  violently 
stimulated  by  the  blast  of  the  bellows,  which  are  skilfully  fixed  in  a  pipe. 

55In  the  following  descriptions  of  iron-smelting,  we  have  three  processes  described  ; 
the  first  being  the  direct  reduction  of  malleable  iron  from  ore,  the  second  the  transition  stage 
then  in  progress  from  the  direct  to  indirect  method  by  way  of  cast-iron  ;  and  the  third  a 
method  of  making  steel  by  cementation.  The  first  method  is  that  of  primitive  iron-workers 
of  all  times  and  all  races,  and  requires  little  comment.  A  pasty  mass  was  produced,  which 
was  subsequently  hammered  to  make  it  exude  the  slag,  the  hammered  mass  being  the 
ancient  "  bloom."  The  second  process  is  of  considerable  interest,  for  Jit  marks  one  of  the 
earliest  descriptions  of  working  iron  in  "  a  furnace  similar  to  a  blast  furnace,  but  much  wider 
"  and  higher."  This  original  German  Sluckofen  or  high  bloomery  furnace  was  used  for  making 
"  masses  "  of  wrought-iron  under  essentially  the  same  conditions  as  its  progenitor  the  forge — 
only  upon  a  larger  scale.  With  high  temperatures,  however,  such  a  furnace  would,  if  desired, 
yield  molten  metal,  and  thus  the  step  to  cast-iron  as  a  preliminary  to  wrought-iron  became 
very  easy  and  natural,  in  fact  Agricola  mentions  above  that  if  the  iron  is  left  to  settle  in  the 
furnace  it  becomes  hard.  The  making  of  malleable  iron  by  subsequent  treatment  of  the  cast- 
iron — the  indirect  method — originated  in  about  Agricola's  time,  and  marks  the  beginning  of 
one  of  those  subtle  economic  currents  destined  to  have  the  widest  bearing  upon  civilization. 
It  is  to  us  uncertain  whether  he  really  understood  the  double  treatment  or  not.  In  the  above 
paragraph  he  says  from  ore  "  once  or  twice  smelted  they  make  iron,"  etc.,  and  in  De  Natura 
Fossilium  (p.  339)  some  reference  is  made  to  pouring  melted  iron,  all  of  which  would  appear 
to  be  cast-iron.  He  does  not,  however,  describe  the  i6th  Century  method  of  converting  cast 
into  wrought  iron  by  way  of  in  effect  roasting  the  pig  iron  to  eliminate  carbon  by  oxidation, 
with  subsequent  melting  into  a  "  ball  "  or  "  mass."  It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  puddling 
for  this  purpose  did  not  come  into  use  until  the  end  of  the  i8th  Century.  A  great  deal  of 
discussion  has  arisen  as  to  where  and  at  what  time  cast-iron  was  made  systematically,  but 
without  satisfactory  answer  ;  in  any  event,  it  seems  to  have  been  in  about  the  end  of  the 
I4th  Century,  as  cast  cannon  began  to  appeal  about  that  time.  It  is  our  impression  that 
the  whole  of  this  discussion  on  iron  in  De  Re  Metallica  is  an  abstract  from  Biringuccio, 
who  wrote  15  years  earlier,  as  it  is  in  so  nearly  identical  terms.  Those  interested  will  find  a 
translation  of  Biringuccio's  statement  with  regard  to  steel  in  Percy's  Metallurgy  of  Iron  and 
Steel,  London,  1864,  p.  807. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  IRON  SMELTING.  The  archaeologists'  division  of  the  history 
of  racial  development  into  the  Stone,  Bronze,  and  Iron  Ages,  based  upon  objects  found  in 
tumuli,  burial  places,  etc.,  would  on  the  face  of  it  indicate  the  prior  discovery  of  copper 
metallurgy  over  iron,  and  it  is  generally  so  maintained  by  those  scientists.  The  metallurgists 
have  not  hesitated  to  protest  that  while  this  distinction  of  "  Ages "  may  serve  the 
archaeologists,  and  no  doubt  represents  the  sequence  in  which  the  metal  objects  are  found, 
yet  it  by  no  means  follows  that  this  was  the  order  of  their  discovery  or  use,  but  that  iron 
by  its  rapidity  of  oxidation  has  simply  not  been  preserved.  The  arguments  which  may 
be  advanced  from  our  side  are  in  the  main  these.  Iron  ore  is  of  more  frequent  occur- 
rence than  copper  ores,  and  the  necessary  reduction  of  copper  oxides  (as  most  surface 
ores  must  have  been)  to  fluid  metal  requires  a  temperature  very  much  higher  than  does  the 
reduction  of  iron  oxides  to  wrought-iron  blooms,  which  do  not  necessitate  fusion.  The  com- 
paratively greater  simplicity  of  iron  metallurgy  under  primitive  conditions  is  well  exempli- 
fied by  the  hill  tribes  of  Northern  Nigeria,  where  in  village  forges  the  negroes  reduce  iron 


BOOK     IX.  421 

He  is  able  to  complete  this  work  sometimes  in  eight  hours,  sometimes  in  ten, 
and  again  sometimes  in  twelve.  In  order  that  the  heat  of  the  fire  should  not 
burn  his  face,  he  covers  it  entirely  with  a  cap,  in  which,  however,  there  are 
holes  through  which  he  may  see  and  breathe.  At  the  side  of  the  hearth  is  a 
bar  which  he  raises  as  often  as  is  necessary,  when  the  bellows  blow  too  violent 
a  blast,  or  when  he  adds  more  ore  and  charcoal.  He  also  uses  the  bar 
to  draw  off  the  slags,  or  to  open  or  close  the  gates  of  the  sluice,  through 
which  the  waters  flow  down  on  to  the  wheel  which  turns  the  axle  that  com- 
presses the  bellows.  In  this  sensible  way,  iron  is  melted  out  and  a  mass 
weighing  two  or  three  centumpondia  may  be  made,  providing  the  iron  ore 
was  rich.  When  this  is  done  the  master  opens  the  slag-vent  with  the  tapping- 
bar,  and  when  all  has  run  out  he  allows  the  iron  mass  to  cool.  Afterward 
he  and  his  assistant  stir  the  iron  with  the  bar,  and  then  in  order  to  chip  off 
the  slags  which  had  until  then  adhered  to  it,  and  to  condense  and  flatten  it, 
they  take  it  down  from  the  furnace  to  the  floor,  and  beat  it  with  large  wooden 
mallets  having  slender  handles  five  feet  long.  Thereupon  it  is  immediately 

sufficient  for  their  needs,  from  hematite.  Copper  alone  would  not  be  a  very  serviceable  metal 
to  primitive  man,  and  he  early  made  the  advance  to  bronze  ;  this  latter  metal  requires  three 
metallurgical  operations,  and  presents  immeasurably  greater  difficulties  than  iron.  It  is, 
as  Professor  Gowland  has  demonstrated  (Presidential  Address,  Inst.  of  Metals,  London,  1912) 
quite  possible  to  make  bronze  from  melting  stanniferous  copper  ores,  yet  such  combined 
occurrence  at  the  surface  is  rare,  and,  so  far  as  known,  the  copper  sources  from  which  Asia  Minor 
and  Egypt  obtained  their  supply  do  not  contain  tin.  It  seems  to  us,  therefore,  that  in  most 
cases  the  separate  fusions  of  different  ores  and  their  subsequent  re-melting  were  required  to 
make  bronze.  The  arguments  advanced  by  the  archaeologists  bear  mostly  upon  the  fact 
that,  had  iron  been  known,  its  superiority  would  have  caused  the  primitive  races  to  adopt  it, 
and  we  should  not  find  such  an  abundance  of  bronze  tools.  As  to  this,  it  may  be  said  that 
bronze  weapons  and  tools  are  plentiful  enough  in  Egyptian,  Mycenaean,  and  early  Greek 
remains,  long  after  iron  was  demonstrably  well  known.  There  has  been  a  good  deal 
pronounced  by  etymologists  on  the  history  of  iron  and  copper,  for  instance,  by  Max  Miiller, 
(Lectures  on  the  Science  of  Language,  Vol.  n,  p.  255,  London,  1864),  and  many  others,  but 
the  amazing  lack  of  metallurgical  knowledge  nullifies  practically  all  their  conclusions.  The 
oldest  Egyptian  texts  extant,  dating  3500  B.C.,  refer  to  iron,  and  there  is  in  the  British 
Museum  a  piece  of  iron  found  in  the  Pyramid  of  Kephron  (3700  B.C.)  under  conditions  indicating 
its  co-incident  origin.  There  is  exhibited  also  a  fragment  of  oxidized  iron  lately  found  by 
Professor  Petrie  and  placed  as  of  the  VI  Dynasty  (B.C.  3200).  Despite  this  evidence  of  an 
early  knowledge  of  iron,  there  is  almost  a  total  absence  of  Egyptian  iron  objects  for  a  long 
period  subsequent  to  that  time,  which  in  a  measure  confirms  the  view  of  its  disappearance 
rather  than  that  of  ignorance  of  it.  Many  writers  have  assumed  that  the  Ancients  must  have 
had  some  superior  art  of  hardening  copper  or  bronze,  because  the  cutting  of  the  gigantic  stone- 
work of  the  time  could  not  have  been  done  with  that  alloy  as  we  know  it ;  no  such  hardening 
appears  among  the  bronze  tools  found,  and  it  seems  to  us  that  the  argument  is  stronger 
that  the  oldest  Egyptian  stoneworkers  employed  mostly  iron  tools,  and  that  these  have 
oxidized  out  of  existence.  The  reasons  for  preferring  copper  alloys  to  iron  for  decorative 
objects  were  equally  strong  in  ancient  times  as  in  the  present  day,  and  accounts  sufficiently 
for  these  articles,  and,  therefore,  iron  would  be  devoted  to  more  humble  objects  less  likely  to 
be  preserved.  Further,  the  Egyptians  at  a  later  date  had  some  prejudices  against  iron  for 
sacred  purposes,  and  the  media  of  preservation  of  most  metal  objects  were  not  open  to  iron. 
We  know  practically  nothing  of  very  early  Egyptian  metallurgy,  but  in  the  time  of  Thotmes 
III.  (1500  B.C.)  bellows  were  used  upon  the  forge. 

Of  literary  evidences  the  earliest  is  in  the  Shoo  King  among  the  Tribute  of  Yii  (2500 
B.C.  ?).  Iron  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  any  of  the  early 
references  apply  to  steel.  There  is  scarcely  a  Greek  or  Latin  author  who  does  not  mention 
iron  in  some  connection,  and  of  the  earliest,  none  are  so  suggestive  from  a  metallurgical  point 
of  view  as  Homer,  by  whom  "  laboured  "  mass  (wrought -iron  ?)  is  often  referred  to.  As,  for 
instance,  in  the  Odyssey  (i.,  234)  Pallas  in  the  guise  of  Mentes,  says  according  to  Pope  : 

"  Freighted  with  iron  from  my  native  land 

"  I  steer  my  voyage  to  the  Brutian  strand, 

"  To  gain  by  commerce  for  the  laboured  mass 

"  A  just  proportion  of  refulgent  brass." 


422 


BOOK     IX. 


A — HEARTH.    B — HEAP.    C — SLAG-VENT.    D — IRON  MASS.    E — WOODEN  MALLETS. 

F — HAMMER.    G — ANVIL. 


BOOK     IX.  423 

placed  on  the  anvil,  and  repeatedly  beaten  by  the  large  iron  hammer  that  is 
raised  by  the  cams  of  an  axle  turned  by  a  water-wheel.  Not  long  afterward 
it  is  taken  up  with  tongs  and  placed  under  the  same  hammer,  and  cut  up  with 
a  sharp  iron  into  four,  five,  or  six  pieces,  according  to  whether  it  is  large  or 
small.  These  pieces,  after  they  have  been  re-heated  in  the  blacksmith's  forge 
and  again  placed  on  the  anvil,  are  shaped  by  the  smith  into  square  bars  or  into 
ploughshares  or  tyres,  but  mainly  into  bars.  Four,  six,  or  eight  of  these  bars 
weigh  one-fifth  of  a  centumpondium,  and  from  these  they  make  various  imple- 
ments. During  the  blows  from  the  hammer  by  which  it  is  shaped  by  the  smith, 
a  youth  pours  water  with  a  ladle  on  to  the  glowing  iron,  and  this  is  why  the 
blows  make  such  a  loud  sound  that  they  may  be  heard  a  long  distance  from 
the  works.  The  masses,  if  they  remain  and  settle  in  the  crucible  of  the 
furnace  in  which  the  iron  is  smelted,  become  hard  iron  which  can  only  be 
hammered  with  difficulty,  and  from  these  they  make  the  iron-shod  heads  for 
the  stamps,  and  such-like  very  hard  articles. 

But  to  iron  ore  which  is  cupriferous,  or  which  when  heated58  melts 
with  difficulty,  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  give  a  fiercer  fire  and  more  labour  ; 
because  not  only  must  we  separate  the  parts  of  it  in  which  there  is  metal  from 
those  in  which  there  is  no  metal,  and  break  it  up  by  dry  stamps,  but  we  must 
also  roast  it,  so  that  the  other  metals  and  noxious  juices  may  be  exhaled  ; 
and  we  must  wash  it,  so  that  the  lighter  parts  may  be  separated  from  it. 
Such  ores  are  smelted  in  a  furnace  similar  to  the  blast  furnace,  but  much 
wider  and  higher,  so  that  it  may  hold  a  great  quantity  of  ore  and  much 
charcoal  ;  mounting  the  stairs  at  the  side  of  the  furnace,  the  smelters  fill 
it  partly  with  fragments  of  ore  not  larger  than  nuts,  and  partly  with 
charcoal ;  and  from  this  kind  of  ore  once  or  twice  smelted  they  make  iron 
which  is  suitable  for  re-heating  in  the  blacksmith's  forge,  after  it  is  flattened 
out  with  the  large  iron  hammer  and  cut  into  pieces  with  the  sharp  iron. 

By  skill  with  fire  and  fluxes  is  made  that  kind  of  iron  from  which  steel 
is  made,  which  the  Greeks  call  aron^a.  Iron  should  be  selected  which 
is  easy  to  melt,  is  hard  and  malleable.  Now  although  iron  may  be 
smelted  from  ore  which  contains  other  metals,  yet  it  is  then  either  soft 
or  brittle  ;  such  (iron)  must  be  broken  up  into  small  pieces  when  it  is 

(Brass  is  modern  poetic  licence  for  copper  or  bronze).  Also,  in  the  Odyssey  (ix,  465)  when 
Homer  describes  how  Ulysses  plunged  the  stake  into  Cyclop's  eye,  we  have  the  first  positive 
evidence  of  steel,  although  hard  iron  mentioned  in  the  Tribute  of  Yii,  above  referred  to,  is 
sometimes  given  as  steel : 

"  And  as  when  armourers  temper  in  the  ford 
"  The  keen-edg'd  pole-axe,  or  the  shining  sword, 
"  The  red-hot  metal  hisses  in  the  lake." 

No  doubt  early  wrought-iron  was  made  in  the  same  manner  as  Agricola  describes.  We 
are,  however,  not  so  clear  as  to  the  methods  of  making  steel.  Under  primitive  methods  of 
making  wrought-iron  it  is  quite  possible  to  carburize  the  iron  sufficiently  to  make  steel  direct 
from  ore.  The  primitive  method  of  India  and  Japan  was  to  enclose  lumps  of  wrought-iron  in 
sealed  crucibles  with  charcoal  and  sawdust,  and  heat  them  over  a  long  period.  Neither  Pliny 
nor  any  of  the  other  authors  of  the  period  previous  to  the  Christian  Era  give  us  much  help 
on  steel  metallurgy,  although  certain  obscure  expressions  of  Aristotle  have  been  called  upon 
(for  instance,  St.  John  V.  Day,  Prehistoric  Use  of  Iron  and  Steel,  London,  1877,  p.  134)  to 
prove  its  manufacture  by  immersing  wrought-iron  in  molten  cast-iron. 

&*Quae  vel  aerosa  est,  vel  coda.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  cocta,  "  cooked  "  is 
rightly  translated,  for  the  author  has  not  hitherto  used  this  expression  for  heated.  This  may 
be  residues  from  roasting  and  leaching  pyrites  for  vitriol,  etc. 


424 


BOOK     IX. 


A — FURNACE.    B — STAIRS.    C — ORE.    D- CHARCOAL. 


BOOK    IX. 


425 


A — FORGE.     B — BELLOWS.    C — TONGS.     D — HAMMER.    E — COLD  STREAM. 


426  BOOK     IX. 

hot,  and  then  mixed  with  crushed  stone  which  melts.  Then  a  crucible 
is  made  in  the  hearth  of  the  smith's  furnace,  from  the  same  moistened 
powder  from  which  are  made  the  forehearths  in  front  of  the  furnaces  in 
which  ores  of  gold  or  silver  are  smelted  ;  the  width  of  this  crucible  is 
about  one  and  a  half  feet  and  the  depth  one  foot.  The  bellows  are  so 
placed  that  the  blast  may  be  blown  through  the  nozzle  into  the  middle 
of  the  crucible.  Then  the  whole  of  the  crucible  is  filled  with  the  best 
charcoal,  and  it  is  surrounded  by  fragments  of  rock  to  hold  in  place  the  pieces 
of  iron  and  the  superimposed  charcoal.  As  soon  as  all  the  charcoal 
is  kindled  and  the  crucible  is  glowing,  a  blast  is  blown  from  the  bellows 
and  the  master  pours  in  gradually  as  much  of  the  mixture  of  iron  and  flux 
as  he  wishes.  Into  the  middle  of  this,  when  it  is  melted,  he  puts  four  iron 
masses  each  weighing  thirty  pounds,  and  heats  them  for  five  or  six  hours  in  a 
fierce  fire  ;  he  frequently  stirs  the  melted  iron  with  a  bar,  so  that  the  small 
pores  in  each  mass  absorb  the  minute  particles,  and  these  particles  by  their 
own  strength  consume  and  expand  the  thick  particles  of  the  masses,  which  they 
render  soft  and  similar  to  dough.  Afterward  the  master,  aided  by  his 
assistant,  takes  out  a  mass  with  the  tongs  and  places  it  on  the  anvil,  where 
it  is  pounded  by  the  hammer  which  is  alternately  raised  and  dropped  by 
means  of  the  water-wheel ;  then,  without  delay,  while  it  is  still  hot,  he 
throws  it  into  water  and  tempers  it  ;  when  it  is  tempered,  he  places  it  again 
on  the  anvil,  and  breaks  it  with  a  blow  from  the  same  hammer.  Then  at 
once  examining  the  fragments,  he  decides  whether  the  iron  in  some  part  or 
other,  or  as  a  whole,  appears  to  be  dense  and  changed  into  steel ;  if  so,  he  seizes 
one  mass  after  another  with  the  tongs,  and  taking  them  out  he  breaks  them 
into  pieces.  Afterward  he  heats  the  mixture  up  again,  and  adds  a  portion 
afresh  to  take  the  place  of  that  which  has  been  absorbed  by  the  masses.  This 
restores  the  energy  of  that  which  is  left,  and  the  pieces  of  the  masses  are  again 
put  back  into  the  crucible  and  made  purer.  Each  of  these,  after  having 
been  heated,  is  seized  with  the  tongs,  put  under  the  hammer  and  shaped 
into  a  bar.  While  they  are  still  glowing,  he  at  once  throws  them  into  the  very 
coldest  nearby  running  water,  and  in  this  manner,  being  suddenly  condensed, 
they  are  changed  into  pure  steel,  which  is  much  harder  and  whiter  than  iron. 

The  ores  of  the  other  metals  are  not  smelted  in  furnaces.  Quicksilver 
ores  and  also  antimony  are  melted  in  pots,  and  bismuth  in  troughs. 

I  will  first  speak  of  quicksilver.  This  is  collected  when  found  in  pools 
formed  from  the  outpourings  of  the  veins  and  stringers  ;  it  is  cleansed  with 
vinegar  and  salt,  and  then  it  is  poured  into  canvas  or  soft  leather,  through 
which,  when  squeezed  and  compressed,  the  quicksilver  runs  out  into  a  pot  or 
pan.  The  ore  of  quicksilver  is  reduced  in  double  or  single  pots.  If  in  double 
pots,  then  the  upper  one  is  of  a  shape  not  very  dissimilar  to  the  glass  ampullas 
used  by  doctors,  but  they  taper  downward  toward  the  bottom,  and  the 
lower  ones  are  little  pots  similar  to  those  in  which  men  and  women  make 
cheese,  but  both  are  larger  than  these  ;  it  is  necessary  to  sink  the  lower 
pots  up  to  the  rims  in  earth,  sand,  or  ashes.  The  ore,  broken  up  into  small 
pieces  is  put  into  the  upper  pots ;  these  having  been  entirely  closed  up 


BOOK    IX. 


427 


with  moss,  are  placed  upside  down  in  the  openings  of  the  lower  pots,  where  they 
are  joined  with  lute,  lest  the  quicksilver  which  takes  refuge  in  them  should 
be  exhaled.  There  are  some  who,  after  the  pots  have  been  buried,  do  not  fear 
to  leave  them  uncemented,  and  who  boast  that  they  are  able  to  produce  no 
less  weight  of  quicksilver  than  those  who  do  cement  them,  but  nevertheless 
cementing  with  lute  is  the  greatest  protection  against  exhalation.  In  this 
manner  seven  hundred  pairs  of  pots  are  set  together  in  the  ground  or  on  a 
hearth.  They  must  be  surrounded  on  all  sides  with  a  mixture  consisting  of 
crushed  earth  and  charcoal,  in  such  a  way  that  the  upper  pots  protrude  to  a 
height  of  a  palm  above  it.  On  both  sides  of  the  hearth  rocks  are  first  laid, 
and  upon  them  poles,  across  which  the  workmen  place  other  poles  transversely  ; 
these  poles  do  not  touch  the  pots,  nevertheless  the  fire  heats  the  quick- 
silver, which  fleeing  from  the  heat  is  forced  to  run  down  through  the  moss 
into  the  lower  pots.  If  the  ore  is  being  reduced  in  the  upper  pots,  it  flees 
from  them,  wherever  there  is  an  exit,  into  the  lower  pots,  but  if  the  ore  on 
the  contrary  is  put  in  the  lower  pots  the  quicksilver  rises  into  the  upper  pot 
or  into  the  operculum,  which,  together  with  the  gourd-shaped  vessels,  are 
cemented  to  the  upper  pots. 


A — HEARTH.    B — POLES.     C — HEARTH  WITHOUT  FIRE  IN  WHICH  THE  POTS  ARE  PLACED. 
D — ROCKS.    E — Rows  OF  POTS.     F — UPPER  POTS.    G— LOWER  POTS. 


428  BOOK    IX. 

The  pots,  lest  they  should  become  defective,  are  moulded  from  the  best 
potters'  clay,  for  if  there  are  defects  the  quicksilver  flies  out  in  the  fumes. 
If  the  fumes  give  out  a  very  sweet  odour  it  indicates  that  the  quicksilver  is 
being  lost,  and  since  this  loosens  the  teeth,  the  smelters  and  others  standing  by, 
warned  of  the  evil,  turn  their  backs  to  the  wind,  which  drives  the  fumes  in 
the  opposite  direction  ;  for  this  reason,  the  building  should  be  open  around 
the  front  and  the  sides,  and  exposed  to  the  wind.  If  these  pots  are  made 
of  cast  copper  they  last  a  long  time  in  the  fire.  This  process  for  reducing  the 
ores  of  quicksilver  is  used  by  most  people. 

In  a  similar  manner  the  antimony  ore,57  if  free  from  other  metals,  is  reduced 
in  upper  pots  which  are  twice  as  large  as  the  lower  ones.  Their  size,  however, 
depends  on  the  cakes,  which  have  not  the  same  weight  everywhere  ;  for  in 
some  places  they  are  made  to  weigh  six  librae,  in  other  places  ten,  and  else- 
where twenty.  When  the  smelter  has  concluded  his  operation,  he  extin- 
guishes the  fire  with  water,  removes  the  lids  from  the  pots,  throws  earth  mixed 
with  ash  around  and  over  them,  and  when  they  have  cooled,  takes  out  the 
cakes  from  the  pots. 

"Agricola  draws  no  sharp  line  of  distinction  between  antimony  the  metal,  and  its 
sulphide.  He  uses  the  Roman  term  stibi  or  stibium  (Interpretatio, — Spiesglas)  throughout 
this  book,  and  evidently  in  most  cases  means  the  sulphide,  but  in  others,  particularly  in 
parting  gold  and  silver,  metallic  antimony  would  be  reduced  out.  We  have  been  in  much 
doubt  as  to  the  term  to  introduce  into  the  text,  as  the  English  "  stibnite  "  carries  too  much 
precision  of  meaning.  Originally  the  "  antimony  "  of  trade  was  the  sulphide.  Later,  with 
the  application  of  that  term  to  the  metal,  the  sulphide  was  termed  "  grey  antimony,"  and 
we  have  either  used  stibium  for  lack  of  better  alternative,  or  adopted  "  grey  antimony." 
The  method  described  by  Agricola  for  treating  antimony  sulphide  is  still  used  in  the  Harz,  in 
Bohemia,  and  elsewhere.  The  stibnite  is  liquated  out  at  a  low  heat  and  drips  from  the  upper 
to  the  lower  pot.  The  resulting  purified  antimony  sulphide  is  the  modern  commercial 
"  crude  antimony  "  or  "  grey  antimony." 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  THE  METALLURGY  OF  ANTIMONY.    The   Egyptologists  have 
adopted  the  term  "  antimony  "  for  certain  cosmetics  found  in  Egyptian  tombs  from  a  very 
early  period.      We  have,  however,  failed  to  find  any  reliable  analyses  which  warrant  this 
assumption,  and  we  believe  that  it  is  based  on  the  knowledge  that  antimony  was  used  as  a 
base  for  eye  ointments  in  Greek  and  Roman  times,  and  not  upon  proper  chemical  investiga- 
tion.     It  may  be  that  the  ideograph  which  is  interpreted  as  antimony  may  really  mean  that 
substance,  but  we  only  protest  that  the  chemist  should  have  been  called  in  long  since.     In 
St.  Jerome's  translation  of  the  Bible,  the  cosmetic  used  by  Jezebel  (n.  Kings  ix,  30)    and 
by  the  lady  mentioned  by  Ezekiel  (xxin,  40),    "  who  didst  wash  thyself  and  paintedst  thine 
eyes  "  is  specifically  given  as  stibio.     Our  modern  translation  carries  no  hint  of  the  composition 
of   the  cosmetic,  and  whether  some  of  the  Greek  or  Hebrew  MSS.  do  furnish  a  basis  for  such 
translation  we  cannot  say.     The  Hebrew  term  for  this  mineral  was  kohl,  which  subsequently 
passed  into  "  alcool  "  and  "  alkohol  "  in  other  languages,  and  appears  in  the  Spanish  Bible 
in  the  above  passage  in  Ezekiel  as  alcoholaste.     The  term  antimonium  seems  to  have  been 
first  used  in  Latin  editions  of  Geber  published  in  the  latter  part  of  the  isth  Century.     In 
any  event,  the  metal  is  clearly  mentioned  by  Dioscorides  (ist  Century),  who  calls  it  stimmi, 
and  Pliny,  who  termed  it  stibium,  and  they  leave  no  doubt  that  it  was  used  as  a  cosmetic  for 
painting  the  eyebrows  and  dilating  the  eyes.      Dioscorides  (v,  59)  says  :    "  The  best  stimmi 
'  is  very  brilliant  and  radiant.     When  broken  it  divides  into  layers  with  no  part  earthy  or 
'  dirty  ;     it  is  brittle.      Some  call  it   stimmi,   others   platyophthalmon    (wide    eyed)  ;     others 
'  larbason,  others  gynaekeion  (feminine).     .     .     .     It  is  roasted  in   a  ball  of  dough  with 
'  charcoal  until  it  becomes  a  cinder.     .     .     .     It  is  also  roasted  by  putting  it  on  live  charcoal 
'  and  blowing  it.     If  it  is  roasted  too  much  it  becomes  lead."      Pliny  states  (xxxin,  33  and 
;;4)  :   "  In  the  same  mines  in  which  silver  is  found,  properly  speaking  there  is  a  stone  froth. 
'  It  is  white  and  shining,  not  transparent  ;  is  called  stimmi,  or  stibi,  or  alabastrum,  and  larbasis. 
'  There  are  two  kinds  of  it.  the  male  and  the  female.     The  most  approved  is  the  female,  the 
'  male  being  more  uneven,  rougher,  less  heavy,  not  so  radiant,  and  more  gritty.     The  female 
'  kind  is  bright  and  friable,  laminar  and  not  globular.     It  is  astringent  and  refrigerative, 
'  and  its  principal  use  is  for  the  eyes.     .     .     .     It  is  burned  in  manure  in  a  furnace,  is 
'  quenched  with  milk,  ground  with  rain  water  in  a  mortar,  and  while  thus  turbid  it  is  poured 
'  into  a  copper  vessel  and  purified  with  nitrum     ....     above  all  in  roasting  it  care 


BOOK     IX. 


429 


Other  methods  for  reducing  quicksilver  are  given  below.  Big-bellied 
pots,  having  been  placed  in  the  upper  rectangular  open  part  of  a  furnace, 
are  filled  with  the  crushed  ore.  Each  of  these  pots  is  covered  with  a  lid 
.with  a  long  nozzle — commonly  called  a  campana — in  the  shape  of  a  bell,  and 
they  are  cemented.  Each  of  the  small  earthenware  vessels  shaped  like  a 
gourd  receives  two  of  these  nozzles,  and  these  are  likewise  cemented.  Dried 


A — POTS.     B— OPERCULA.    C — NOZZLES.    D — GOURD-SHAPED    EARTHENWARE    VESSELS. 

wood  having  been  placed  in  the  lower  part  of  the  furnace  and  kindled,  the 
ore  is  heated  until  all  the  quicksilver  has  risen  into  the  operculum  which  is 
over  the  pot ;  it  then  flows  from  the  nozzle  and  is  caught  in  the  earthenware 
gourd-shaped  vessel. 


"  should  be  taken  that  it  does  not  turn  to  lead."  There  can  be  little  doubt  from  Dioscorides' 
statement  of  its  turning  to  lead  that  he  had  seen  the  metal  antimony,  although  he  thought  it 
a  species  of  lead.  Of  further  interest  in  connection  with  the  ancient  knowledge  of  the  metal  is 
the  Chaldean  vase  made  of  antimony  described  by  Berthelot  (Comptes  Rendus,  1887,  Civ, 
265).  It  is  possible  that  Agricola  knew  the  metal,  although  he  gives  no  details  as  to  de- 
sulphurizing it  or  for  recovering  the  metal  itself.  In  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  181)  he  makes 
a  statement  which  would  indicate  the  metal,  "  Stibium  when  melted  in  the  crucible  and 
"  refined  has  as  much  right  to  be  regarded  as  a  metal  as  is  accorded  to  lead  by  most  writers. 
"  If  when  smelted  a  certain  portion  be  added  to  tin,  a  printer's  alloy  is  made  from  which 
"  type  is  cast  that  is  used  by  those  who  print  books."  Basil  Valentine,  in  his  "  Triumphal 
"  Chariot  of  Antimony,"  gives  a  great  deal  that  is  new  with  regard  to  this  metal,  even  if  we 
can  accredit  the  work  with  no  earlier  origin  than  its  publication — about  1600  ;  it  seems 

3" 


430 


BOOK    IX. 


Others  build  a  hollow  vaulted  chamber,  of  which  the  paved  floor  is  made 
concave  toward  the  centre.  Inside  the  thick  walls  of  the  chamber  are  the 
furnaces.  The  doors  through  which  the  wood  is  put  are  in  the  outer  part  of  the 
same  wall.  They  place  the  pots  in  the  furnaces  and  fill  them  with  crushed 
ore,  then  they  cement  the  pots  and  the  furnaces  on  all  sides  with  lute,  so  that 
none  of  the  vapour  may  escape  from  them,  and  there  is  no  entrance  to  the 


A. — ENCLOSED  CHAMBER.     B — DOOR.    C — LITTLE  WINDOWS.    D — MOUTHS  THROUGH  THE 
WALLS.    E — FURNACE  IN  THE  ENCLOSED  CHAMBER.     F — POTS. 

furnaces  except  through  their  mouths.  Between  the  dome  and  the  paved 
floor  they  arrange  green  trees,  then  they  close  the  door  and  the  little  windows, 
and  cover  them  on  all  sides  with  moss  and  lute,  so  that  none  of  the  quick- 
silver can  exhale  from  the  chamber.  After  the  wood  has  been  kindled  the 

possible  however,  that  it  was  written  late  in  the  I5th  Century  (see  Appendix  B).  He  describes 
the  preparation  of  the  metal  from  the  crude  ore,  both  by  roasting  and  reduction  from  the  oxide 
with  argol  and  saltpetre,  and  also  by  fusing  with  metallic  iron.  While  the  first  descrip- 
tion of  these  methods  is  usually  attributed  to  Valentine,  it  may  be  pointed  out  that  in 
the  Probierbuchlein  (1500)  as  well  as  in  Agricola  the  separation  of  silver  from  iron  by 
antimony  sulphide  implies  the  same  reaction,  and  the  separation  of  silver  and  gold  with 
antimony  sulphide,  often  attributed  to  Valentine,  is  repeatedly  set  out  in  the  Probier- 
buchlein and  in  De  Re  Metallica.  Biringuccio  (1540)  has  nothing  of  importance  to  say  as  to 
the  treatment  of  antimonial  ores,  but  mentions  it  as  an  alloy  for  bell-metal,  which  would 
imply  the  metal. 


BOOK    IX. 

ore  is  heated,  and  exudes  the  quicksilver  ;  whereupon,  impatient  with  the 
heat,  and  liking  the  cold,  it  escapes  to  the  leaves  of  the  trees,  which 
have  a  cooling  power.  When  the  operation  is  completed  the  smelter 
extinguishes  the  fire,  and  when  all  gets  cool  he  opens  the  door  and  the 
windows,  and  collects  the  quicksilver,  most  of  which,  being  heavy,  falls  of 
its  own  accord  from  the  trees,  and  flows  into  the  concave  part  of  the  floor  ; 
if  all  should  not  have  fallen  from  the  trees,  they  are  shaken  to  make  it  fall. 

The  following  is  the  fourth  method  of  reducing  ores  of  quicksilver.  A 
larger  pot  standing  on  a  tripod  is  filled  with  crushed  ore,  and  over  the  ore  is 
put  sand  or  ashes  to  a  thickness  of  two  digits,  and  tamped  ;  then  in 
the  mouth  of  this  pot  is  inserted  the  mouth  of  another  smaller  pot  and 
cemented  with  lute,  lest  the  vapours  are  emitted.  The  ore  heated  by  the  fire 
exhales  the  quicksilver,  which,  penetrating  through  the  sand  or  the  ashes, 
takes  refuge  in  the  upper  pot,  where  condensing  into  drops  it  falls  back  into 
the  sand  or  the  ashes,  from  which  the  quicksilver  is  washed  and  collected. 


A — LARGER  POT.     B — SMALLER.    C — TRIPOD.    D — TUB  IN  WHICH  THE  SAND  is  WASHED. 

The  fifth  method  is  not  very  unlike  the  fourth.  In  the  place  of  these 
pots  are  set  other  pots,  likewise  of  earthenware,  having  a  narrow  bottom 
and  a  wide  mouth.  These  are  nearly  filled  with  crushed  ore,  which  is  likewise 
covered  with  ashes  to  a  depth  of  two  digits  and  tamped  in.  The  pots  are 


432 


BOOK    IX. 


covered  with  lids  a  digit  thick,  and  they  are  smeared  over  on  the  inside  with 
liquid  litharge,  and  on  the  lid  are  placed  heavy  stones.  The  pots  are  set  on 
the  furnace,  and  the  ore  is  heated  and  similarly  exhales  quicksilver,  which 
fleeing  from  the  heat  takes  refuge  in  the  lid  ;  on  congealing  there,  it  falls 
back  into  the  ashes,  from  which,  when  washed,  the  quicksilver  is  collected. 


A— POTS.     B — LIDS.    C — STONES.     D— FURNACE. 

By  these  five  methods  quicksilver  may  be  made,  and  of  these  not  one  is 
to  be  despised  or  repudiated  ;  nevertheless,  if  the  mine  supplies  a  great 
abundance  of  ore,  the  first  is  the  most  expeditious  and  practical,  because  a 
large  quantity  of  ore  can  be  reduced  at  the  same  time  without  great  expense.58 

"HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  THE  METALLURGY  OF  QUICKSILVER.    The  earliest  mention  of 

quicksilver  appears  to  have  been  by  Aristotle  (Meteorologica  IV,  8,  u),  who  speaks  of  it 

as  fluid  silver  (argyros  chytos),    Theophrastus  (105)  states  :    "  Such  is  the  production  of 

"  quicksilver,  which  has  its  uses.     This  is  obtained  from  cinnabar  rubbed  with  vinegar  in  a 

"  brass    mortar  with   a   brass  pestle."     (Hill's  Trans.,    p.   139).     Theophrastus   also  (103) 

mentions  cinnabar  from  Spain  and  elsewhere.      Dioscorides  (v,  70)  appears  to  be  the  first  to 

describe  the  recovery  of  quicksilver  by  distillation  :    "  Quicksilver  (hydrargyros,  i.e.,  liquid 

silver)  is  made  from  ammion,  which  is  called  cinnabari.    An  iron  bowl  containing  cinnabari 

'  is  put  into  an  earthen  vessel  and  covered  over  with  a  cup-shaped  lid  smeared  with  clay. 

'  Then  it  is  set  on  a  fire  of  coals  and  the  soot  which  sticks  to  the  cover  when  wiped  off  and 

'  cooled  is  quicksilver.     Quicksilver  is  also  found  in  drops  falling  from  the  walls  of  the  silver 

'  mines.     Some  say  there  are  quicksilver  mines.     It  can  be  kept  only  in  vessels  of  glass,  lead, 

'  tin  (?),  or  silver,  for  if  put  in  vessels  of  any  other  substances  it  consumes  them  and  flows 


BOOK    IX.  433 

Bismuth59  ore,  free  from  every  kind  of  silver,  is  smelted  by  various 
methods.  First  a  small  pit  is  dug  in  the  dry  ground  ;  into  this  pulverised 
charcoal  is  thrown  and  tamped  in,  and  then  it  is  dried  with  burning  charcoal. 
Afterward,  thick  dry  pieces  of  beech  wood  are  placed  over  the  pit,  and  the 
bismuth  ore  is  thrown  on  it.  As  soon  as  the  kindled  wood  burns,  the  heated 
ore  drips  with  bismuth,  which  runs  down  into  the  pit,  from  which  when  cooled 
the  cakes  are  removed.  Because  pieces  of  burnt  wood,  or  often  charcoal 
and  occasionally  slag,  drop  into  the  bismuth  which  collects  in  the  pit,  and 
make  it  impure,  it  is  put  back  into  another  kind  of  crucible  to  be  melted, 
so  that  pure  cakes  may  be  made.  There  are  some  who,  bearing  these  things 
in  mind,  dig  a  pit  on  a  sloping  place  and  below  it  put  a  forehearth,  into 
which  the  bismuth  continually  flows,  and  thus  remains  clean  ;  then  they 
take  it  out  with  ladles  and  pour  it  into  iron  pans  lined  inside  with  lute,  and 
make  cakes  of  it.  They  cover  such  pits  with  flat  stones,  whose  joints  are 
besmeared  with  a  lute  of  mixed  dust  and  crushed  charcoal,  lest  the  joints 
should  absorb  the  molten  bismuth.  Another  method  is  to  put  the  ore  in 
troughs  made  of  fir-wood  and  placed  on  sloping  ground  ;  they  place  small 
firewood  over  it,  kindling  it  when  a  gentle  wind  blows,  and  thus  the  ore  is 
heated.  In  this  manner  the  bismuth  melts  and  runs  down  from  the  troughs 
into  a  pit  below,  while  there  remains  slag,  or  stones,  which  are  of  a  yellow 
colour,  as  is  also  the  wood  laid  across  the  pit.  These  are  also  sold. 

'  through."     Pliny  (xxxin,  41) :  "  There  has  been  discovered  a  way  of  extracting  hydrargyros 

'  from  the  inferior  minium  as  a  substitute  for  quicksilver,  as  mentioned.     There  are  two 

'  methods  :   either  by  pounding  minium  and  vinegar  in  a  brass  mortar  with  a  brass  pestle, 

'  or  else  by  putting  minium  into  a  flat  earthen  dish  covered  with  a  lid,  well  luted  with  potter's 

'  clay.     This  is  set  in  an  iron  pan  and  a  fire  is  then  lighted  under  the  pan,  and  continually 

'  blown  by  a  bellows.     The  perspiration  collects  on  the  lid  and  is  wiped  off  and  is  like  silver 

'  in  colour  and  as  liquid  as  water."     Pliny  is  somewhat  confused  over  the  minium — or  the 

text  is  corrupt,  for  this  should  be  the  genuine  minium  of  Roman  times.    The  methods  of 

condensation  on  the  leaves  of  branches  placed  in  a  chamber,  of  condensing  in  ashes  placed 

over  the  mouth  of  the  lower  pot,  and  of  distilling  in  a  retort,  are  referred  to  by  Biringuccio 

(A.D.  1540),  but  with  no  detail. 

"'Most  of  these  methods  depend  upon  simple  liquation  of  native  bismuth.     The 

sulphides,  oxides,  etc.,  could  not  be  obtained  without  fusing  in  a  furnace  with  appropriate 

de-sulphurizing  or  reducing  agents,  to  which  Agricola  dimly  refers.     In  Bermannus  (p.  439), 

he    says  :    "  Bermannus. — I    will   show  you  another  kind  of   mineral  which  is  numbered 

'  amongst  metals,  but  appears  to  me  to  have  been  unknown  to  the  Ancients  ;   we  call  it 

'  bisemutum.    Naevius. — Then  in  your  opinion  there  are  more  kinds  of  metals  than  the 

'  seven  commonly  believed  ?      Bermannus. — More,  I  consider  ;   for  this  which  just  now  I 

'  said  we  called  bisemutum,  cannot  correctly  be  called  plumbum  candidum  (tin)  nor  nigrum 

'  (lead),  but  is  different  from  both,  and  is  a  third  one.     Plumbum  candidum  is  whiter  and 

'  plumbum  nigrum  is  darker,  as  you  see.     Naevius. — We  see  that  this  is  of  the  colour  of 

'  galena.     Ancon. — How  then  can  bisemutum,  as  you  call  it,  be  distinguished  from  galena  ? 

'  Bermannus. — Easily  ;   when  you  take  it  in  your  hands  it  stains  them  with  black  unless  it 

'  is  quite  hard.     The  hard  kind  is  not  friable  like  galena,  but  can  be  cut.     It  is  blacker  than 

'  the  kind  of  crude  silver  which  we  say  is  almost  the  colour  of  lead,  and  thus  is  different 

'  from  both.     Indeed,  it  not  rarely  contains  some  silver.     It  generally  shows  that  there  is 

'  silver  beneath  the  place  where  it  is  found,  and  because  of  this  our  miners  are  accustomed 

'  to  call  it  the  '  roof  of  silver.'     They  are  wont  to  roast  this  mineral,  and  from  the  better 

'  part  they  make  metal ;   from  the  poorer  part  they  make  a  pigment  of  a  kind  not  to  be 

'  despised."     This  pigment  was  cobalt  blue  (see  note  on  p.  112),  indicating  a  considerable 

confusion  of  these  minerals.     This  quotation  is  the  first  description  of  bismuth,  and  the  above 

text  the  first  description  of  bismuth  treatment.    There  is,  however,  bare  mention  of  the 

mineral  earlier,  in  the  following  single  line  from  the  Probierbuchlein  (p.  i)  :    "  Jupiter  (con- 

"  trols)  the  ores  of  tin  and  wismundt."      And  it  is  noted  in  the  Nutliche  Bergbuchlein  in 

association  with  silver  (see  Appendix  B). 


434 


BOOK    IX. 


A — PIT     ACROSS     WHICH     WOOD     IS     PLACED.      B — FOREHEARTH.      C — LADLE.       D — IRON 

MOULD.    E — CAKES.    F — EMPTY  POT  LINED  WITH  STONES  IN  LAYERS.    G — TROUGHS. 

H — PITS  DUG  AT  THE  FOOT  OF  THE  TROUGHS.      I — SMALL  WOOD  LAID  OVER  THE  TROUGHS. 

K— WIND. 


BOOK     IX. 


435 


Others  reduce  the  ore  in  iron  pans  as  next  described.  They  lay  small 
pieces  of  dry  wood  alternately  straight  and  transversely  upon  bricks,  one  and 
a  half  feet  apart,  and  set  fire  to  it.  Near  it  they  put  small  iron  pans  lined 
on  the  inside  with  lute,  and  full  of  broken  ore ;  then  when  the  wind 
blows  the  flame  of  the  fierce  fire  over  the  pans,  the  bismuth  drips  out  of  the 
ore  ;  wherefore,  in  order  that  it  may  run,  the  ore  is  stirred  with  the  tongs  ;  but 
when  they  decide  that  all  the  bismuth  is  exuded,  they  seize  the  pans  with 
the  tongs  and  remove  them,  and  pour  out  the  bismuth  into  empty  pans,  and 
by  turning  many  into  one  they  make  cakes.  Others  reduce  the  ore,  when  it  is 
not  mixed  with  cadmia,60  in  a  furnace  similar  to  the  iron  furnace.  In  this 
case  they  make  a  pit  and  a  crucible  of  crushed  earth  mixed  with  pulverised 


A — WOOD.       B — BRICKS.         C — PANS.       D — FURNACE. 

G — DIPPING-POT. 


E — CRUCIBLE.       F — PIPE. 


charcoal,  and  into  it  they  put  the  broken  ore,  or  the  concentrates  from 
washing,  from  which  they  make  more  bismuth.  If  they  put  in  ore, 
they  reduce  it  with  charcoal  and  small  dried  wood  mixed,  and  if  concentrates, 
they  use  charcoal  only ;  they  blow  both  materials  with  a  gentle  blast  from 

"This  cadmia  is  given  in  the  German  translation  as  kobelt.  It  is  probably  the  cobalt- 
arsenic-bismuth  minerals  common  in  Saxony.  A  large  portion  of  the  world's  supply  of 
bismuth  to-day  comes  from  the  cobalt  treatment  works  near  Schneeberg.  For  further 
discussion  of  cadmia  see  note  on  p.  112. 


436 


BOOK     IX. 


a  bellows.     From  the  crucible  is  a  small  pipe  through  which  the  molten 
bismuth  runs  down  into  a  dipping-pot,  and  from  this  cakes  are  made. 

On  a  dump  thrown  up  from  the  mines,  other  people  construct  a  hearth 
exposed  to  the  wind,  a  foot  high,  three  feet  wide,  and  four  and  a  half  feet 
long.  It  is  held  together  by  four  boards,  and  the  whole  is  thickly  coated  at 
the  top  with  lute.  On  this  hearth  they  first  put  small  dried  sticks  of  fir  wood, 
then  over  them  they  throw  broken  ore  ;  then  they  lay  more  wood  over  it, 
and  when  the  wind  blows  they  kindle  it.  In  this  manner  the  bismuth  drips 
out  of  the  ore,  and  afterward  the  ashes  of  the  wood  consumed  by  the  fire  and 
the  charcoals  are  swept  away.  The  drops  of  bismuth  which  fall  down  into 
the  hearth  are  congealed  by  the  cold,  and  they  are  taken  away  with  the 
tongs  and  thrown  into  a  basket.  From  the  melted  bismuth  they  make 
cakes  in  iron  pans. 


A — HEARTH  IN  WHICH  ORE  is  MELTED.     B — HEARTH  ON  WHICH  LIE  DROPS  OF  BISMUTH. 

C — TONGS.    D — BASKET.     E— WIND. 

Others  again  make  a  box  eight  feet  long,  four  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  high, 
which  they  fill  almost  full  of  sand  and  cover  with  bricks,  thus  making 
the  hearth.  The  box  has  in  the  centre  a  wooden  pivot,  which  turns  in  a  hole 
in  two  beams  laid  transversely  one  upon  the  other  ;  these  beams  are  hard  and 
thick,  are  sunk  into  the  ground,  both  ends  are  perforated,  and  through 


BOOK    IX. 


437 


these  holes  wedge-shaped  pegs  are  driven,  in  order  that  the  beams  may  remain 
fixed,  and  that  the  box  may  turn  round,  and  may  be  turned  toward  the  wind 
from  whichever  quarter  of  the  sky  it  may  blow.  In  such  a  hearth  they  put 


A— Box.       B— PIVOT. 
F — BURNING  WOOD. 


C — TRANSVERSE  WOOD   BEAMS.       D — GRATE.      E — ITS  FEET. 
G — STICK.      H — PANS   IN   WHICH  THE   BISMUTH   is   MELTED. 


I — PANS  FOR  MOULDS.     K — CAKES.    L — FORK.    M — BRUSH. 

an  iron  grate,  as  long  and  wide  as  the  box  and  threequarters  of  a  foot  high  ; 
it  has  six  feet,  and  there  are  so  many  transverse  bars  that  they  almost  touch 
one  another.  On  the  grate  they  lay  pine-wood  and  over  it  broken  ore,  and  over 
this  they  again  lay  pine-wood.  When  it  has  been  kindled  the  ore  melts,  out 
of  which  the  bismuth  drips  down  ;  since  very  little  wood  is  burned,  this  is  the 
most  profitable  method  of  smelting  the  bismuth.  The  bismuth  drips  through 
the  grate  on  to  the  hearth,  while  the  other  things  remain  upon  the  grate  with 
the  charcoal.  When  the  work  is  finished,  the  workman  takes  a  stick  from  the 
hearth  and  overturns  the  grate,  and  the  things  which  have  accumulated  on 
it ;  with  a  brush  he  sweeps  up  the  bismuth  and  collects  it  in  a  basket,  and 
then  he  melts  it  in  an  iron  pan  and  makes  cakes.  As  soon  as  possible  after 
it  is  cool,  he  turns  the  pans  over,  so  that  the  cakes  may  fall  out,  using  for 
this  purpose  a  two-pronged  fork  of  which  one  prong  is  again  forked.  And 
immediately  afterward  he  returns  to  his  labours. 


END    OF    BOOK    IX. 


BOOK    X. 


UESTIONS  as  to  the  methods  of  smelting  ores  and 
of  obtaining  metals  I  discussed  in  Book  IX. 
Following  this,  I  should  explain  in  what  manner  the 
precious  metals  are  parted  from  the  base  metals,  or 
on  the  other  hand  the  base  metals  from  the  precious1. 
Frequently  two  metals,  occasionally  more  than 
two,  are  melted  out  of  one  ore,  because  in 
nature  generally  there  is  some  amount  of  gold  in 
silver  and  in  copper,  and  some  silver  in  gold,  copper, 
lead,  and  iron  ;  likewise  some  copper  in  gold,  silver,  lead,  and  iron,  and 
some  lead  in  silver  ;  and  lastly,  some  iron  in  copper2.  But  I  will  begin  with 
gold. 

Gold  is  parted  from  silver,  or  likewise  the  latter  from  the  former,  whether 
it  be  mixed  by  nature  or  by  art,  by  means  of  aqua  valens*,  and  by  powders 
which  consist  of  almost  the  same  things  as  this  aqua.  In  order  to  preserve  the 
sequence,  I  will  first  speak  of  the  ingredients  of  which  this  aqua  is  made,  then 
of  the  method  of  making  it,  then  of  the  manner  in  which  gold  is  parted  from 
silver  or  silver  from  gold.  Almost  all  these  ingredients  contain  vitriol  or 
alum,  which,  by  themselves,  but  much  more  when  joined  with  saltpetre,  are 
powerful  to  part  silver  from  gold.  As  to  the  other  things  that  are  added  to 
them,  they  cannot  individually  by  their  own  strength  and  nature  separate 
those  metals,  but  joined  they  are  very  powerful.  Since  there  are  many 
combinations,  I  will  set  out  a  few.  In  the  first,  the  use  of  which  is  common 
and  general,  there  is  one  libra  of  vitriol  and  as  much  salt,  added  to  a  third  of  a 
libra  of  spring  water.  The  second  contains  two  librae  of  vitriol,  one  of  salt- 
petre, and  as  much  spring  or  river  water  by  weight  as  will  pass  away  whilst 
the  vitriol  is  being  reduced  to  powder  by  the  fire.  The  third  consists  of  four 
librae  of  vitriol,  two  and  a  half  librae  of  saltpetre,  half  a  libra  of  alum,  and  one 
and  a  half  librae  of  spring  water.  The  fourth  consists  of  two  librae  of  vitriol, 
as  many  librae  of  saltpetre,  one  quarter  of  a  libra  of  alum,  and  three-quarters 
of  a  libra  of  spring  water.  The  fifth  is  composed  of  one  libra  of  saltpetre, 

Wile  a  precioso. 

2The  reagents  mentioned  in  this  Book  are  much  the  same  as  those  of  Book  VII, 
where  (p.  220)  a  table  is  given  showing  the  Latin  and  Old  German  terms.  Footnotes  in  explana- 
tion of  our  views  as  to  these  substances  may  be  most  easily  consulted  through  the  index. 

3Aqua  valens,  literally  strong,  potent,  or  powerful  water.  It  will  appear  later,  from 
the  method  of  manufacture,  that  hydrochloric,  nitric,  and  sulphuric  acids  and  aqua  regia  were 
more  or  less  all  produced  and  all  included  in  this  term.  We  have,  therefore,  used  either  the 
term  aqua  valens  or  simply  aqua  as  it  occurs  in  the  text.  The  terms  aqua  fortis  and  aqua 
regia  had  come  into  use  prior  to  Agricola,  but  he  does  not  use  them  ;  the  Alchemists  used 
various  terms,  often  aqua  dissolvia.  It  is  apparent  from  the  uses  to  which  this  reagent  was 
put  in  separating  gold  and  silver,  from  the  method  of  clarifying  it  with  silver  and  from  the 
red  fumes,  that  Agricola  could  have  had  practical  contact  only  with  nitric  acid.  It  is  probable 
that  he  has  copied  part  of  the  recipes  for  the  compounds  to  be  distilled  from  the  Alchemists 
and  from  such  works  as  the  Probierbuchlein.  In  any  event  he  could  not  have  had  experience 
with  them  all,  for  in  some  cases  the  necessary  ingredients  for  making  nitric  acid  are  not  all 
present,  and  therefore  could  be  of  no  use  for  gold  and  silver  separation.  The  essential  in- 
gredients for  the  production  of  this  acid  by  distillation,  were  saltpetre,  water,  and  either 
vitriol  or  alum.  The  other  substances  mentioned  were  unnecessary,  and  any  speculation 
as  to  the  combinations  which  would  result,  forms  a  useful  exercise  in  chemistry,  but  of  little 
purpose  here.  The  first  recipe  would  no  doubt  produce  hydrochloric  acid. 


440  BOOK    X. 

three  librae  of  alum,  half  a  libra  of  brick  dust,  and  three-quarters  of  a  libra 
of  spring  water.  The  sixth  consists  of  four  librae  of  vitriol,  three  librae  of 
saltpetre,  one  of  alum,  one  libra  likewise  of  stones  which  when  thrown  into  a 
fierce  furnace  are  easily  liquefied  by  fire  of  the  third  order,  and  one  and  a 
half  librae  of  spring  water.  The  seventh  is  made  of  two  librae  of  vitriol,  one 
and  a  half  librae  of  saltpetre,  half  a  libra  of  alum,  and  one  libra  of  stones 
which  when  thrown  into  a  glowing  furnace  are  easily  liquefied  by  fire  of  the 
third  order,  and  five-sixths  of  a  libra  of  spring  water.  The  eighth  is  made  of 
two  librae  of  vitriol,  the  same  number  of  librae  of  saltpetre,  one  and  a 
half  librae  of  alum,  one  libra  of  the  lees  of  the  aqua  which  parts  gold  from 
silver ;  and  to  each  separate  libra  a  sixth  of  urine  is  poured  over  it.  The 
ninth  contains  two  librae  of  powder  of  baked  bricks,  one  libra  of  vitriol, 
likewise  one  libra  of  saltpetre,  a  handful  of  salt,  and  three-quarters  of  a  libra 
of  spring  water.  Only  the  tenth  lacks  vitriol  and  alum,  but  it  contains  three 
librae  of  saltpetre,  two  librae  of  stones  which  when  thrown  into  a  hot  furnace 
are  easily  liquefied  by  fire  of  the  third  order,  half  a  libra  each  of  verdigris4, 
of  stibium,  of  iron  scales  and  filings,  and  of  asbestos5,  and  one  and  one-sixth 
librae  of  spring  water. 

All  the  vitriol  from  which  the  aqua  is  usually  made  is  first  reduced  to 
powder  in  the  following  way.  It  is  thrown  into  an  earthen  crucible  lined  on 
the  inside  with  litharge,  and  heated  until  it  melts  ;  then  it  is  stirred  with  a 
copper  wire,  and  after  it  has  cooled  it  is  pounded  to  powder.  In  the  same 
manner  saltpetre  melted  by  the  fire  is  pounded  to  powder  when  it  has  cooled. 
Some  indeed  place  alum  upon  an  iron  plate,  roast  it,  and  make  it  into  powder. 

Although  all  these  aquae  cleanse  gold  concentrates  or  dust  from 
impurities,  yet  there  are  certain  compositions  which  possess  singular  power. 

*Agricola,  in  the  Interpreiatio,  gives  the    German  equivalent  for  the  Latin  aerugo  as 

Spanschgrun — "  because  it  was  first  brought  to  Germany  from  Spain  ;   foreigners  call  it 

"  viride   aeris   (copper   green)."       The    English    "  verdigris "  is    a    corruption    of    vert  de 

grice.      Both  verdigris  and  white  lead  were  very  ancient  products,  and  they  naturally  find 

mention  together  among  the  ancient  authors.     The  earliest  description  of  the  method  of 

making  is  from  the  3rd  Century  B.C.,  by  Theophrastus,  who  says  (101-2)  :    "  But  these  are 

'  works  of  art,  as  is  also  Ceruse  (psimythion)  to  make  which,  lead  is  placed  in  earthen  vessels 

'  over  sharp  vinegar,  and  after  it  has  acquired  some  thickness  of  a  kind  of  rust,  which  it 

'  commonly  does  in  about  ten  days,  they  open  the  vessels  and  scrape  off,  as  it  were,  a  kind 

'  of  foulness  ;    they  then  place  the  lead  over  the  vinegar  again,  repeating  over  and  over 

'  again  the  same  method  of  scraping  it  till  it  is  wholly  dissolved  ;   what  has  been  scraped  off 

'  they  then  beat  to  powder  and  boil  for  a  long  time  ;  and  what  at  last  subsides  to  the  bottom  of 

'  the  vessel  is  the  white  lead.     .     .     .     Also  in  a  manner  somewhat  resembling  this,  verdigris 

'  (ios)  is  made,  for  copper  is  placed  over  lees  of  wine  (grape  refuse  ?),  and  the  rust  which  it 

'  acquires  by  this  means  is  taken  off  for  use.     And  it  is  by  this  means  that  the  rust  which 

'  appears  is  produced."    (Based  on  Hill's  translation.)   Vitruvius  (vn,  12),  Dioscorides  (v,  51), 

and  Pliny  (xxxiv,  26  and  54),  all  describe  the  method  of  making  somewhat  more  elaborately. 

6Amiantus    (Interpretatio   gives   federwis,    pliant,    salamander har).      From    Agricola's 

elaborate  description  in  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  252)  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  means 

asbestos.    This  mineral  was  well-known  to  the  Ancients,  and  is  probably  earliest  referred  to 

(3rd  Century  B.C.)  by  Theophrastus  in  the  following  passage  (29)  :    "  There  is  also  found  in 

"  the  mines  of  Scaptesylae  a  stone,  in  its  external  appearance  somewhat  resembling  wood, 

"  on  which,  if  oil  be  poured,  it  burns  ;    but  when  the  oil  is  burnt  away,  the  burning  of  the 

"  stone  ceases,  as  if  it  were  in  itself  not  liable  to  such  accidents."     There  can  be  no  doubt 

that  Strabo  (x,  i)  describes  the  mineral  :    "  At  Carystus  there  is  found  in  the  earth  a  stone, 

'"  which  is  combed  like  wool,  and  woven,  so  that  napkins  are  made  of  this  substance,  which, 

"  when  soiled,  are  thrown  into  the  fire  and  cleaned,  as  in  the  washing  of  linen."     It  is  also 

described    by   Dioscorides  (v,  113)  and  Pliny  (xix,  4).     Asbestos  cloth  has  been  found  in 

Pre-Augustinian  Roman  tombs. 


BOOK     X.  441 

The  first  of  these  consists  of  one  libra  of  verdigris  and  three-quarters  of 
a  libra  of  vitriol.  For  each  libra  there  is  poured  over  it  one-sixth  of  a  libra 
of  spring  or  river  water,  as  to  which,  since  this  pertains  to  all  these  com- 
pounds, it  is  sufficient  to  have  mentioned  once  for  all.  The  second  com- 
position is  made  from  one  libra  of  each  of  the  following,  artificial  orpiment, 
vitriol,  lime,  alum,  ash  which  the  dyers  of  wool  use,  one  quarter  of  a  libra 
of  verdigris,  and  one  and  a  half  unciae  of  stibium.  The  third  consists  of  three 
librae  of  vitriol,  one  of  saltpetre,  half  a  libra  of  asbestos,  and  half  a  libra  of 
baked  bricks.  The  fourth  consists  of  one  libra  of  saltpetre,  one  libra  of  alum, 
and  half  a  libra  of  sal-ammoniac.6 

The  furnace  in  which  aqua  valens  is  made7  is  built  of  bricks,  rectangular, 
two  feet  long  and  wide,  and  as  many  feet  high  and  a  half  besides.  It  is 
covered  with  iron  plates  supported  with  iron  rods  ;  these  plates  are  smeared 
on  the  top  with  lute,  and  they  have  in  the  centre  a  round  hole,  large  enough  to 
hold  the  earthen  vessel  in  which  the  glass  ampulla  is  placed,  and  on  each  side  of 
the  centre  hole  are  two  small  round  air-holes.  The  lower  part  of  the  furnace, 
in  order  to  hold  the  burning  charcoal,  has  iron  plates  at  the  height  of  a  palm, 
likewise  supported  by  iron  rods.  In  the  middle  of  the  front  there  is  the 
mouth,  made  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the  fire  into  the  furnace  ;  this  mouth 
is  half  a  foot  high  and  wide,  and  rounded  at  the  top,  and  under  it  is  the 
draught  opening.  Into  the  earthen  vessel  set  over  the  hole  is  placed  clean 
sand  a  digit  deep,  and  in  it  the  glass  ampulla  is  set  as  deeply  as  it  is  smeared 
with  lute.  The  lower  quarter  is  smeared  eight  or  ten  times  with  nearly  liquid 
lute,  each  time  to  the  thickness  of  a  blade,  and  each  time  it  is  dried  again, 
until  it  has  become  as  thick  as  the  thumb  ;  this  kind  of  lute  is  well  beaten 
with  an  iron  rod,  and  is  thoroughly  mixed  with  hair  or  cotton  thread,  or  with 
wool  and  salt,  that  it  should  not  crackle.  The  many  things  of  which  the 
compounds  are  made  must  not  fill  the  ampulla  completely,  lest  when  boiling 
they  rise  into  the  operculum.  The  operculurn  is  likewise  made  of  glass, 
and  is  closely  joined  to  the  ampulla  with  linen,  cemented  with  wheat  flour 
and  white  of  egg  moistened  with  water,  and  then  lute  free  from  salt  is  spread 
over  that  part  of  it.  In  a  similar  way  the  spout  of  the  operculum  is  joined 
by  linen  covered  with  lute  to  another  glass  ampulla  which  receives  the  distilled 
aqua.  A  kind  of  thin  iron  nail  or  small  wooden  peg,  a  little  thicker  than  a 
needle,  is  fixed  in  this  joint,  in  order  that  when  air  seems  necessary  to  the 
artificer  distilling  by  this  process  he  can  pull  it  out ;  this  is  necessary  when 
too  much  of  the  vapour  has  been  driven  into  the  upper  part.  The  four  air- 
holes which,  as  I  have  said,  are  on  the  top  of  the  furnace  beside  the  large 
hole  on  which  the  ampulla  is  placed,  are  likewise  covered  with  lute. 

•This  list  of  four  recipes  is  even  more  obscure  than  the  previous  list.  If  they  were 
distilled,  the  first  and  second  mixtures  would  not  produce  nitric  acid,  although  possibly  some 
sulphuric  would  result.  The  third  might  yield  nitric,  and  the  fourth  aqua  regia.  In  view 
of  the  water,  they  were  certainly  not  used  as  cements,  and  the  first  and  second  are  deficient 
in  the  vital  ingredients. 

''Distillation,  at  least  in  crude  form,  is  very  old.  Aristotle  (Meteor ologica,  iv.)  states 
that  sweet  water  can  be  made  by  evaporating  salt-water  and  condensing  the  steam. 
Dioscorides  and  Pliny  both  describe  the  production  of  mercury  by  distillation  (note  58,  p. 
432).  The  Alchemists  of  the  Alexandrian  School,  from  the  ist  to  the  6th  Centuries,  men- 
tion forms  of  imperfect  apparatus — an  ample  discussion  of  which  may  be  found  in  Kopp, 
Btitrdge  zur  Geschichte  der  Chentie,  Braunschweig,  1869,  p.  217). 


442 


BOOK    X. 


A — FURNACE.  B — ITS  ROUND  HOLE.  C— AIR-HOLES.  D— MOUTH  OF  THE  FURNACE. 
E — DRAUGHT  OPENING  UNDER  IT.  F— EARTHENWARE  CRUCIBLE.  G — AMPULLA. 
H — OPERCULUM.  I — ITS  SPOUT.  K — OTHER  AMPULLA.  L — BASKET  IN  WHICH  THIS  is 

USUALLY  PLACED    LEST   IT    SHOULD    BE    BROKEN. 

All  this  preparation  having  been  accomplished  in  order,  and  the 
ingredients  placed  in  the  ampulla,  they  are  gradually  heated  over  burning 
charcoal  until  they  begin  to  exhale  vapour  and  the  ampulla  is  seen  to  trickle 
with  moisture.  But  when  this,  on  account  of  the  rising  of  the  vapour,  turns 
red,  and  the  aqua  distils  through  the  spout  of  the  operculum,  then  one  must 
work  with  the  utmost  care,  lest  the  drops  should  fall  at  a  quicker  rate  than 
one  for  every  five  movements  of  the  clock  or  the  striking  of  its  bell,  and 
not  slower  than  one  for  every  ten ;  for  if  it  falls  faster  the  glasses  will  be 
broken,  and  if  it  drops  more  slowly  the  work  begun  cannot  be  completed 
within  the  definite  time,  that  is  within  the  space  of  twenty-four  hours.  To 
prevent  the  first  accident,  part  of  the  coals  are  extracted  by  means  of  an  iron 
implement  similar  to  pincers  ;  and  in  order  to  prevent  the  second  happening, 
small  dry  pieces  of  oak  are  placed  upon  the  coals,  and  the  substances  in  the 
ampulla  are  heated  with  a  sharper  fire,  and  the  air-holes  on  the  furnace 
are  re-opened  if  need  arise.  As  soon  as  the  drops  are  being  distilled, 
the  glass  ampulla  which  receives  them  is  covered  with  a  piece  of  linen 


BOOK    X.  443 

moistened  with  water,  in  order  that  the  powerful  vapour  which  arises  may  be 
repelled.  When  the  ingredients  have  been  heated  and  the  ampulla  in  which 
they  were  placed  is  whitened  with  moisture,  it  is  heated  by  a  fiercer  fire  until 
all  the  drops  have  been  distilled8.  After  the  furnace  has  cooled,  the  aqua  is 
filtered  and  poured  into  a  small  glass  ampulla,  and  into  the  same  is  put  half 
a  drachma  of  silver9,  which  when  dissolved  makes  the  turbid  aqua  clear. 
This  is  poured  into  the  ampulla  containing  all  the  rest  of  the  aqua,  and  as 
soon  as  the  lees  have  sunk  to  the  bottom  the  aqua  is  poured  off,  removed,  and 
reserved  for  use. 

Gold  is  parted  from  silver  by  the  following  method10.    The  alloy,  with  lead 
added  to  it,  is  first  heated  in  a  cupel  until  all  the  lead  is  exhaled,  and  eight 

8It  is  desirable  to  note  the  contents  of  the  residues  in  the  retort,  for  it  is  our  belief 
that  these  are  the  materials  to  which  the  author  refers  as  "  lees  of  the  water  which  separates 
gold  from  silver,"  in  many  places  in  Book  VII.  They  would  be  strange  mixtures  of  sodium, 
potassium,  aluminium  sulphates,  with  silica,  brickdust,  asbestos,  and  various  proportions  of 
undigested  vitriol,  salt,  saltpetre,  alum,  iron  oxides,  etc.  Their  effect  must  have  been  un- 
certain. Many  old  German  metallurgies  also  refer  to  the  Todenkopf  der  Scheidwasser,  among 
them  the  Probierbtichlein  before  Agricola,  and  after  him  Lazarus  Ercker  (Beschreibung 
Allerfurnemsten,  etc.,  Prague,  1574).  See  also  note  16,  p.  234. 

'This  use  of  silver  could  apply  to  one  purpose  only,  that  is,  the  elimination  of  minor 
amounts  of  hydrochloric  from  the  nitric  acid,  the  former  originating  no  doubt  from  the  use  of 
salt  among  the  ingredients.  The  silver  was  thus  converted  into  a  chloride  and  precipitated. 
This  use  of  a  small  amount  of  silver  to  purify  the  nitric  acid  was  made  by  metallurgists  down 
to  fairly  recent  times.  Biringuccio  (iv,  2)  and  Lazarus  Ercker  (p.  71)  both  recommend 
that  the  silver  be  dissolved  first  in  a  small  amount  of  acid,  and  the  solution  poured  into  the 
newly-manufactured  supply.  They  both  recommend  preserving  this  precipitate  and  its 
cupellation  after  melting  with  lead — which  Agricola  apparently  overlooked. 

10In  this  description  of  parting  by  nitric  acid,  the  author  digresses  from  his  main 
theme  on  pages  444  and  445,  to  explain  a  method  apparently  for  small  quantities  where 
the  silver  was  precipitated  by  copper,  and  to  describe  another  cryptic  method  of  precipita- 
tion.    These  subjects  are  referred  to  in  notes  n    and  12  below.     The  method  of  parting 
set  out  here  falls  into  six  stages  :  a-cupellation,  6-granulation,  c-solution  in  acid,  d-treatment 
of  the  gold  residues,  e-evaporation  of  the  solution,  /-reduction  of  the  silver  nitrate.     For 
nitric  acid  parting,  bullion  must  be  free  from  impurities,  which  cupellation  would  ensure  ;  if 
copper  were  left  in,  it  would  have  the  effect  he  mentions  if  we  understand  "  the  silver 
"  separated  from  the  gold  soon  unites  with  it  again,"  to  mean  that  the  silver  unites  with  the 
copper,  for  the  copper  would  go  into  solution  and  come  down  with  the  silver  on  evaporation. 
Agricola  does  not  specifically  mention  the  necessity  of  an  excess  of  silver  in  this  description, 
although  he  does  so  elsewhere,  and  states  that  the  ratio  must  be  at  least  three  parts  silver  to 
one  part  gold.     The  first  description  of  the  solution  of  the  silver  is  clear  enough,  but  that  on 
p.  445  is  somewhat  difficult  to  follow,  for  the  author  states  that  the  bullion  is  placed  in  a  retort 
with  the  acid,  and  that  distillation  is  carried  on  between  each  additional  charge  of  acid.     So 
far  as  the  arrangement  of  a  receiver  might  relate  to  the  saving  of  any  acid  that  came  over 
accidentally  in  the  boiling,  it  can  be  understood,  but  to  distill  off  much  acid  would  soon 
result  in  the  crystallization  of  the  silver  nitrate,  which  would  greatly  impede  the  action  of 
subsequent  acid  additions,  and  finally  the  gold  could  not  be  separated  from  such  nitrate  in 
the  way  described.     The  explanation   may  be   (apart  from  incidental  evaporation  when 
heating)  that  the  acids  used  were  very  weak,  and  that  by  the  evaporation  of  a  certain  amount 
of  water,  not  only  was  the  acid  concentrated,  but  room  was  provided  for  the  further  charges. 
The  acid  in  the  gold  wash-water,  mentioned  in  the  following  paragraph,  was  apparently  thus 
concentrated.     The  "  glass  "  mentioned  as  being  melted  with  litharge,  argols,  nitre,  etc.,  was 
no  doubt  the  silver  nitrate.     The  precipitation  of  the  silver  from  the  solution  as  a  chloride,  by 
the  use  of  salt,  so  generally  used  during  the  i8th  and  igth  Centuries,  was  known  in  Agricola's 
time,  although  he  does  not  mention  it.     It  is  mentioned  in  Geber  and  the  Probierbuchlein. 
The  clarity  of  the  latter  on  the  subject  is  of  some  interest  (p.  34a)  :   "  How  to  pulverise  silver 
'  and  again  make  it  into  silver.     Take  the  silver  and  dissolve  it  in  water  with  the  starcken- 
'  wasser,  aqua  fort,  and  when  that  is  done,  take  the  silver  water  and  pour  it  into  warm  salty 
'  water,  and  immediately  the  silver  settles  to  the  bottom  and  becomes  powder.     Let  it  stand 
'  awhile  until  it  has  well  settled,  then  pour  away  the  water  from  it  and  dry  the  settlings, 
'  which  will  become  a  powder  like  ashes.     Afterward  one  can  again  make  it  into  silver. 
'  Take  the  powder  and  put  it  on  a  test,  and  add  thereto  the  powder  from  the  settlings  from 
'  which  the  aqua  forte  has  been  made,  and  add  lead.     Then  if  there  is  a  great  deal,  blow  on 


444  BOOK    X. 

ounces  of  the  alloy  contain  only  five  drachmae  of  copper  or  at  most  six,  for 
if  there  is  more  copper  in  it,  the  silver  separated  from  the  gold  soon  unites 
with  it  again.  Such  molten  silver  containing  gold  is  formed  into  granules, 
being  stirred  by  means  of  a  rod  split  at  the  lower  end,  or  else  is  poured  into  an 
iron  mould,  and  when  cooled  is  made  into  thin  leaves.  As  the  process  of 
making  granules  from  argentiferous  gold  demands  greater  care  and  diligence  than 
making  them  from  any  other  metals,  I  will  now  explain  the  method  briefly.  The 
alloy  is  first  placed  in  a  crucible,  which  is  then  covered  with  a  lid  and  placed 
in  another  earthen  crucible  containing  a  few  ashes.  Then  they  are  placed 
in  the  furnace,  and  after  they  are  surrounded  by  charcoal,  the  fire  is  blown 
by  the  blast  of  a  bellows,  and  lest  the  charcoal  fall  away  it  is  surrounded 
by  stones  or  bricks.  Soon  afterward  charcoal  is  thrown  over  the  upper 
crucible  and  covered  with  live  coals  ;  these  again  are  covered  with  charcoal, 
so  that  the  crucible  is  surrounded  and  covered  on  all  sides  with  it.  It 
is  necessary  to  heat  the  crucibles  with  charcoal  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour  or 
a  little  longer,  and  to  provide  that  there  is  no  deficiency  of  charcoal,  lest  the 
alloy  become  chilled  ;  after  this  the  air  is  blown  in  through  the  nozzle  of  the 
bellows,  that  the  gold  may  begin  to  melt.  Soon  afterward  it  is  turned 
round,  and  a  test  is  quickly  taken  to  see  whether  it  be  melted,  and  if  it  is 
melted,  fluxes  are  thrown  into  it ;  it  is  advisable  to  cover  up  the  crucible 
again  closely  that  the  contents  may  not  be  exhaled.  The  contents  are  heated 
together  for  as  long  as  it  would  take  to  walk  fifteen  paces,  and  then  the 
crucible  is  seized  with  tongs  and  the  gold  is  emptied  into  an  oblong  vessel 
containing  very  cold  water,  by  pouring  it  slowly  from  a  height  so  that  the 
granules  will  not  be  too  big  ;  in  proportion  as  they  are  lighter,  more  fine 
and  more  irregular,  the  better  they  are,  therefore  the  water  is  frequently 
stirred  with  a  rod  split  into  four  parts  from  the  lower  end  to  the  middle. 

The  leaves  are  cut  into  small  pieces,  and  they  or  the  silver  granules  are 
put  into  a  glass  ampulla,  and  the  aqua  is  poured  over  them  to  a  height  of  a 
digit  above  the  silver.  The  ampulla  is  covered  with  a  bladder  or  with  waxed 
linen,  lest  the  contents  exhale.  Then  it  is  heated  until  the  silver  is  dissolved, 
the  indication  of  which  is  the  bubbling  of  the  aqua.  The  gold  remains  in  the 
bottom,  of  a  blackish  colour,  and  the  silver  mixed  with  the  aqua  floats  above. 
Some  pour  the  latter  into  a  copper  bowl  and  pour  into  it  cold  water,  which 
immediately  congeals  the  silver  ;  this  they  take  out  and  dry,  having  poured 
off  the  aqua11.  They  heat  the  dried  silver  in  an  earthenware  crucible  until 
it  melts,  and  when  it  is  melted  they  pour  it  into  an  iron  mould. 

The  gold  which  remains  in  the  ampulla  they  wash  with  warm  water, 
filter,  dry,  and  heat  in  a  crucible  with  a  little  chrysocolla  which  is  called 
borax,  and  when  it  is  melted  they  likewise  pour  it  into  an  iron  mould. 

"  it  until  the  lead  has  incorporated  itself     .     .     .     blow  it  until  it  plickt  (blickens).     Then 
"  you  will  have  as  much  silver  as  before." 

uThe  silver  is  apparently  precipitated  by  the  copper  of  the  bowl.  It  would  seem 
that  this  method  was  in  considerable  use  for  small  amounts  of  silver  nitrate  in  the  i6th 
Century.  Lazarus  Ercker  gives  elaborate  directions  for  this  method  (Beschreibung  Aller- 
furnemsten.  etc.,  Prague,  1574,  p.  77). 


BOOK    X.  445 

Some  workers,  into  an  ampulla  which  contains  gold  and  silver  and  the 
aqua  which  separates  them,  pour  two  or  three  times  as  much  of  this  aqua 
valens  warmed,  and  into  the  same  ampulla  or  into  a  dish  into  which  all  is 
poured,  throw  fine  leaves  of  black  lead  and  copper  ;  by  this  means  the  gold 
adheres  to  the  lead  and  the  silver  to  the  copper,  and  separately  the  lead 
from  the  gold,  and  separately  the  copper  from  the  silver,  are  parted  in  a 
cupel.  But  no  method  is  approved  by  us  which  loses  the  aqua  used  to  part 
gold  from  silver,  for  it  might  be  used  again12. 

A  glass  ampulla,  which  bulges  up  inside  at  the  bottom  like  a  cone,  is 
covered  on  the  lower  part  of  the  outside  with  lute  in  the  way  explained  above, 
and  into  it  is  put  silver  bullion  weighing  three  and  a  half  Roman  librae.  The 
aqua  which  parts  the  one  from  the  other  is  poured  into  it,  and  the  ampulla  is 
placed  in  sand  contained  in  an  earthen  vessel,  or  in  a  box,  that  it  may  be 
warmed  with  a  gentle  fire.  Lest  the  aqua  should  be  exhaled,  the  top  of  the 
ampulla  is  plastered  on  all  sides  with  lute,  and  it  is  covered  with  a  glass 
operculum,  under  whose  spout  is  placed  another  ampulla  which  receives  the 
distilled  drops  ;  this  receiver  is  likewise  arranged  hi  a  box  containing  sand. 
When  the  contents  are  heated  it  reddens,  but  when  the  redness  no 
longer  appears  to  increase,  it  is  taken  out  of  the  vessel  or  box  and  shaken  ; 
by  this  motion  the  aqua  becomes  heated  again  and  grows  red  ;  if  this  is 
done  two  or  three  times  before  other  aqua  is  added  to  it,  the  operation  is  sooner 
concluded,  and  much  less  aqua  is  consumed.  When  the  first  charge  has  all 
been  distilled,  as  much  silver  as  at  first  is  again  put  into  the  ampulla,  for  if 
too  much  were  put  in  at  once,  the  gold  would  be  parted  from  it  with  difficulty. 
Then  the  second  aqua  is  poured  in,  but  it  is  warmed  in  order  that  it  and  the 
ampulla  may  be  of  equal  temperature,  so  that  the  latter  may  not  be  cracked 
by  the  cold  ;  also  if  a  cold  wind  blows  on  it,  it  is  apt  to  crack.  Then  the  third 
aqua  is  poured  in,  and  also  if  circumstances  require  it,  the  fourth,  that  is  to 
say  more  aqua  and  again  more  is  poured  in  until  the  gold  assumes  the  colour 
of  burned  brick.  The  artificer  keeps  in  hand  two  aquae,  one  of  which  is 
stronger  than  the  other  ;  the  stronger  is  used  at  first,  then  the  less  strong, 
then  at  the  last  again  the  stronger.  When  the  gold  becomes  of  a  reddish 
yellow  colour,  spring  water  is  poured  in  and  heated  until  it  boils.  The  gold  is 
washed  four  times  and  then  heated  in  the  crucible  until  it  melts.  The  water 
with  which  it  was  washed  is  put  back,  for  there  is  a  little  silver  in  it ;  for 
this  reason  it  is  poured  into  an  ampulla  and  heated,  and  the  drops  first  distilled 
are  received  by  one  ampulla,  while  those  which  come  later,  that  is  to  say 
when  the  operculum  begins  to  get  red,  fall  into  another.  This  latter  aqua  is 
useful  for  testing  the  gold,  the  former  for  washing  it ;  the  former  may  also 
be  poured  over  the  ingredients  from  which  the  aqua  valens  is  made. 

The  aqua  that  was  first  distilled,  which  contains  the  silver,  is  poured  into 
an  ampulla  wide  at  the  base,  the  top  of  which  is  also  smeared  with  lute  and 
covered  by  an  operculum,  and  is  then  boiled  as  before  in  order  that  it  may  be 
separated  from  the  silver.  If  there  be  so  much  aqua  that  (when  boiled)  it 

12We  confess  to  a  lack  of  understanding  of  this  operation  with  leaves  of  lead  and 
copper. 

31 


446 


BOOK    X. 


A — AMPULLAE  ARRANGED  IN  THE  VESSELS.    B — AN  AMPULLA  STANDING  UPRIGHT  BETWEEN 
IRON  RODS.     C — AMPULLAE  PLACED  IN  THE  SAND  WHICH  is  CONTAINED  IN  A  BOX;  THE 

SPOUTS    OF    WHICH    REACH    FROM    THE    OPERCULA    INTO  AMPULLAE    PLACED   UNDER  THEM. 

D — AMPULLAE  LIKEWISE  PLACED  IN  SAND  WHICH  is  CONTAINED  IN  A  BOX,  OF  WHICH  THE 

SPOUT    FROM    THE   OPERCULA    EXTENDS  CROSSWISE  INTO    AMPULLAE   PLACED    UNDER    THEM. 

E — OTHER  AMPULLAE  RECEIVING  THE  DISTILLED  aqua  AND  LIKEWISE  ARRANGED  IN  SAND 

CONTAINED  IN  THE  LOWER  BOXES.       F — IRON  TRIPOD,  IN  WHICH  THE  AMPULLA  IS  USUALLY 
PLACED  WHEN  THERE  ARE  NOT  MANY  PARTICLES  OF  GOLD  TO  BE  PARTED  FROM  THE  SILVER. 

G— VESSEL. 

rises  into  the  operculum,  there  is  put  into  the  ampulla  one  lozenge  or  two  ; 
these  are  made  of  soap,  cut  into  small  pieces  and  mixed  together  with 
powdered  argol,  and  then  heated  hi  a  pot  over  a  gentle  fire  ;  or  else  the 
contents  are  stirred  with  a  hazel  twig  split  at  the  bottom,  and  in  both  cases 
the  aqua  effervesces,  and  soon  after  again  settles.  When  the  powerful  vapour 
appears,  the  aqua  gives  off  a  kind  of  oil,  and  the  operculum  becomes  red.  But, 
lest  the  vapours  should  escape  from  the  ampulla  and  the  operculum  in  that 
part  where  their  mouths  communicate,  they  are  entirely  sealed  all  round. 
The  aqua  is  boiled  continually  over  a  fiercer  fire,  and  enough  charcoal  must  be 
put  into  the  furnace  so  that  the  live  coals  touch  the  vessel.  The  ampulla  is 
taken  out  as  soon  as  all  the  aqua  has  been  distilled,  and  the  silver,  which  is  dried 
by  the  heat  of  the  fire,  alone  remains  in  it ;  the  silver  is  shaken  out  and  put 
in  an  earthenware  crucible,  and  heated  until  it  melts.  The  molten  glass  is 
extracted  with  an  iron  rod  curved  at  the  lower  end,  and  the  silver  is  made 


BOOK     X.  447 

into  cakes.  The  glass  extracted  from  the  crucible  is  ground  to  powder,  and 
to  this  are  added  litharge,  argol,  glass-galls,  and  saltpetre,  and  they  are 
melted  in  an  earthen  crucible.  The  button  that  settles  is  transferred  to  the 
cupel  and  re-melted. 

If  the  silver  was  not  sufficiently  dried  by  the  heat  of  the  fire,  that  which 
is  contained  in  the  upper  part  of  the  ampulla  will  appear  black  ;  this  when 
melted  will  be  consumed.  When  the  lute,  which  was  smeared  round  the 
lower  part  of  the  ampulla,  has  been  removed,  it  is  placed  in  the  crucible  and 
is  re-melted,  until  at  last  there  is  no  more  appearance  of  black13. 

If  to  the  first  aqua  the  other  which  contains  silver  is  to  be  added,  it 
must  be  poured  in  before  the  powerful  vapours  appear,  and  the  aqua  gives  off 
the  oily  substance,  and  the  operculum  becomes  red  ;  for  he  who  pours  in  the 
aqua  after  the  vapour  appears  causes  a  loss,  because  the  aqua  generally  spurts 
out  and  the  glass  breaks.  If  the  ampulla  breaks  when  the  gold  is  being  parted 
from  the  silver  or  the  silver  from  the  aqua,  the  aqua  will  be  absorbed  by  the 
sand  or  the  lute  or  the  bricks,  whereupon,  without  any  delay,  the  red  hot  coals 
should  be  taken  out  of  the  furnace  and  the  fire  extinguished.  The  sand  and 
bricks  after  being  crushed  should  be  thrown  into  a  copper  vessel,  warm  water 
should  be  poured  over  them,  and  they  should  be  put  aside  for  the  space  of 
twelve  hours  ;  afterward  the  water  should  be  strained  through  a  canvas,  and 
the  canvas,  since  it  contains  silver,  should  be  dried  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  or 
the  fire,  and  then  placed  in  an  earthen  crucible  and  heated  until  the  silver 
melts,  this  being  poured  out  into  an  iron  mould.  The  strained  water  should 
be  poured  into  an  ampulla  and  separated  from  the  silver,  of  which  it  contains 
a  minute  portion  ;  the  sand  should  be  mixed  with  litharge,  glass-galls, 
argol,  saltpetre,  and  salt,  and  heated  in  an  earthen  crucible.  The  button 
which  settles  at  the  bottom  should  be  transferred  to  a  cupel,  and  should 
be  re-melted,  in  order  that  the  lead  may  be  separated  from  the  silver.  The 
lute,  with  lead  added,  should  be  heated  in  an  earthen  crucible,  then 
re-melted  in  a  cupel. 

We  also  separate  silver  from  gold  by  the  same  method  when  we  assay 
them.  For  this  purpose  the  alloy  is  first  rubbed  against  a  touchstone,  in 
order  to  learn  what  proportion  of  silver  there  is  in  it ;  then  as  much  silver 
as  is  necessary  is  added  to  the  argentiferous  gold,  in  a  bes  of  which  therj 
must  be  less  than  a  semi-uncia  or  a  semi-uncia  and  a  sicilicus1*  of  copper. 
After  lead  has  been  added,  it  is  melted  in  a  cupel  until  the  lead  and  the 
copper  have  exhaled,  then  the  alloy  of  gold  with  silver  is  flattened  out,  and 
little  tubes  are  made  of  the  leaves  ;  these  are  put  into  a  glass  ampulla, 
and  strong  aqua  is  poured  over  them  two  or  three  times.  The  tubes  after 
this  are  absolutely  pure,  with  the  exception  of  only  a  quarter  of  a  siliqua, 
which  is  silver  ;  for  only  this  much  silver  remains  in  eight  unciae  of  gold15. 

13We  do  not  understand  this  "  appearance  of  black."  If  the  nitrate  came  into  contact 
with  organic  matter  it  would,  of  course,  turn  black  by  reduction  of  the  silver,  and  sunlight 
would  have  the  same  effect. 

14This  would  be  equal  to  from  62  to  94  parts  of  copper  in  1,000. 

16As  144  siliquae  are  i  uncia,  then  J  siliqua  in  8  unciae  would  equal  one  part  silver  in 
4,608  parts  gold,  or  about  999.8  fine. 


448  BOOK    X. 

As  great  expense  is  incurred  in  parting  the  metals  by  the  methods  that 
I  have  explained,  as  night  vigils  are  necessary  when  aqua  valens  is  made, 
and  as  generally  much  labour  and  great  pains  have  to  be  expended  on  this 
matter,  other  methods  for  parting  have  been  invented  by  clever  men,  which 
are  less  costly,  less  laborious,  and  in  which  there  is  less  loss  if  through  care- 
lessness an  error  is  made.  There  are  three  methods,  the  first  performed  with 
sulphur,  the  second  with  antimony,  the  third  by  means  of  some  compound 
which  consists  of  these  or  other  ingredients. 

In  the  first  method,16  the  silver  containing  some  gold  is  melted  in  a 
crucible  and  made  into  granules.  For  every  libra  of  granules,  there  is  taken 
a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  sicilicus  of  sulphur  (not  exposed  to  the  fire)  ;  this, 
when  crushed,  is  sprinkled  over  the  moistened  granules,  and  then  they  are  put 
into  a  new  earthen  pot  of  the  capacity  of  four  sextarii,  or  into  several  of  them 
if  there  is  an  abundance  of  granules.  The  pot,  having  been  filled,  is  covered 
with  an  earthen  lid  and  smeared  over,  and  placed  within  a  circle  of  fire  set  one 
and  a  half  feet  distant  from  the  pot  on  all  sides,  in  order  that  the  sulphur 
added  to  the  silver  should  not  be  distilled  when  melted.  The  pot  is  opened, 

16The  object  of  this  treatment  with  sulphur  and  copper  is  to  separate  a  considerable 
portion  of  silver  from  low-grade  bullion  (i.e.,  silver  containing  some  gold),  in  preparation 
for  final  treatment  of  the  richer  gold-silver  alloy  with  nitric  acid.  Silver  sulphide  is  created 
by  adding  sulphur,  and  is  drawn  off  in  a  silver-copper  regulus.  After  the  first  sentence,  the 
author  uses  silver  alone  where  he  obviously  means  silver  "  containing  some  gold,"  and  further 
he  speaks  of  the  "  gold  lump  "  (massula)  where  he  likewise  means  a  button  containing  a  great 
deal  of  silver.  For  clarity  we  introduced  the  term  "  regulus  "  for  the  Latin  mistura.  The 
operation  falls  into  six  stages  :  a,  granulation  ;  b,  sulphurization  of  the  granulated  bullion  ; 
c,  melting  to  form  a  combination  of  the  silver  sulphide  with  copper  into  a  regulus,  an  alloy 
of  gold  and  silver  settling  out ;  d,  repetition  of  the  treatment  to  abstract  further  silver  from 
the  "  lump  ;  "  e,  refining  the  "  lump  "  with  nitric  acid  ;  /,  recovery  of  the  silver  from  the 
regulus  by  addition  of  lead,  liquation  and  cupellation. 

The  use  of  a  "  circle  of  fire  "  secures  a  low  temperature  that  would  neither  volatilize 
the  sulphur  nor  melt  the  bullion.  The  amount  of  sulphur  given  is  equal  to  a  ratio  of  48  parts 
bullion  and  9  parts  sulphur.  We  are  not  certain  about  the  translation  of  the  paragraph  in 
relation  to  the  proportion  of  copper  added  to  the  granulated  bullion  ;  because  in  giving 
definite  quantities  of  copper  to  be  added  in  the  contingencies  of  various  original  copper 
contents  in  the  bullion,  it  would  be  expected  that  they  were  intended  to  produce  some 
positive  ratio  of  copper  and  silver.  However,  the  ratio  as  we  understand  the  text  in  various 
cases  works  out  to  irregular  amounts,  i.e.,  48  parts  of  silver  to  16,  12.6,  24,  20.5,  20.8,  17.8,  or 
18  parts  of  copper.  In  order  to  obtain  complete  separation  there  should  be  sufficient  sulphur 
to  have  formed  a  sulphide  of  the  copper  as  well  as  of  the  silver,  or  else  some  of  the  copper 
and  silver  would  come  down  metallic  with  the  "  lump  ".  The  above  ratio  of  copper  added  to 
the  sulphurized  silver,  in  the  first  instance  would  give  about  18  parts  of  copper  and  9  parts 
of  sulphur  to  48  parts  of  silver.  The  copper  would  require  4.5  parts  of  sulphur  to  convert 
it  into  sulphide,  and  the  silver  about  7  parts,  or  a  total  of  11.5  parts  required  against  9  parts 
furnished.  It  is  plain,  therefore,  that  insufficient  sulphur  is  given.  Further,  the  litharge 
would  probably  take  up  some  sulphur  and  throw  down  metallic  lead  into  the  "  lump  ". 
However,  it  is  necessary  that  there  should  be  some  free  metallics  to  collect  the  gold,  and, 
therefore,  the  separation  could  not  be  complete  in  one  operation.  In  any  event,  on  the  above 
ratios  the  "  gold  lump  "  from  the  first  operation  was  pretty  coppery,  and  contained  some 
lead  and  probably  a  good  deal  of  silver,  because  the  copper  would  tend  to  desulphurize  the 
latter.  The  "  powder  "  of  glass-galls,  salt,  and  litharge  would  render  the  mass  more  liquid 
and  assist  the  "  gold  lump  "  to  separate  out. 

The  Roman  silver  sesterce,  worth  about  zj  pence  or  4.2  American  cents,  was  no  doubt 
used  by  Agricola  merely  to  indicate  an  infinitesimal  quantity.  The  test  to  be  applied  to  the 
regulus  by  way  of  cupellation  and  parting  of  a  sample  with  nitric  acid,  requires  no  explanation. 
The  truth  of  the  description  as  to  determining  whether  the  gold  had  settled  out,  by  using  a 
chalked  iron  rod,  can  only  be  tested  by  actual  experiment.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
sulphur  in  the  regulus  would  attack  the  iron  and  make  it  black.  The  re-melting  of  the  regulus, 
if  some  gold  remains  in  it,  with  copper  and  "  powder  "  without  more  sulphur,  would  provide 
again  free  metallics  to  gather  the  remaining  gold,  and  by  desulphurizing  some  silver  this 
button  would  probably  not  be  very  pure. 


BOOK    X. 


449 


A — Pox.    B — CIRCULAR  FIRE.    C — CRUCIBLES.    D — THEIR  LIDS.     E — LID  OF  THE  POT. 

F — FURNACE.    G — IRON  ROD. 

the  black-coloured  granules  are  taken  out,  and  afterward  thirty-three  librae 
of  these  granules  are  placed  in  an  earthen  crucible,  if  it  has  such  capacity. 
For  every  libra  of  silver  granules,  weighed  before  they  were  sprinkled  with 


From  the  necessity  for  some  free  metallics  besides  the  gold  in  the  first  treatment,  it  will 
be  seen  that  a  repetition  of  the  sulphur  addition  and  re- melting  is  essential  gradually  to  enrich 
the  "  lump".  Why  more  copper  is  added  is  not  clear.  In  the  second  melting,  the  ratio  is 
48  parts  of  the  "  gold  lump",  12  parts  of  sulphur  and  12  parts  copper.  In  this  case  the  added 
copper  would  require  about  3  parts  sulphur,  and  if  we  consider  the  deficiency  of  sulphur 
in  the  first  operations  pertained  entirely  to  the  copper,  then  about  2.5  parts  would  be  required 
to  make  good  the  shortage,  or  in  other  words  the  second  addition  of  sulphur  is  sufficient. 
In  the  final  parting  of  the  "  lump  "  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  author  states  that  the  silver  ratio 
must  be  arranged  as  three  of  silver  to  one  of  gold.  As  to  the  recovery  of  the  silver  from  the 
regulus,  he  states  that  66  librae  of  silver  give  132  librae  of  regulus.  To  this,  500  librae  of 
lead  are  added,  and  it  is  melted  in  the  "  second  "  furnace,  and  the  litharge  and  hearth- 
lead  made  are  re-melted  in  the  "  first "  furnace,  the  cakes  made  being  again  treated  in  the 
"  third  "  furnace  to  separate  the  copper  and  lead.  The  "  first  "  is  usually  the  blast  furnace, 
the  "  second  "  furnace  is  the  cupellation  furnace,  and  the  "  third  "  the  liquation  furnace. 
It  is  difficult  to  understand  this  procedure.  The  charge  sent  to  the  cupellation  furnace 
would  contain  between  3%  and  5%  copper,  and  between  3%  and  5%  sulphur.  However, 
possibly  the  sulphur  and  copper  could  be  largely  abstracted  in  the  skimmings  from  the 
cupellation  furnace,  these  being  subsequently  liquated  in  the  "  third  "  furnace.  It  may  be 
noted  that  two  whole  lines  from  this  paragraph  are  omitted  in  the  editions  of  De  Re  Metallica 
after  1600.  For  historical  note  on  sulphur  separation  see  page  461. 


450  BOOK    X. 

sulphur,  there  is  weighed  out  also  a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  sicilicus  of 
copper,  if  each  libra  consists  either  of  three-quarters  of  a  libra  of  silver  and 
a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  copper,  or  of  three-quarters  of  a  libra  and  a 
semi-uncia  of  silver  and  a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  copper.  If, 
however,  the  silver  contains  five-sixths  of  a  libra  of  silver  and  a  sixth  of  a 
libra  of  copper,  or  five-sixths  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver  and  an  uncia 
and  a  half  of  copper,  then  there  are  weighed  out  a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  copper 
granules.  If  a  libra  contains  eleven-twelfths  of  a  libra  of  silver  and  one  uncia 
of  copper,  or  eleven-twelfths  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver  and  a  semi-uncia  of 
copper,  then  are  weighed  out  a  quarter  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  and  a 
sicilicus  of  copper  granules.  Lastly,  if  there  is  only  pure  silver,  then  as  much 
as  a  third  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  copper  granules  are  added.  Half 
of  these  copper  granules  are  added  soon  afterward  to  the  black-coloured 
silver  granules.  The  crucible  should  be  tightly  covered  and  smeared  over 
with  lute,  and  placed  in  a  furnace,  into  which  the  air  is  drawn  through  the 
draught-holes.  As  soon  as  the  silver  is  melted,  the  crucible  is  opened,  and 
there  is  placed  in  it  a  heaped  ladleful  more  of  granulated  copper,  and  also 
a  heaped  ladleful  of  a  powder  which  consists  of  equal  parts  of  litharge,  of 
granulated  lead,  of  salt,  and  of  glass-galls  ;  then  the  crucible  is  again  covered 
with  the  lid.  When  the  copper  granules  are  melted,  more  are  put  in,  together 
with  the  powder,  until  all  have  been  put  in. 

A  little  of  the  regulus  is  taken  from  the  crucible,  but  not  from  the  gold 
lump  which  has  settled  at  the  bottom,  and  a  drachma  of  it  is  put  into  each  of 
the  cupels,  which  contain  an  uncia  of  molten  lead  ;  there  should  be  many 
of  these  cupels.  In  this  way  half  a  drachma  of  silver  is  made.  As  soon  as 
the  lead  and  copper  have  been  separated  from  the  silver,  a  third  of  it  is 
thrown  into  a  glass  ampulla,  and  aqua  valens  is  poured  over  it.  By  this 
method  is  shown  whether  the  sulphur  has  parted  all  the  gold  from  the  silver, 
or  not.  If  one  wishes  to  know  the  size  of  the  gold  lump  which  has  settled 
at  the  bottom  of  the  crucible,  an  iron  rod  moistened  with  water  is  covered 
with  chalk,  and  when  the  rod  is  dry  it  is  pushed  down  straight  into  the 
crucible,  and  the  rod  remains  bright  to  the  height  of  the  gold  lump  ;  the 
remaining  part  of  the  rod  is  coloured  black  by  the  regulus,  which  adheres  to 
the  rod  if  it  is  not  quickly  removed. 

If  when  the  rod  has  been  extracted  the  gold  is  observed  to  be 
satisfactorily  parted  from  the  silver,  the  regulus  is  poured  out,  the  gold 
button  is  taken  out  of  the  crucible,  and  in  some  clean  place  the  regulus  is 
chipped  off  from  it,  although  it  usually  flies  apart.  The  lump  itself  is  reduced 
to  granules,  and  for  every  libra  of  this  gold  they  weigh  out  a  quarter  of  a  libra 
each  of  crushed  sulphur  and  of  granular  copper,  and  all  are  placed  together 
in  an  earthen  crucible,  not  into  a  pot.  When  they  are  melted,  in  order  that 
the  gold  may  more  quickly  settle  at  the  bottom,  the  powder  which  I  have 
mentioned  is  added. 

Although  minute  particles  of  gold  appear  to  scintillate  in  the  regulus 
of  copper  and  silver,  yet  if  all  that  are  in  a  libra  do  not  weigh  as  much  as  a 
single  sesterce,  then  the  sulphur  has  satisfactorily  parted  the  gold  from  the 


BOOK     X. 

silver ;  but  if  it  should  weigh  a  sesterce  or  more,  then  the  regulus  is  thrown 
back  again  into  the  earthen  crucible,  and  it  is  not  advantageous  to  add  sulphur, 
but  only  a  little  copper  and  powder,  by  which  method  a  gold  lump  is  again 
made  to  settle  at  the  bottom  ;  and  this  one  is  added  to  the  other  button  which 
is  not  rich  in  gold. 

When  gold  is  parted  from  sixty-six  librae  of  silver,  the  silver,  copper, 
and  sulphur  regulus  weighs  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  librae.  To  separate 
the  copper  from  the  silver  we  require  five  hundred  librae  of  lead,  more  or 
less,  with  which  the  regulus  is  melted  in  the  second  furnace.  In  this 
manner  litharge  and  hearth-lead  are  made,  which  are  re-smelted  in  the  first 
furnace.  The  cakes  that  are  made  from  these  are  placed  in  the  third  furnace, 
so  that  the  lead  may  be  separated  from  the  copper  and  used  again,  for  it 
contains  very  little  silver.  The  crucibles  and  their  covers  are  crushed,  washed, 
and  the  sediment  is  melted  together  with  litharge  and  hearth-lead. 

Those  who  wish  to  separate  all  the  silver  from  the  gold  by  this  method 
leave  one  part  of  gold  to  three  of  silver,  and  then  reduce  the  alloy  to 
granules.  Then  they  place  it  in  an  ampulla,  and  by  pouring  aqua  valens  over 
it,  part  the  gold  from  the  silver,  which  process  I  explained  in  Book  VII. 

If  sulphur  from  the  lye  with  which  sal  artificiosus  is  made,  is  strong 
enough  to  float  an  egg  thrown  into  it,  and  is  boiled  until  it  no  longer  emits 
fumes,  and  melts  when  placed  upon  glowing  coals,  then,  if  such  sulphur  is 
thrown  into  the  melted  silver,  it  parts  the  gold  from  it. 

Silver  is  also  parted  from  gold  by  means  of  stibium1'3.  If  in  a  bes  of 
gold  there  are  seven,  or  six,  or  five  double  sextulae  of  silver,  then  three  parts 
of  stibium  are  added  to  one  part  of  gold  ;  but  in  order  that  the  stibium  should 
not  consume  the  gold,  it  is  melted  with  copper  in  a  red  hot  earthern  crucible. 
If  the  gold  contains  some  portion  of  copper,  then  to  eight  undue  of  stibium 

17There  can  be  no  doubt  that  in  most  instances  Agricola's  stibium  is  antimony  sulphide, 
but  it  does  not  follow  that  it  was  the  mineral  stibnite,  nor  have  we  considered  it  desirable  to 
introduce  the  precision  of  either  of  these  modern  terms,  and  have  therefore  retained  the 
Latin  term  where  the  sulphide  is  apparently  intended.  The  use  of  antimony  sulphide  to 
part  silver  from  gold  is  based  upon  the  greater  affinity  of  silver  than  antimony  for  sulphur. 
Thus  the  silver,  as  in  the  last  process,  is  converted  into  a  sulphide,  and  is  absorbed  in  the 
regulus,  while  the  metallic  antimony  alloys  with  the  gold  and  settles  to  the  bottom  of  the  pot. 
This  process  has  several  advantages  over  the  sulphurization  with  crude  sulphur  ;  antimony 
is  a  more  convenient  vehicle  of  sulphur,  for  it  saves  the  preliminary  sulphurization  with  its 
attendant  difficulties  of  volatilization  of  the  sulphur  ;  it  also  saves  the  granulation  necessary 
in  the  former  method  ;  and  the  treatment  of  the  subsequent  products  is  simpler.  However, 
it  is  possible  that  the  sulphur-copper  process  was  better  adapted  to  bullion  where  the  pro- 
portion of  gold  was  low,  because  the  fineness  of  the  bullion  mentioned  in  connection  with  the 
antimonial  process  was  apparently  much  higher  than  the  previous  process.  For  instance, 
a  bes  of  gold,  containing  5,  6,  or  7  double  sextulae  of  silver  would  be  .792,  .750.  or  .708  fine. 
The  antimonial  method  would  have  an  advantage  over  nitric  acid  separation,  in  that  high- 
grade  bullion  could  be  treated  direct  without  artificial  decrease  of  fineness  required  by 
inquartation  to  about  .250  fine,  with  the  consequent  incidental  losses  of  silver  involved. 

The  process  in  this  description  falls  into  six  operations  :  a,  sulphurization  of  the  silver 
by  melting  with  antimony  sulphide  ;  b,  separation  of  the  gold  "  lump  "  (massula)  by  jogging  ; 
c,  re-melting  the  regulus  (mistura)  three  or  four  times  for  recovery  of  further  "  lumps  "  ;  d, 
re-melting  of  the  "  lump  "  four  times,  with  further  additions  of  antimony  sulphide  ;  e,  cupel- 
lation  of  the  regulus  to  recover  the  silver  ;  /,  cupellation  of  the  antimony  from  the  "  lump  "  to 
recover  the  gold.  Percy  seems  to  think  it  difficult  to  understand  the  insistence  upon  the 
addition  of  copper.  Biringuccio  (iv,  6)  states,  among  other  things,  that  copper  makes  the 
ingredients  more  liquid.  The  later  metallurgists,  however,  such  as  Ercker,  Lohneys, 
and  Schluter,  do  not  mention  this  addition ;  they  do  mention  the  "  swelling  and 


452  BOOK    X. 

a  siciUcus  of  copper  is  added  ;  and  if  it  contains  no  copper,  then  half  an 
uncia,  because  copper  must  be  added  to  stibium  in  order  to  part  gold  from 
silver.  The  gold  is  first  placed  in  a  red  hot  earthen  crucible,  and  when 
melted  it  swells,  and  a  little  stibium  is  added  to  it  lest  it  run  over  ;  in  a 
short  space  of  time,  when  this  has  melted,  it  likewise  again  swells,  and 
when  this  occurs  it  is  advisable  to  put  in  all  the  remainder  of  the  stibium, 
and  to  cover  the  crucible  with  a  lid,  and  then  to  heat  the  mixture  for  the 
time  required  to  walk  thirty-five  paces.  Then  it  is  at  once  poured  out  into 
an  iron  pot,  wide  at  the  top  and  narrow  at  the  bottom,  which  was  first 
heated  and  smeared  over  with  tallow  or  wax,  and  set  on  an  iron  or  wooden 
block.  It  is  shaken  violently,  and  by  this  agitation  the  gold  lump  settles 
to  the  bottom,  and  when  the  pot  has  cooled  it  is  tapped  loose,  and  is  again 
melted  four  times  in  the  same  way.  But  each  time  a  less  weight  of  stibium 
is  added  to  the  gold,  until  finally  only  twice  as  much  stibium  is  added  as 
there  is  gold,  or  a  little  more  ;  then  the  gold  lump  is  melted  in  a  cupel.  The 
stibium  is  melted  again  three  or  four  times  in  an  earthen  crucible,  and  each 
time  a  gold  lump  settles,  so  that  there  are  three  or  four  gold  lumps,  and 
these  are  all  melted  together  in  a  cupel. 

To  two  librae  and  a  half  of  such  stibium  are  added  two  librae  of  argol 
and  one  libra  of  glass-galls,  and  they  are  melted  in  an  earthen  crucible, 
where  a  lump  likewise  settles  at  the  bottom  ;  this  lump  is  melted  in  the 
cupel.  Finally,  the  stibium  with  a  little  lead  added,  is  melted  in  the  cupel, 
in  which,  after  all  the  rest  has  been  consumed  by  the  fire,  the  silver  alone 
remains.  If  the  stibium  is  not  first  melted  in  an  earthen  crucible  with  argol 
and  glass-galls,  before  it  is  melted  in  the  cupel,  part  of  the  silver  is  consumed, 
and  is  absorbed  by  the  ash  and  powder  of  which  the  cupel  is  made. 

The  crucible  in  which  the  gold  and  silver  alloy  are  melted  with  stibium, 
and  also  the  cupel,  are  placed  in  a  furnace,  which  is  usually  of  the  kind 

frothing,"  and  recommend  that  the  crucible  should  be  only  partly  filled.  As  to  the  copper, 
we  suggest  that  it  would  desulphurize  part  of  the  antimony  and  thus  free  some  of  that  metal 
to  collect  the  gold.  If  we  assume  bullion  of  the  medium  fineness  mentioned  and  containing 
no  copper,  then  the  proportions  in  the  first  charge  would  be  about  36  parts  gold,  12  parts 
silver,  41  parts  sulphur,  103  parts  antimony,  and  9  parts  copper.  The  silver  and  copper 
would  take  up  4.25  parts  of  sulphur,  and  thus  free  about  10.6  parts  of  antimony  as  metallics. 
It  would  thus  appear  that  the  amount  of  metallics  provided  to  assist  the  collection  of  the 
gold  was  little  enough,  and  that  the  copper  in  freeing  5.6  parts  of  the  antimony  was  useful. 
It  appears  to  have  been  necessary  to  have  a  large  excess  of  antimony  sulphide  ;  for  even 
with  the  great  surplus  in  the  first  charge,  the  reaction  was  only  partial,  as  is  indicated  by  the 
necessity  for  repeated  melting  with  further  antimony. 

The  later  metallurgists  all  describe  the  separation  of  the  metallic  antimony  from 
the  gold  as  being  carried  out  by  oxidation  of  the  antimony,  induced  by  a  jet  of  air  into  the 
crucible,  this  being  continued  until  the  mass  appears  limpid  and  no  cloud  forms  in  the  surface 
in  cooling.  Agricola  describes  the  separation  of  the  silver  from  the  regulus  by  preliminary 
melting  with  argols,  glass-gall,  and  some  lead,  and  subsequent  cupellation  of  the  lead-silver 
alloy.  The  statement  that  unless  this  preliminary  melting  is  done,  the  cupel  will  absorb 
silver,  might  be  consonant  with  an  attempt  at  cupellation  of  sulphides,  and  it  is  difficult  to  see 
that  much  desulphurizing  could  take  place  with  the  above  fluxes.  In  fact,  in  the  later 
descriptions  of  the  process,  iron  is  used  in  this  melting,  and  we  are  under  the  impression 
that  Agricola  had  omitted  this  item  for  a  desulphurizing  reagent.  At  the  Dresden  Mint, 
in  the  methods  described  by  Percy  (Metallurgy  Silver  and  Gold,  p.  373)  the  gold  lumps  were 
tested  for  fineness,  and  from  this  the  amount  of  gold  retained  in  the  regulus  was  computed. 
It  is  not  clear  from  Agricola's  account  whether  the  test  with  nitric  acid  was  applied  to  the 
regulus  or  to  the  "  lumps".  For  historical  notes  see  p.  461. 


BOOK    X. 


453 


A — FURNACE  IN  WHICH  THE  AIR  is  DRAWN  IN  THROUGH  HOLES.    B — GOLDSMITH'S  FORGE. 
C — EARTHEN  CRUCIBLES.    D — IRON  POTS.    E — BLOCK. 

in  which  the  air  is  drawn  in  through  holes  ;  or  else  they  are  placed  in  a  gold- 
smith's forge. 

Just  as  aqua  valens  poured  over  silver,  from  which  the  sulphur  has 
parted  the  gold,  shows  us  whether  all  has  been  separated  or  whether 
particles  of  gold  remain  in  the  silver  ;  so  do  certain  ingredients,  if  placed  in 
the  pot  or  crucible  "  alternately  "  with  the  gold,  from  which  the  silver  has 
been  parted  by  stibium,  and  heated,  show  us  whether  all  have  been 
separated  or  not. 

We  use  cements18  when,  without  stibium,  we  part  silver  or  copper  or  both 
so  ingeniously  and  admirably  from  gold.  There  are  various  cements.  Some 

"As  will  be  shown  in  the  historical  note,  this  process  of  separating  gold  and  silver 
is  of  great  antiquity — in  all  probability  the  only  process  known  prior  to  the  Middle  Ages,  and 
in  any  event,  the  first  one  used.  In  general  the  process  was  performed  by  "  cementing  " 
the  disintegrated  bullion  with  a  paste  and  subjecting  the  mass  to  long-continued  heat  at  a 
temperature  under  the  melting  point  of  the  bullion.  The  cement  (compositio)  is  of  two 
different  species  ;  in  the  first  species  saltpetre  and  vitriol  and  some  aluminous  or  silicious 
medium  are  the  essential  ingredients,  and  through  them  the  silver  is  converted  into  nitrate 
and  absorbed  by  the  mass  ;  in  the  second  species,  common  salt  and  the  same  sort  of  medium 
are  the  essentials,  and  in  this  case  the  silver  is  converted  into  a  chloride.  Agricola  does  not 
distinguish  between  these  two  species,  for,  as  shown  by  the  text,  his  ingredients  are  badly 
mixed. 


454  BOOK    X. 

consist  of  half  a  libra  of  brick  dust,  a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  salt,  an  uncia  of  salt- 
petre, half  an  uncia  of  sal-ammoniac,  and  half  an  uncia  of  rock  salt.  The  bricks 
or  tiles  from  which  the  dust  is  made  must  be  composed  of  fatty  clays,  free  from 
sand,  grit,  and  small  stones,  and  must  be  moderately  burnt  and  very  old. 
Another  cement  is  made  of  a  bes  of  brick  dust,  a  third  of  rock  salt,  an 
uncia  of  saltpetre,  and  half  an  uncia  of  refined  salt.  Another  cement  is  made 
of  a  bes  of  brick  dust,  a  quarter  of  refined  salt,  one  and  a  half  unciae  of 
saltpetre,  an  uncia  of  sal-ammoniac,  and  half  an  uncia  of  rock  salt.  Another 
has  one  libra  of  brick  dust,  and  half  a  libra  of  rock  salt,  to  which  some  add  a 
sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  sicilicus  of  vitriol.  Another  is  made  of  half  a  libra  of 
brick  dust,  a  third  of  a  libra  of  rock  salt,  an  uncia  and  a  half  of  vitriol,  and 
one  uncia  of  saltpetre.  Another  consists  of  a  bes  of  brick  dust,  a  third  of 
refined  salt,  a  sixth  of  white  vitriol19,  half  an  uncia  of  verdigris,  and  likewise 
half  an  uncia  of  saltpetre.  Another  is  made  of  one  and  a  third  librae  of  brick 
dust,  a  bes  of  rock  salt,  a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  half  an  uncia  of  sal-ammoniac, 
a  sixth  and  half  an  uncia  of  vitriol,  and  a  sixth  of  saltpetre.  Another  contains 
a  libra  of  brick  dust,  a  third  of  refined  salt,  and  one  and  a  half  unciae  of  vitriol. 

The  process  as  here  described  falls  into  five  operations  :  a,  granulation  of  the  bullion 
or  preparation  of  leaves  ;  b,  heating  alternate  layers  of  cement  and  bullion  in  pots  ;  c, 
washing  the  gold  to  free  it  of  cement ;  d,  melting  the  gold  with  borax  or  soda ;  e, 
treatment  of  the  cement  by  way  of  melting  with  lead  and  cupellation  to  recover  the  silver. 
Investigation  by  Boussingalt  (Ann.  De  Chimie,  1833,  p.  253-6),  D'Elhuyar  (Bergbaukunde, 
Leipzig,  1790,  Vol.  n,  p.  200),  and  Percy  (Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Gold,  p.  395),  of  the 
action  of  common  salt  upon  silver  under  cementation  conditions,  fairly  well  demonstrated 
the  reactions  involved  in  the  use  of  this  species  of  cement.  Certain  factors  are  essential 
besides  salt :  a,  the  admission  of  air,  which  is  possible  through  the  porous  pots  used  ;  b,  the 
presence  of  some  moisture  to  furnish  hydrogen  ;  c,  the  addition  of  alumina  or  silica.  The 
first  would  be  provided  by  Agricola  in  the  use  of  new  pots,  the  second  possibly  by  use  of  wood 
fuel  in  a  closed  furnace,  the  third  by  the  inclusion  of  brickdust.  The  alumina  or  silica  at 
high  temperatures  decomposes  the  salt,  setting  free  hydrochloric  acid  and  probably  also  free 
chlorine.  The  result  of  the  addition  of  vitriol  in  Agricola's  ingredients  is  not  discussed  by 
those  investigators,  but  inasmuch  as  vitriol  decomposes  into  sulphuric  acid  under  high 
temperatures,  this  acid  would  react  upon  the  salt  to  free  hydrochloric  acid,  and  thus  assist 
to  overcome  deficiencies  in  the  other  factors.  It  is  possible  also  that  sulphuric  acid  under 
such  conditions  would  react  directly  upon  the  silver  to  form  silver  sulphates,  which  would 
be  absorbed  into  the  cement.  As  nitric  acid  is  formed  by  vitriol  and  saltpetre  at  high  tem- 
peratures, the  use  of  these  two  substances  as  a  cementing  compound  would  produce  nitric 
acid,  which  would  at  once  attack  the  silver  to  form  silver  nitrate,  which  would  be  absorbed  into 
the  melted  cement.  In  this  case  the  brickdust  probably  acted  merely  as  a  vehicle  for  the 
absorption,  and  to  lower  the  melting  point  of  the  mass  and  prevent  fusion  of  the  metal. 
While  nitric  acid  will  only  part  gold  and  silver  when  the  latter  is  in  great  excess,  yet  when 
applied  as  fumes  under  cementation  conditions  it  appears  to  react  upon  a  minor  ratio  of 
silver.  While  the  reactions  of  the  two  above  species  of  compounds  can  be  accounted  for  in  a 
general  way,  the  problem  furnished  by  Agricola's  statements  is  by  no  means  simple,  for 
only  two  of  his  compounds  are  simply  salt  cements,  the  others  being  salt  and  nitre  mixtures. 
An  inspection  of  these  compounds  produces  at  once  a  sense  of  confusion.  Salt  is  present  in 
every  compound,  saltpetre  in  all  but  two,  vitriol  in  all  but  three.  Lewis  (Traite  Singulier  de 
Metallique,  Paris,  1743,  n,  pp.  48-60),  in  discussing  these  processes,  states  that  salt  and  salt- 
petre must  never  be  used  together,  as  he  asserts  that  in  this  case  aqua  regia  would  be  formed 
and  the  gold  dissolved.  Agricola,  however,  apparently  found  no  such  difficulty.  As  to 
the  other  ingredients,  apart  from  nitre,  salt,  vitriol,  and  brickdust,  they  can  have  been  of  no 
use.  Agricola  himself  points  out  that  ingredients  of  "  metallic  origin  "  corrupt  the  gold  and  that 
brickdust  and  common  salt  are  sufficient.  In  a  description  of  this  process  in  the  Probierbuchlein 
(p.  58),  no  nitre  is  mentioned.  This  booklet  does  mention  the  recovery  of  the  silver  from 
the  cement  by  amalgamation  with  mercury— the  earliest  mention  of  silver  amalgamation. 

19While  a  substance  which  we  now  know  to  be  natural  zinc  sulphate  was  known  to 
Agricola  (see  note  n,  p.  572),  it  is  hardly  possible  that  it  is  referred  to  here  If  green  vitriol 
be  dehydrated  and  powdered,  it  is  white. 


BOOK    X. 


455 


Those  ingredients  above  are  peculiar  to  each  cement,  but  what  follows 
is  common  to  all.  Each  of  the  ingredients  is  first  separately  crushed  to 
powder  ;  the  bricks  are  placed  on  a  hard  rock  or  marble,  and  crushed  with  an 
iron  implement  ;  the  other  things  are  crushed  in  a  mortar  with  a  pestle  ; 
each  is  separately  passed  through  a  sieve.  Then  they  are  all  mixed  together, 
and  are  moistened  with  vinegar  in  which  a  little  sal-ammoniac  has  been 
dissolved,  if  the  cement  does  not  contain  any.  But  some  workers,  however, 
prefer  to  moisten  the  gold  granules  or  gold-leaf  instead. 

The  cement  should  be  placed,  alternately  with  the  gold,  in  new  and  clean 
pots  in  which  no  water  has  ever  been  poured.  In  the  bottom  the  cement  is 
levelled  with  an  iron  implement,  and  afterward  the  gold  granules  or  leaves 
are  placed  one  against  the  other,  so  that  they  may  touch  it  on  all  sides  ;  then, 
again,  a  handful  of  the  cement,  or  more  if  the  pots  are  large,  is  thrown  in  and 
levelled  with  an  iron  implement ;  the  granules  and  leaves  are  laid  over  this 
in  the  same  manner,  and  this  is  repeated  until  the  pot  is  filled.  Then  it  is 
covered  with  a  lid,  and  the  place  where  they  join  is  smeared  over  with 
artificial  lute,  and  when  this  is  dry  the  pots  are  placed  in  the  furnace. 

The  furnace  has  three  chambers,  the  lowest  of  which  is  a  foot  high  ;  into 
this  lowest  chamber  the  air  penetrates  through  an  opening,  and  into  it  the 


A— FURNACE.    B — POT.    C — LID.    D — AIR-HOLES. 


456  BOOK    X. 

ashes  fall  from  the  burnt  wood,  which  is  supported  by  iron  rods,  arranged  to 
form  a  grating.  The  middle  chamber  is  two  feet  high,  and  the  wood  is  pushed 
in  through  its  mouth.  The  wood  ought  to  be  oak,  holmoak,  or  turkey-oak, 
for  from  these  the  slow  and  lasting  fire  is  made  which  is  necessary  for  this 
operation.  The  upper  chamber  is  open  at  the  top  so  that  the  pots,  for  which 
it  has  the  depth,  may  be  put  into  it ;  the  floor  of  this  chamber  consists  of  iron 
rods,  so  strong  that  they  may  bear  the  weight  of  the  pots  and  the  heat  of  the 
fire  ;  they  are  sufficiently  far  apart  that  the  fire  may  penetrate  well  and  may 
heat  the  pots.  The  pots  are  narrow  at  the  bottom,  so  that  the  fire  entering 
into  the  space  between  them  may  heat  them  ;  at  the  top  the  pots  are  wide, 
so  that  they  may  touch  and  hold  back  the  heat  of  the  fire.  The  upper  part 
of  the  furnace  is  closed  in  with  bricks  not  very  thick,  or  with  tiles  and  lute, 
and  two  or  three  air-holes  are  left,  through  which  the  fumes  and  flames  may 
escape. 

The  gold  granules  or  leaves  and  the  cement,  alternately  placed  in  the  pots, 
are  heated  by  a  gentle  fire,  gradually  increasing  for  twenty-four  hours,  if  the 
furnace  was  heated  for  two  hours  before  the  full  pots  were  stood  in  it,  and  if 
this  was  not  done,  then  for  twenty-six  hours.  The  fire  should  be  increased 
in  such  a  manner  that  the  pieces  of  gold  and  the  cement,  in  which  is  the 
potency  to  separate  the  silver  and  copper  from  the  gold,  may  not  melt,  for  in 
this  case  the  labour  and  cost  will  be  spent  in  vain  ;  therefore,  it  is  ample  to 
have  the  fire  hot  enough  that  the  pots  always  remain  red.  After  so  many 
hours  all  the  burning  wood  should  be  drawn  out  of  the  furnace.  Then  the 
refractory  bricks  or  tiles  are  removed  from  the  top  of  the  furnace,  and  the 
glowing  pots  are  taken  out  with  the  tongs.  The  lids  are  removed,  and 
if  there  is  time  it  is  well  to  allow  the  gold  to  cool  by  itself,  for  then  there  is 
less  loss  ;  but  if  time  cannot  be  spared  for  that  operation,  the  pieces  of  gold 
are  immediately  placed  separately  into  a  wooden  or  bronze  vessel  of  water 
and  gradually  quenched,  lest  the  cement  which  absorbs  the  silver  should 
exhale  it.  The  pieces  of  gold,  and  the  cement  adhering  to  them,  when  cooled 
or  quenched,  are  rolled  with  a  little  mallet  so  as  to  crush  the  lumps  and  free 
the  gold  from  the  cement.  Then  they  are  sifted  by  a  fine  sieve,  which  is 
placed  over  a  bronze  vessel ;  in  this  manner  the  cement  containing  the 
silver  or  the  copper  or  both,  falls  from  the  sieve  into  the  bronze  vessel,  and  the 
gold  granules  or  leaves  remain  on  it.  The  gold  is  placed  in  a  vessel  and 
again  rolled  with  the  little  mallet,  so  that  it  may  be  cleansed  from  the  cement 
which  absorbs  silver  and  copper. 

The  particles  of  cement,  which  have  dropped  through  the  holes  of  the 
sieve  into  the  bronze  vessel,  are  washed  in  a  bowl,  over  a  wooden  tub,  being 
shaken  about  with  the  hands,  so  that  the  minute  particles  of  gold  which  have 
fallen  through  the  sieve  may  be  separated.  These  are  again  washed  in  a 
little  vessel,  with  warm  water,  and  scrubbed  with  a  piece  of  wood  or  a  twig 
broom,  that  the  moistened  cement  may  be  detached.  Afterward  all  the  gold 
is  again  washed  with  warm  water,  and  collected  with  a  bristle  brush,  and  should 
be  washed  in  a  copper  full  of  holes,  under  which  is  placed  a  little  vessel. 
Then  it  is  necessary  to  put  the  gold  on  an  iron  plate,  under  which  is  a  vessel, 


BOOK    X.  457 

and  to  wash  it  with  warm  water.  Finally,  it  is  placed  in  a  bowl,  and,  when 
dry,  the  granules  or  leaves  are  rubbed  against  a  touchstone  at  the  same  time 
as  a  touch-needle,  and  considered  carefully  as  to  whether  they  be  pure  or 
alloyed.  If  they  are  not  pure  enough,  the  granules  or  the  leaves,  together 
with  the  cement  which  attracts  silver  and  copper,  are  arranged  alternately 
in  layers  in  the  same  manner,  and  again  heated  ;  this  is  done  as  often  as  is 
necessary,  but  the  last  time  it  is  heated  as  many  hours  as  are  required  to 
cleanse  the  gold. 

Some  people  add  another  cement  to  the  granules  or  leaves.  This  cement 
lacks  the  ingredients  of  metalliferous  origin,  such  as  verdigris  and  vitriol,  for 
if  these  are  in  the  cement,  the  gold  usually  takes  up  a  little  of  the  base  metal ; 
or  if  it  does  not  do  this,  it  is  stained  by  them.  For  this  reason  some  very 
rightly  never  make  use  of  cements  containing  these  things,  because  brick 
dust  and  salt  alone,  especially  rock  salt,  are  able  to  extract  all  the  silver  and 
copper  from  the  gold  and  to  attract  it  to  themselves. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  coiners  to  make  absolutely  pure  gold,  but  to  heat 
it  only  until  such  a  fineness  is  obtained  as  is  needed  for  the  gold  money  which 
they  are  coining. 

The  gold  is  heated,  and  when  it  shows  the  necessary  golden  yellow  colour 
and  is  wholly  pure,  it  is  melted  and  made  into  bars,  in  which  case  they  are 
either  prepared  by  the  coiners  with  chrysocolla,  which  is  called  by  the  Moors 
borax,  or  are  prepared  with  salt  of  lye  made  from  the  ashes  of  ivy  or  of 
other  salty  herbs. 

The  cement  which  has  absorbed  silver  or  copper,  after  water  has  been 
poured  over  it,  is  dried  and  crushed,  and  when  mixed  with  hearth-lead  and 
de-silverized  lead,  is  smelted  in  the  blast  furnace.  The  alloy  of  silver  and 
lead,  or  of  silver  and  copper  and  lead,  which  flows  out,  is  again  melted  in  the 
cupellation  furnace,  in  order  that  the  lead  and  copper  may  be  separated  from 
the  silver.  The  silver  is  finally  thoroughly  purified  in  the  refining  furnace, 
and  in  this  practical  manner  there  is  no  silver  lost,  or  only  a  minute  quantity. 

There  are  besides  this,  certain  other  cements20  which  part  gold  from 
silver,  composed  of  sulphur,  stibium  and  other  ingredients.  One  of  these 
compounds  consists  of  half  an  uncia  of  vitriol  dried  by  the  heat  of  the  fire 
and  reduced  to  powder,  a  sixth  of  refined  salt,  a  third  of  stibium,  half  a  libra 

20The  processes  involved  by  these  "  other  "  compounds  are  difficult  to  understand, 
because  of  the  lack  of  information  given  as  to  the  method  of  operation.  It  might  be  thought 
that  these  were  five  additional  recipes  for  cementing  pastes,  but  an  inspection  of  their 
internal  composition  soon  dissipates  any  such  assumption,  because,  apart  from  the  lack  of 
brickdust  or  some  other  similar  necessary  ingredient,  they  all  contain  more  or  less  sulphur. 
After  describing  a  preliminary  treatment  of  the  bullion  by  cupellation,  the  author  says  : 
"  Then  the  silver  is  sprinkled  with  two  unciae  of  that  powdered  compound  and  is 
"  stirred.  Afterward  it  is  poured  into  another  crucible  ....  and  violently  shaken. 
"  The  rest  is  performed  according  to  the  process  I  have  already  explained."  As  he  has 
already  explained  four  or  five  parting  processes,  it  is  not  very  clear  to  which  one  this  refers. 
In  fact,  the  whole  of  this  discussion  reads  as  if  he  were  reporting  hearsay,  for  it  lacks  in  every 
respect  the  infinite  detail  of  his  usual  descriptions.  In  any  event,  if  the  powder  was  intro- 
duced into  the  molten  bullion,  the  effect  would  be  to  form  some  silver  sulphides  in  a  regulus 
of  different  composition  depending  upon  the  varied  ingredients  of  different  compounds. 
The  enriched  bullion  was  settled  out  in  a  "  lump  "  and  treated  "  as  I  have  explained," 
which  is  not  clear. 


458  BOOK    X. 

of  prepared  sulphur  (not  exposed  to  the  fire),  one  sicilicus  of  glass,  likewise 
one  sicilicus  of  saltpetre,  and  a  drachma  of  sal-ammoniac.21  The  sulphur 
is  prepared  as  follows  :  it  is  first  crushed  to  powder,  then  it  is  heated 
for  six  hours  in  sharp  vinegar,  and  finally  poured  into  a  vessel  and  washed 
with  warm  water  ;  then  that  which  settles  at  the  bottom  of  the  vessel  is 
dried.  To  refine  the  salt  it  is  placed  in  river  water  and  boiled,  and  again 
evaporated.  The  second  compound  contains  one  libra  of  sulphur  (not  exposed 
to  fire)  and  two  librae  of  refined  salt.  The  third  compound  is  made  from  one 

"HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  PARTING  GOLD  AND  SILVER.  Although  the  earlier  Classics 
contain  innumerable  references  to  refining  gold  and  silver,  there  is  little  that  is  tangible  in 
them,  upon  which  to  hinge  the  metallurgy  of  parting  the  precious  metals.  It  appears  to  us, 
however,  that  some  ability  to  part  the  metals  is  implied  in  the  use  of  the  touchstone,  for  we  fail 
to  see  what  use  a  knowledge  of  the  ratio  of  gold  and  silver  in  bullion  could  have  been  without 
the  power  to  separate  them.  The  touchstone  was  known  to  the  Greeks  at  least  as  early  as  the 
5th  Century  B.C.  (see  note  37,  p.  252),  and  a  part  of  Theophrastus'  statement  (LXXVIII.)  on 
this  subject  bears  repetition  in  this  connection  :  "  The  nature  of  the  stone  which  tries  gold 
"  is  also  very  wonderful,  as  it  seems  to  have  the  same  power  as  fire  ;  which  is  also  a  test  of 
"  that  metal.  .  .  .  The  trial  by  fire  is  by  the  colour  and  the  quantity  lost  by  it,  but 
"  that  of  the  stone  is  made  only  by  rubbing,"  etc.  This  trial  by  fire  certainly  implies  a 
parting  of  the  metals.  It  has  been  argued  from  the  common  use  of  electrum — a  gold-silver 
alloy — by  the  Ancients,  that  they  did  not  know  how  to  part  the  two  metals  or  they  would 
not  have  wasted  gold  in  such  a  manner,  but  it  seems  to  us  that  the  very  fact  that  electrum 
was  a  positive  alloy  (20%  gold,  80%  silver),  and  that  it  was  deliberately  made  (Pliny 
xxxin,  23)  and  held  of  value  for  its  supposed  superior  brilliancy  to  silver  and  the  belief  that 
goblets  made  of  it  detected  poison,  is  sufficient  answer  to  this. 

To  arrive  by  a  process  of  elimination,  we  may  say  that  in  the  Middle  Ages,  between 
noo  and  1500  A.D.,  there  were  known  four  methods  of  parting  these  metals :  a, 
parting  by  solution  in  nitric  acid ;  b,  sulphurization  of  the  silver  in  finely- divided  bullion 
by  heating  it  with  sulphur,  and  the  subsequent  removal  of  the  silver  sulphide  in  a  regulus  by 
melting  with  copper,  iron,  or  lead  ;  c,  melting  with  an  excess  of  antimony  sulphide,  and  the 
direct  conversion  of  the  silver  to  sulphide  and  its  removal  in  a  regulus  ;  d,  cementation  of  the 
finely-divided  bullion  with  salt,  and  certain  necessary  collateral  re-agents,  and  the  separation 
of  the  silver  by  absorption  into  the  cement  as  silver  chloride.  Inasmuch  as  it  can  be  clearly 
established  that  mineral  acids  were  unknown  to  the  Ancients,  we  can  eliminate  that  method. 
Further,  we  may  say  at  once  that  there  is  not,  so  far  as  has  yet  been  found,  even  a  remote 
statement  that  could  be  applied  to  the  sulphide  processes.  As  to  cementation  with  salt, 
however,  we  have  some  data  at  about  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  Era. 

Before  entering  into  a  more  detailed  discussion  of  the  history  of  various  processes, 
it  may  be  useful,  in  a  word,  to  fix  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  our  view  of  the  first 
authority  on  various  processes,  and  his  period. 

(1)  Separation  by  cementation  with  salt,  Strabo  (?)  63  B.C.-24  A.D.  ;    Pliny  23-79  A>D- 

(2)  Separation  by  sulphur,  Theophilus,  1150-1200  A.D. 

(3)  Separation  by  nitric  acid,  Geber,  prior  to  i4th  Century. 

(4)  Separation  by  antimony  sulphide,  Basil  Valentine,  end  I4th  Century,  or  Probierbuchlein, 

beginning  I5th  Century. 

(5)  Separation  by  antimony  sulphide  and  copper,  or  sulphur  and  copper,  Probierbuchlein, 

beginning  I5th  Century. 

(6)  Separation  by  cementation  with  saltpetre,  Agricola,  1556. 

(7)  Separation  by  sulphur  and  iron,  Schliiter,  1738. 

(8)  Separation  by  sulphuric  acid,  D'Arcet,  1802. 

(9)  Separation  by  chloride  gas,  Thompson,  1833. 

(10)  Separation  electrolytically,  latter  part  igth  Century. 

PARTING  BY  CEMENTATION.     The  following  passage  from  Strabo  is  of  prime  interest 

as  the  first  definite  statement  on  parting  of  any  kind  (m,  2,  8)  :    "  That  when  they  have 

'  melted  the  gold  and  purified  it  by  means  of  a  kind  of  aluminous  earth,  the  residue  left  is 

'  electrum.    This,  which  contains  a  mixture  of  silver  and  gold,  being  again  subjected  to  the 

'  fire,  the  silver  is  separated  and  the  gold  left  (pure) ;   for  this  metal  is  easily  dissipated  and 

'  fat,  and  on  this  account  gold  is  most  easily  molten  by  straw,  the  flame  of  which  is  soft,  and 

'  bearing  a  similarity  (to  the  gold)  causes  it  easily  to  dissolve,  whereas  coal,  besides  wasting  a 

'  great  deal,  melts  it  too  much,  by  reason  of  its  vehemence,  and  carries  it  off  (in  vapour)." 

This  statement  has  provoked  the  liveliest  discussion,  not  only  on  account  of  the  metallurgical 


BOOK    X.  459 

libra  of  sulphur  (not  exposed  to  the  fire),  half  a  libra  of  refined  salt,  a  quarter  of 
a  libra  of  sal-ammoniac,  and  one  uncia  of  red-lead.  The  fourth  compound 
consists  of  one  libra  each  of  refined  salt,  sulphur  (not  exposed  to  the  fire)  and 
argol,  and  half  a  libra  of  chrysocolla  which  the  Moors  call  borax.  The  fifth 
compound  has  equal  proportions  of  sulphur  (not  exposed  to  the  fire),  sal- 
ammoniac,  saltpetre,  and  verdigris. 

The  silver  which  contains  some  portion  of  gold  is  first  melted  with 
lead  in  an  earthen  crucible,  and  they  are  heated  together  until  the  silver 
exhales  the  lead.  If  there  was  a  libra  of  silver,  there  must  be  six  drachmae  of 
lead.  Then  the  silver  is  sprinkled  with  two  unciae  of  that  powdered  corn- 
interest  and  obscurity,  but  also  because  of  differences  of  view  as  to  its  translation  ;  we  have 
given  that  of  Mr.  H.  C.  Hamilton  (London,  1903).  A  review  of  this  discussion  will  be  found 
in  Percy's  Metallurgy  of  Gold  and  Silver,  p.  399.  That  it  refers  to  cementation  at  all  hangs 
by  a  slender  thread,  but  it  seems  more  nearly  this  than  anything  else. 

Pliny  (xxxm,  25)  is  a  little  more  ample  :  "  (The  gold)  is  heated  with  double  its 
"  weight  of  salt  and  thrice  its  weight  of  misy,  and  again  with  two  portions  of  salt  and  one  of  a 
"  stone  which  they  call  schistos.  The  virus  is  drawn  out  when  these  things  are  burnt  together 
"in  an  earthen  crucible,  itself  remaining  pure  and  incorrupt,  the  remaining  ash  being 
"  preserved  in  an  earthen  pot  and  mixed  with  water  as  a  lotion  for  lichen  (ring-worm)  on  the 
"  face."  Percy,  (Metallurgy  Silver  and  Gold,  p.  398)  rightly  considers  that  this  undoubtedly 
refers  to  the  parting  of  silver  and  gold  by  cementation  with  common  salt.  Especially  as 
Pliny  further  on  states  that  with  regard  to  misy,  "  In  purifying  gold  they  mix  it  with  this 
"  substance."  There  can  be  no  doubt  from  the  explanations  of  Pliny  and  Dioscorides  that 
misy  was  an  oxidized  pyrite,  mostly  iron  sulphate.  Assuming  the  latter  case,  then  all  of  the 
necessary  elements  of  cementation,  i.e.,  vitriol,  salt,  and  an  aluminous  or  silicious  element,  are 
present. 

The  first  entirely  satisfactory  evidence  on  parting  is  to  be  found  in  Theophilus  (i2th 
Century),  and  we  quote  the  following  from  Hendrie's  translation  (p.  245)  :  "Of  Heating  the 
"  Gold.  Take  gold,  of  whatsoever  sort  it  may  be,  and  beat  it  until  thin  leaves  are  made  in 
"  breadth  three  fingers,  and  as  long  as  you  can.  Then  cut  out  pieces  that  are  equally  long 
"  and  wide  and  join  them  together  equally,  and  perforate  through  all  with  a  fine  cutting 
"  iron.  Afterwards  take  two  earthen  pots  proved  in  the  fire,  of  such  size  that  the  gold  can 
"  lie  flat  in  them,  and  break  a  tile  very  small,  or  clay  of  the  furnace  burned  and  red,  weigh 
''  it,  powdered,  into  two  equal  parts,  and  add  to  it  a  third  part  salt  for  the  same  weight ; 
'  which  things  being  slightly  sprinkled  with  urine,  are  mixed  together  so  that  they  may  not 
'  adhere  together,  but  are  scarcely  wetted,  and  put  a  little  of  it  upon  a  pot  about  the 
'  breadth  of  the  gold,  then  a  piece  of  the  gold  itself,  and  again  the  composition,  and 
'  again  the  gold,  which  in  the  digestion  is  thus  always  covered,  that  gold  may  not  be  in 
'  contact  with  gold  ;  and  thus  fill  the  pot  to  the  top  and  cover  it  above  with  another  pot, 
'  which  you  carefully  lute  round  with  clay,  mixed  and  beaten,  and  you  place  it  over  the  fire, 
'  that  it  may  be  dried.  In  the  meantime  compose  a  furnace  from  stones  and  clay,  two  feet 
'  in  height,  and  a  foot  and  a  half  in  breadth,  wide  at  the  bottom,  but  narrow  at  the  top, 
'  where  there  is  an  opening  in  the  middle,  in  which  project  three  long  and  hard  stones,  which 
'  may  be  able  to  sustain  the  flame  for  a  long  time,  upon  which  you  place  the  pots  with  the 
'  gold,  and  cover  them  with  other  tiles  in  abundance.  Then  supply  fire  and  wood,  and  take 
'  care  that  a  copious  fire  is  not  wanting  for  the  space  of  a  day  and  night.  In  the  morning 
'  taking  out  the  gold,  again  melt,  beat  and  place  it  in  the  furnace  as  before.  Again  also, 
'  after  a  day  and  night,  take  it  away  and  mixing  a  little  copper  with  it,  melt  it  as  before,  and 
'  replace  it  upon  the  furnace.  And  when  you  have  taken  it  away  a  third  time,  wash  and  dry 
'  it  carefully,  and  so  weighing  it,  see  how  much  is  wanting,  then  fold  it  up  and  keep  it." 

The  next  mention  is  by  Geber,  of  whose  date  and  authenticity  there  is  great 
doubt,  but,  in  any  event,  the  work  bearing  his  name  is  generally  considered 
to  be  prior  to  the  i4th,  although  he  has  been  placed  as  early  as  the  8th 
Century.  We  quote  from  Russell's  translation,  pp.  17  and  224,  which  we  have 
checked  with  the  Latin  edition  of  1542  :  "  Sol,  or  gold,  is  beaten  into  thin  plates 
"  and  with  them  and  common  salt  very  well  prepared  lay  upon  lay  in  a  vessel  of 
"  calcination  which  set  into  the  furnace  and  calcine  well  for  three  days  until  the  whole  is 
"  subtily  calcined.  Then  take  it  out,  grind  well  and  wash  it  with  vinegar,  and  dry  it  in  the 
"  sun.  Afterwards  grind  it  well  with  half  its  weight  of  cleansed  sal-armoniac  ;  then  set  it 
"  to  be  dissolved  until  the  whole  be  dissolved  into  most  clear  water."  Further  on  :  "  Now 
"  we  will  declare  the  way  of  cementing.  Seeing  it  is  known  to  us  that  cement  is  very  necessary 
"  in  the  examen  of  perfection,  we  say  it  is  compounded  of  inflammable  things.  Of  this 


460  BOOK    X. 

pound  and  is  stirred;  afterward  it  is  poured  into  another  crucible,  first 
warmed  and  lined  with  tallow,  and  then  violently  shaken.  The  rest  is  per- 
formed according  to  the  process  I  have  already  explained. 

Gold  may  be  parted  without  injury  from  silver  goblets  and  from  other 
gilt  vessels  and  articles22,  by  means  of  a  powder,  which  consists  of  one  part  of 
sal-ammoniac  and  half  a  part  of  sulphur.  The  gilt  goblet  or  other  article 
is  smeared  with  oil,  and  the  powder  is  dusted  on  ;  the  article  is  seized  in  the 
hand,  or  with  tongs,  and  is  carried  to  the  fire  and  sharply  tapped,  and  by  this 
means  the  gold  falls  into  water  in  vessels  placed  underneath,  while  the 
goblet  remains  uninjured. 

'  kind  are,  all  blackening,  flying,  penetrating,  and  burned  things  ;  as  is  vitriol,  sal-armoniac, 
'  flos  aeris  (copper  oxide  scales)  and  the  ancient  fictile  stone  (earthen  pots),  and  a  very  small 
'  quantity,  or  nothing,  of  sulphur,  and  urine  with  like  acute  and  penetrating  things.  All 
'  these  are  impasted  with  urine  and  spread  upon  thin  plates  of  that  body  which  you  intend 
'  shall  be  examined  by  this  way  of  probation.  Then  the  said  plates  must  be  laid  upon  a 
'  grate  of  iron  included  in  an  earthen  vessel,  yet  so  as  one  touch  not  the  other  that  the  virtue 
'  of  the  fire  may  have  free  and  equal  access  to  them.  Thus  the  whole  must  be  kept  in  fire 
'  in  a  strong  earthen  vessel  for  the  space  of  three  days.  But  here  great  caution  is  required 
'  that  the  plates  may  be  kept  but  not  melt." 

Albertus  Magnus  (1205-1280)  De  Mineralibus  et  Rebus  MetaUicis,  Lib.  IV,  describes 
the  process  as  follows  : — "  But  when  gold  is  to  be  purified  an  earthen  vessel  is  made  like  a 
'  cucurbit  or  dish,  and  upon  it  is  placed  a  similar  vessel ;  and  they  are  luted  together  with 
'  the  tenacious  lute  called  by  alchemists  the  lute  of  wisdom.  In  the  upper  vessel  there  are 
'  numerous  holes  by  which  vapour  and  smoke  may  escape  ;  afterwards  the  gold  in  the  form 
'  of  short  thin  leaves  is  arranged  in  the  vessel,  the  leaves  being  covered  consecutively  with  a 
'  mixture  obtained  by  mixing  together  soot,  salt,  and  brick  dust ;  and  the  whole  is  strongly 
'  heated  until  the  gold  becomes  perfectly  pure  and  the  base  substances  with  which  it  was 
'  mixed  are  consumed."  It  will  be  noted  that  salt  is  the  basis  of  all  these  cement  com- 
pounds. We  may  also  add  that  those  of  Biringuccio  and  all  other  writers  prior  to  Agricola 
were  of  the  same  kind,  our  author  being  the  first  to  mention  those  with  nitre. 

PARTING  WITH  NITRIC  ACID.  The  first  mention  of  nitric  acid  is  in  connection  with 
this  purpose,  and,  therefore,  the  early  history  of  this  reagent  becomes  the  history  of  the 
process.  Mineral  acids  of  any  kind  were  unknown  to  the  Greeks  or  Romans.  The  works 
of  the  Alchemists  and  others  from  the  I2th  to  the  I5th  Centuries,  have  been  well  searched 
by  chemical  historians  for  indications  of  knowledge  of  the  mineral  acids,  and  many  of  such 
suspected  indications  are  of  very  doubtful  order.  In  any  event,  study  of  the  Alchemists 
for  the  roots  of  chemistry  is  fraught  with  the  greatest  difficulty,  for  not  only  is  there  the 
large  ratio  of  fraud  which  characterised  their  operations,  but  there  is  even  the  much  larger 
field  of  fraud  which  characterised  the  authorship  and  dates  of  writing  attributed  to  various 
members  of  the  cult.  The  mention  of  saltpetre  by  Roger  Bacon  (1214 — 94),  and  Albertus 
Magnus  (1205-80),  have  caused  some  strain  to  read  a  knowledge  of  mineral  acids  into  their 
works,  but  with  doubtful  result.  Further,  the  Monk  Theophilus  (1150-1200)  is  supposed 
to  have  mentioned  products  which  would  be  mineral  acids,  but  by  the  most  careful  scrutiny 
of  that  work  we  have  found  nothing  to  justify  such  an  assertion,  and  it  is  of  importance  to 
note  that  as  Theophilus  was  a  most  accomplished  gold  and  silver  worker,  his  failure  to  men- 
tion it  is  at  least  evidence  that  the  process  was  not  generally  known.  The  transcribed  manu- 
scripts and  later  editions  of  such  authors  are  often  altered  to  bring  them  "  up-to-date." 
The  first  mention  is  in  the  work  attributed  to  Geber,  as  stated  above,  of  date  prior  to  the 
I4th  Century.  The  following  passage  from  his  De  Inventione  Veritatis  (Nuremberg  edition, 
1545,  p.  182)  is  of  interest : — "  First  take  one  libra  of  vitriol  of  Cyprus  and  one-half  libra 
"  of  saltpetre  and  one-quarter  of  alum  of  Jameni,  extract  the  aqua  with  the  redness  of  the 
"  alembic — for  it  is  very  solvative— and  use  as  in  the  foregoing  chapters.  This  can  be  made 
"  acute  if  in  it  you  dissolve  a  quarter  of  sal-ammoniac,  which  dissolves  gold,  sulphur,  and 
"  silver."  Distilling  vitriol,  saltpetre  and  alum  would  produce  nitric  acid.  The  addition  of 
sal-ammoniac  would  make  aqua  regia;  Geber  used  this  solvent  water — probably  without 
being  made  "  more  acute  " — to  dissolve  silver,  and  he  crystallized  out  silver  nitrate.  It 

22There  were  three  methods  of  gilding  practised  in  the  Middle  Ages — the  first  by 
hammering  on  gold  leaf  ;  the  second  by  laying  a  thin  plate  of  gold  on  a  thicker  plate  of  silver, 
expanding  both  together,  and  fabricating  the  articles  out  of  the  sheets  thus  prepared  ;  and 
the  third  by  coating  over  the  article  with  gold  amalgam,  and  subsequently  driving  off  the 
mercury  by  heat.  Copper  and  iron  objects  were  silver-plated  by  immersing  them  in  molten 
silver  after  coating  with  sal-ammoniac  or  borax.  Tinning  was  done  in  the  same  way. 


BOOK     X  461 

Gold  is  also  parted  from  silver  on  gilt  articles  by  means  of  quicksilver. 
This  is  poured  into  an  earthen  crucible,  and  so  warmed  by  the  fire  that  the 
finger  can  bear  the  heat  when  dipped  into  it ;  the  silver-gilt  objects  are 
placed  in  it,  and  when  the  quicksilver  adheres  to  them  they  are  taken  out 
and  placed  on  a  dish,  into  which,  when  cooled,  the  gold  falls,  together  with  the 
quicksilver.  Again  and  frequently  the  same  silver-gilt  object  is  placed  in 
heated  quicksilver,  and  the  same  process  is  continued  until  at  last  no 
more  gold  is  visible  on  the  object ;  then  the  object  is  placed  in  the  fire,  and 
the  quicksilver  which  adheres  to  it  is  exhaled.  Then  the  artificer  takes  a  hare's 
foot,  and  brushes  up  into  a  dish  the  quicksilver  and  the  gold  which  have 

would  not  be  surprising  to  find  all  the  Alchemists  subsequent  to  Geber  mentioning 
acids.  It  will  thus  be  seen  that  even  the  approximate  time  at  which  the  mineral 
acids  were  first  made  cannot  be  determined,  but  it  was  sometime  previous  to  the  15th 
Century,  probably  not  earlier  than  the  I2th  Century.  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions 
II,  p.  508)  states  that  it  appears  to  have  been  an  old  tradition  that  acid  for  separating 
the  precious  metals  was  first  used  at  Venice  by  some  Germans  ;  that  they  chiefly  separated  the 
gold  irom  Spanish  silver  and  by  this  means  acquired  great  riches.  Beckmann  considers 
that  the  first  specific  description  of  the  process  seems  to  be  in  the  work  of  William  Budaeus 
(De  Asse,  1516,  in,  p.  101),  who  speaks  of  it  as  new  at  this  time.  He  describes  the  operation 
of  one,  Le  Conte,  at  Paris,  who  also  acquired  a  fortune  through  the  method.  Beckmann 
and  others  have,  however,  entirely  overlooked  the  early  Probierbuchlein.  If  our  conclusions 
are  correct  that  the  first  of  these  began  to  appear  at  about  1510,  then  they  give  the  first 
description  of  inquartation.  This  book  (see  appendix)  is  made  up  of  recipes,  like  a  cook-book, 
and  four  or  five  different  recipes  are  given  for  this  purpose  ;  of  these  we  give  one,  which  suffi- 
ciently indicates  a  knowledge  of  the  art  (p.  39)  :  "If  you  would  part  them  do  it  this  way  : 
"  Beat  the  silver  which  you  suppose  to  contain  gold,  as  thin  as  possible  ;  cut  it  in  small 
"  pieces  and  place  it  in  '  strong '  water  (starkwasser).  Put  it  on  a  mild  fire  till  it  becomes 
"  warm  and  throws  up  blisters  or  bubbles.  Then  take  it  and  pour  off  the  water  into  a  copper- 
"  bowl ;  let  it  stand  and  cool.  Then  the  silver  settles  itself  round  the  copper  bowl ;  let  the 
"  silver  dry  in  the  copper  bowl,  then  pour  the  water  off  and  melt  the  silver  in  a  crucible. 
"  Then  take  the  gold  also  out  of  the  glass  kolken  and  melt  it  together."  Biringuccio  (1540, 
Book  VI.)  describes  the  method,  but  with  much  less  detail  than  Agricola.  He  made  his 
acid  from  alum  and  saltpetre  and  calls  it  lacque  forti 

PARTING  WITH  SULPHUR.  This  process  first  appears  in  Theophilus  (1150-1200),  and 
in  form  is  somewhat  different  from  that  mentioned  by  Agricola.  We  quote  from  Hendrie's 
Translation,  p.  317,  "  How  gold  is  separated  from  silver.  When  you  have  scraped  the  gold 
"  from  silver,  place  this  scraping  in  a  small  cup  in  which  gold  or  silver  is  accustomed  to  be 
"  melted,  and  press  a  small  linen  cloth  upon  it,  that  nothing  may  by  chance  be  abstracted 
"  from  it  by  the  wind  of  the  bellows,  and  placing  it  before  the  furnace,  melt  it ;  and  directly 
"  lay  fragments  of  sulphur  in  it,  according  to  the  quantity  of  the  scraping,  and  carefully 
"  stir  it  with  a  thin  piece  of  charcoal  until  its  fumes  cease  ;  and  immediately  pour  it  into 
"  an  iron  mould.  Then  gently  beat  it  upon  the  anvil  lest  by  chance  some  of  that  black  may 
"  fly  from  it  which  the  sulphur  has  burnt,  because  it  is  itseli  silver.  For  the  sulphur  con- 
"  sumes  nothing  of  the  gold,  but  the  silver  only,  which  it  thus  separates  from  the  gold,  and 
"  which  you  will  carefully  keep.  Again  melt  this  gold  in  the  same  small  cup  as  before,  and 
"  add  sulphur.  This  being  stirred  and  poured  out,  break  what  has  become  black  and  keep 
"  it,  and  do  thus  until  the  gold  appear  pure.  Then  gather  together  all  that  black,  which  you 
"  have  carefully  kept,  upon  the  cup  made  from  the  bone  and  ash,  and  add  lead,  and  so  burn  it 
"  that  you  may  recover  the  silver.  But  if  you  wish  to  keep  it  for  the  service  of  niello,  before 
"  you  burn  it  add  to  it  copper  and  lead,  according  to  the  measure  mentioned  above,  and 
"  mix  with  sulphur."  This  process  appears  in  the  Probierbuchlein  in  many  forms,  different 
recipes  containing  other  ingredients  besides  sulphur,  such  as  salt,  saltpetre,  sal-ammoniac, 
and  other  things  more  or  less  effective.  In  fact,  a  series  of  hybrid  methods  between  absolute 
melting  with  sulphur  and  cementation  with  salt,  were  in  use,  much  like  those  mentioned 
by  Agricola  on  p.  458. 

PARTING  WITH  ANTIMONY  SULPHIDE.  The  first  mention  of  this  process  lies  either  in 
Basil  Valentine's  "  Triumphant  Chariot  of  Antimony  "  or  in  the  first  Probierbuchlein.  The 
date  to  be  assigned  to  the  lormer  is  a  matter  of  great  doubt.  It  was  probably  written  about 
the  end  of  the  I5th  Century,  but  apparently  published  considerably  later.  The  date  of  the 
Probierbuchlein  we  have  referred  to  above.  The  statement  in  the  "  Triumphal  Chariot " 
is  as  follows  (\Vaite's  Translation,  p.  117-118)  :  "  The  elixir  prepared  in  this  way  has  the 
"  same  power  of  penetrating  and  pervading  the  body  with  its  purifying  properties  that 
"  antimony  has  of  penetrating  and  purifying  gold.  .  .  .  This  much,  however,  I  have 
"  proved  beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt,  that  antimony  not  only  purifies  gold  and  frees  it 


462  BOOK     X. 

fallen  together  from  the  silver  article,  and  puts  them  into  a  cloth  made  of  woven 
cotton  or  into  a  soft  leather  ;  the  quicksilver  is  squeezed  through  one  or  the 
other  into  another  dish.23  The  gold  remains  in  the  cloth  or  the  leather,  and 
when  collected  is  placed  in  a  piece  of  charcoal  hollowed  out,  and  is  heated 
until  it  melts,  and  a  little  button  is  made  from  it.  This  button  is  heated  with 
a  little  stibium  in  an  earthen  crucible  and  poured  out  into  another  little 
vessel,  by  which  method  the  gold  settles  at  the  bottom,  and  the  stibium  is 
seen  to  be  on  the  top  ;  then  the  work  is  completed.  Finally,  the  gold 
button  is  put  in  a  hollowed-out  brick  and  placed  in  the  fire,  and  by  this 
method  the  gold  is  made  pure.  By  means  of  the  above  methods  gold  is  parted 
from  silver  and  also  silver  from  gold. 

Now  I  will  explain  the  methods  used  to  separate  copper  from  gold24. 

"  from  foreign  matter,  but  it  also  ameliorates  all  other  metals,  but  it  does  the  same  for  animal 
"  bodies."     There  are  most  specific  descriptions  of  this  process  in  the  other  works  attributed 
to  Valentine,   but   their  authenticity  is  so  very   doubtful   that  we    do   not   quote.     The 
Probierbuchlein  gives  several  recipes  for  this  process,  all  to  the  same  metallurgical  effect,  of 
which  we  quote  two  :    "  How  to  separate  silver  from  gold.     Take  i  part  of  golden  silver,  i 
'  part    of    spiesglass,    i    part    copper,    i   part  lead ;     melt   them   together  in   a  crucible. 
'  When  melted  pour  into  the  crucible  pounded  sulphur  and  directly  you  have  poured  it  in 
'  cover  it  up  with  soft  lime  so  that  the  fumes  cannot  escape,  and  let  it  get  cold  and  you  will 
'  find  your  gold  in  a  button.     Put  that  same  in  a  pot  and  blow  on  it."     "  How  to  part  gold 
'  and  silver  by  melting  or  fire.     Take  as  much  gold-silver  as  you  please  and  granulate  it ; 
'  take  i  mark  of  these  grains,  i  mark  of  powder  ;  put  them  together  in  a  crucible.     Cover  it 
'  with  a  small  cover,  put  it  in  the  fire,  and  let  it  slowly  heat ;  blow  on  it  gently  until  it  melts  ; 
'  stir  it  all  well  together  with  a  stick,  pour  it  out  into  a  mould,  strike  the  mould  gently  with 
'  a  knife  so  that  the  button  may  settle  better,  let  it  cool,  then  turn  the  mould  over,  strike  off 
'  the     button    and    twice    as    much   spiesglas    as    the    button    weighs,    put    them    in    a 
'  crucible,  blow  on  it  till  it  melts,  then  pour  it  again  into  a  mould  and  break  away  the  button 
'  as  at  first.     If  you  want  the  gold  to  be  good  always  add  to  the  button  twice  as  much 
'  spiesglass.     It  is  usually  good  gold  in  three  meltings.      Afterward  take  the  button,  place 
'  it  on  a  cupel,  blow  on  it  till  it  melts.      And  if  it  should  happen  that  the  gold  is  covered 
'  with  a   membrane,    then   add  a  very  little  lead,    then   it  shines   (plickt)   and    becomes 
clearer."     Biringuccio  (1540)  also  gives  a  fairly  clear  exposition  of  this  method.     All  the 
old  refiners  varied  the  process  by  using  mixtures  of  salt,  antimony  sulphide,  and  sulphur,  in 
different   proportions,   with   and   without   lead    or   copper ;   the   net  effect  was  the  same. 
Later  than  Agricola  these  methods  of  parting  bullion  by  converting  the  silver  into  a  sulphide 
and  carrying  it  off  in  a  regulus  took  other  forms.      For  instance,  Schliiter  (Hiitte-Werken, 
Braunschweig,  1738)  describes  a  method  by  which,  after  the  granulated  bullion  had  been 
sulphurized   by   cementation    with  sulphur   in    pots,    it   was   melted   with   metallic   iron. 
Lampadius  (Grundriss  Einer  Allgemeinen  Huttenkunde,  Gottingen,  1827)  describes  a  treat- 
ment of  the  bullion,  sulphurized  as  above,  with  litharge,  thus  creating  a  lead-silver  regulus 
and  a  lead-silver-gold  bullion  which  had  to  be  repeatedly  put  through  the  same  cycle.     The 
principal  object  of  these  processes  was  to  reduce  silver  bullion  running  low  in  gold  to  a  ratio 
acceptable  for  nitric  acid  treatment. 

Before  closing  the  note  on  the  separation  of  gold  and  silver,  we  may  add  that  with 
regard  to  the  three  processes  largely  used  to-day,  the  separation  by  solution  of  the  silver 
from  the  bullion  by  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  where  silver  sulphate  is  formed,  was  first 
described  by  D'Arcet,  Paris,  in  1802 ;  the  separation  by  introducing  chlorine  gas  into  the 
molten  bullion  and  thus  forming  silver  chlorides  was  first  described  by  Lewis  Thompson  in 
a  communication  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  1833,  and  was  first  applied  on  a  large  scale  by  F.  B. 
Miller  at  the  Sydney  Mint  in  1867-70 ;  we  do  not  propose  to  enter  into  the  discussion  as  to 
who  is  the  inventor  of  electrolytic  separation. 

23See  note  12,  p.  297,  for  complete  discussion  of  amalgamation. 

24These  nine  methods  of  separating  gold  from  copper  are  based  fundamentally  upon 
the  sulphur  introduced  in  each  case,  whereby  the  copper  is  converted  into  sulphides  and 
separated  off  as  a  matte.  The  various  methods  are  much  befogged  by  the  introduction  of 
extraneous  ingredients,  some  of  which  serve  as  fluxes,  while  others  would  provide  metallics  in 
the  shape  of  lead  or  antimony  for  collection  of  the  gold,  but  others  would  be  of  no  effect, 
except  to  increase  the  matte  or  slag.  Inspection  will  show  that  the  amount  of  sulphur 
introduced  in  many  instances  is  in  so  large  ratio  that  unless  a  good  deal  of  volatilization 
took  place  there  would  be  insufficient  metallics  to  collect  the  gold,  if  it  happened  to  be  in 
small  quantities.  In  a  general  way  the  auriferous  button  is  gradually  impoverished  in  copper 


BOOK     X.  463 

The  salt  which  we  call  sal-artificiosus,25  is  made  from  a  libra  each  of  vitriol, 
alum,  saltpetre,  and  sulphur  not  exposed  to  the  fire,  and  half  a  libra  of  sal- 
ammoniac  ;  these  ingredients  when  crushed  are  heated  with  one  part  of  lye  made 
from  the  ashes  used  by  wool  dyers,  one  part  of  unslaked  lime,  and  four 
parts  of  beech  ashes.  The  ingredients  are  boiled  in  the  lye  until  the  whole 
has  been  dissolved.  Then  it  is  immediately  dried  and  kept  in  a  hot  place, 
lest  it  turn  into  oil ;  and  afterward  when  crushed,  a  libra  of  lead-ash  is  mixed 
with  it.  With  each  libra  of  this  powdered  compound  one  and  a  half  unciae 
of  the  copper  is  gradually  sprinkled  into  a  hot  crucible,  and  it  is  stirred 
rapidly  and  frequently  with  an  iron  rod.  When  the  crucible  has  cooled  and 
been  broken  up,  the  button  of  gold  is  found. 

The  second  method  for  parting  is  the  following.  Two  librae  of  sulphur 
not  exposed  to  the  fire,  and  four  librae  of  refined  salt  are  crushed  and  mixed  ; 
a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  half  an  uncia  of  this  powder  is  added  to  a  bes  of  granules 
made  of  lead,  and  twice  as  much  copper  containing  gold  ;  they  are  heated 
together  in  an  earthen  crucible  until  they  melt.  When  cooled,  the  button  is 
taken  out  and  purged  of  slag.  From  this  button  they  again  make  granules, 
to  a  third  of  a  libra  of  which  is  added  half  a  libra  of  that  powder  of  which  I 
have  spoken,  and  they  are  placed  in  alternate  layers  in  the  crucible  ;  it  is 
well  to  cover  the  crucible  and  to  seal  it  up,  and  afterward  it  is  heated  over  a 
gentle  fire  until  the  granules  melt.  Soon  afterward,  the  crucible  is  taken  off 
the  fire,  and  when  it  is  cool  the  button  is  extracted.  From  this,  when  purified 
and  again  melted  down,  the  third  granules  are  made,  to  which,  if  they  weigh 
a  sixth  of  a  libra,  is  added  one  half  an  uncia  and  a  sicilicus  of  the  powder, 
and  they  are  heated  in  the  same  manner,  and  the  button  of  gold  settles  at  the 
bottom  of  the  crucible. 

The  third  method  is  as  follows.  From  time  to  time  small  pieces  of 
sulphur,  enveloped  in  or  mixed  with  wax,  are  dropped  into  six  librae  of  the 
molten  copper,  and  consumed  ;  the  sulphur  weighs  half  an  uncia  and  a 
sicilicus.  Then  one  and  a  half  sicilici  of  powdered  saltpetre  are  dropped 
into  the  same  copper  and  likewise  consumed  ;  then  again  half  an  uncia  and  a 
sicilicus  of  sulphur  enveloped  in  wax  ;  afterward  one  and  a  half  sicilici  of 
lead-ash  enveloped  in  wax,  or  of  minium  made  from  red-lead.  Then  imme- 
diately the  copper  is  taken  out,  and  to  the  gold  button,  which  is  now  mixed 
with  only  a  little  copper,  they  add  stibium  to  double  the  amount  of  the  button  ; 
these  are  heated  together  until  the  stibium  is  driven  off  ;  then  the  button, 
together  with  lead  of  half  the  weight  of  the  button,  are  heated  in  a  cupel. 

until  it  is  fit  for  cupellation  with  lead,  except  in  one  case  where  the  final  stage  is  accomplished 
by  amalgamation.  The  lore  of  the  old  refiners  was  much  after  the  order  of  that  of  modern 
cooks — they  treasured  and  handed  down  various  efficacious  recipes,  and  of  those  given  here 
most  can  be  found  in  identical  terms  in  the  Probierbiichlein,  some  editions  of  which,  as  men- 
tioned before,  were  possibly  fifty  years  before  De  Re  Metattica.  This  knowledge,  no  doubt, 
accumulated  over  long  experience ;  but,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  there  is  no  description  of 
sulphurizing  copper  for  this  purpose  prior  to  the  publication  mentioned. 

26Sal  artificiosus .  The  compound  given  under  this  name  is  of  quite  different  in- 
gredients from  the  stock  fluxes  given  in  Book  VII  under  the  same  term.  The  method  of 
preparation,  no  doubt,  dehydrated  this  one  ;  it  would,  however,  be  quite  effective  for  its 
purpose  of  sulphurizing  the  copper.  There  is  a  compound  given  in  the  Probierbuchlein  identical 
with  this,  and  it  was  probably  Agricola's  source  of  information. 


464  BOOK     X. 

Finally,  the  gold  is  taken  out  of  this  and  quenched,  and  if  there  is  a 
blackish  colour  settled  hi  it,  it  is  melted  with  a  little  of  the  chrysocolla 
which  the  Moors  call  borax  ;  if  too  pale,  it  is  melted  with  stibium,  and 
acquires  its  own  golden-yellow  colour.  There  are  some  who  take  out  the 
molten  copper  with  an  iron  ladle  and  pour  it  into  another  crucible,  whose 
aperture  is  sealed  up  with  lute,  and  they  place  it  over  glowing  charcoal, 
and  when  they  have  thrown  in  the  powders  of  which  I  have  spoken,  they 
stir  the  whole  mass  rapidly  with  an  iron  rod,  and  thus  separate  the  gold 
from  the  copper  ;  the  former  settles  at  the  bottom  of  the  crucible,  the  latter 
floats  on  the  top.  Then  the  aperture  of  the  crucible  is  opened  with  the 
red-hot  tongs,  and  the  copper  runs  out.  The  gold  which  remains  is  re-heated 
with  stibium,  and  when  this  is  exhaled  the  gold  is  heated  for  the  third  time 
in  a  cupel  with  a  fourth  part  of  lead,  and  then  quenched. 

The  fourth  method  is  to  melt  one  and  a  third  librae  of  the  copper 
with  a  sixth  of  a  libra  of  lead,  and  to  pour  it  into  another  crucible  smeared  on 
the  inside  with  tallow  or  gypsum ;  and  to  this  is  added  a  powder  consisting  of 
half  an  uncia  each  of  prepared  sulphur,  verdigris,  and  saltpetre,  and  an  uncia 
and  a  half  of  sal  cactus.  The  fifth  method  consists  of  placing  in  a  crucible 
one  libra  of  the  copper  and  two  librae  of  granulated  lead,  with  one  and  a  half 
unciae  of  sal-artificiosus  ;  they  are  at  first  heated  over  a  gentle  fire  and  then 
over  a  fiercer  one.  The  sixth  method  consists  in  heating  together  a  bes  of 
the  copper  and  one-sixth  of  a  libra  each  of  sulphur,  salt,  and  stibium.  The 
seventh  method  consists  of  heating  together  a  bes  of  the  copper  and  one-sixth 
each  of  iron  scales  and  filings,  salt,  stibium,  and  glass-galls.  The  eighth 
method  consists  of  heating  together  one  libra  of  the  copper,  one  and  a  half 
librae  of  sulphur,  half  a  libra  of  verdigris,  and  a  libra  of  refined  salt.  The 
ninth  method  consists  of  placing  in  one  libra  of  the  molten  copper  as 
much  pounded  sulphur,  not  exposed  to  the  fire,  and  of  stirring  it  lapidly 
with  an  iron  rod  ;  the  lump  is  ground  to  powder,  into  which  quicksilver 
is  poured,  and  this  attracts  to  itself  the  gold. 

Gilded  copper  articles  are  moistened  with  water  and  placed  on  the  fire, 
and  when  they  are  glowing  they  are  quenched  with  cold  water,  and  the  gold 
is  scraped  off  with  a  brass  rod.  By  these  practical  methods  gold  is  separated 
from  copper. 

Either  copper  or  lead  is  separated  from  silver  by  the  methods  which  I 
will  now  explain.26  This  is  carried  on  in  a  building  near  by  the  works,  or 
in  the  works  in  which  the  gold  or  silver  ores  or  alloys  are  smelted.  The 
middle  wall  of  such  a  building  is  twenty-one  feet  long  and  fifteen  feet  high,  and 
from  this  a  front  wall  is  distant  fifteen  feet  toward  the  river ;  the  rear  wall 

26Throughout  the  book  the  cupellation  furnace  is  styled  the  secunda  fornax  (Glossary, 
Treibeherd).  Except  in  one  or  two  cases,  where  there  is  some  doubt  as  to  whether  the  author 
may  not  refer  to  the  second  variety  of  blast  furnace,  we  have  used  "  cupellation  furnace." 
Agricola's  description  of  the  actual  operation  of  the  old  German  cupellation  is  less  detailed 
than  that  of  such  authors  as  Schliiter  (Htitfe-Werken,  Braunschweig,  1738)  or  Winkler  (Besch- 
reibung  der  Freyberger  Schmelz  Huitenprozesse,  Freyberg,  1837).  The  operation  falls  into  four 
periods.  In  the  first  period,  or  a  short  time  after  melting,  the  first  scum — the  abzug — arises. 
This  material  contains  most  of  the  copper,  iron,  zinc,  or  sulphur  impurities  in  the  lead. 
In  the  second  period,  at  a  higher  temperature,  and  with  the  blast  turned  on,  a  second  scum 


BOOK     X.  465 

is  nineteen  feet  distant,  and  both  these  walls  are  thirty-six  feet  long  and 
fourteen  feet  high  ;  a  transverse  wall  extends  from  the  end  of  the  front  wall  to 
the  end  of  the  rear  wall ;  then  fifteen  feet  back  a  second  transverse  wall 
is  built  out  from  the  front  wall  to  the  end  of  the  middle  wall.  In  that  space 
which  is  between  those  two  transverse  walls  are  set  up  the  stamps,  by  means 
of  which  the  ores  and  the  necessary  ingredients  for  smelting  are  broken  up. 
From  the  further  end  of  the  front  wall,  a  third  transverse  wall  leads  to  the 
other  end  of  the  middle  wall,  and  from  the  same  to  the  end  of  the  rear  wall. 
The  space  between  the  second  and  third  transverse  walls,  and  between  the 
rear  and  middle  long  walls,  contains  the  cupellation  furnace,  in  which  lead 

arises — the  abslrich.  This  material  contains  most  of  the  antimony  and  arsenical  impurities. 
In  the  third  stage  the  litharge  comes  over.  At  the  end  of  this  stage  the  silver  brightens — 
"  blicken  " — due  to  insufficient  litharge  to  cover  the  entire  surface.  Winkler  gives  the  follow- 
ing average  proportion  of  the  various  products  from  a  charge  of  100  centners  : — 

Abzug    . .         . .  . .       2  centners,  containing  64%  lead 

Abstrich  ..  ..       5i        „  ,,  73%     „ 

Herdtplei  ..  . .     2i|         „  „  60%     „ 

Impure  litharge  . .     18          „  .,  85%    „ 

Litharge  ..  ..66          „  „  89%    „ 

Total     . .         . .   113  centners 

He  estimates  the  lead  loss  at  from  8%  to  15%,  and  gives  the  average  silver  contents  of 
blicksilber  as  about  90%.  Many  analyses  of  the  various  products  may  be  found  in  Percy 
(Metallurgy  of  Lead,  pp.  198-201),  Schnabel  and  Lewis  (Metallurgy,  Vol.  i,  p.  581) ;  but  as 
they  must  vary  with  every  charge,  a  repetition  of  them  here  is  of  little  purpose. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE  ON  CUPELLATION.  The  cupellation  process  is  of  great  antiquity, 
and  the  separation  of  silver  from  lead  in  this  manner  very  probably  antedates  the  separation  of 
gold  and  silver.  We  can  be  certain  that  the  process  has  been  used  continuously  for  at  least 
2,300  years,  and  was  only  supplanted  in  part  by  Pattinson's  crystallization  process  in  1833, 
and  further  invaded  by  Parks'  zinc  method  in  1850,  and  during  the  last  fifteen  years  further 
supplanted  in  some  works  by  electrolytic  methods.  However,  it  yet  survives  as  an  important 
process.  It  seems  to  us  that  there  is  no  explanation  possible  of  the  recovery  of  the  large 
amounts  of  silver  possessed  from  the  earliest  times,  without  assuming  reduction  of  that  metal 
with  lead,  and  this  necessitates  cupellation.  If  this  be  the  case,  then  cupellation  was  practised 
in  2500  B.C.  The  subject  has  been  further  discussed  on  p.  389.  The  first  direct  evidence  of  the 
process,  however,  is  from  the  remains  at  Mt.  Laurion  (note  6,  p.  27),  where  the  period  of 
greatest  activity  was  at  500  B.C.,  and  it  was  probably  in  use  long  before  that  time.  Of 
literary  evidences,  there  are  the  many  metaphorical  references  to  "  fining  silver  "  and  "  sepa- 
rating dross"  in  the  Bible,  such  as  Job  (xxvm,  i),  Psalms  (xn,  6,  LXVI,  10),  Proverbs  (xvn,  3). 
The  most  certain,  however,  is  Jeremiah  (vi,  28-30) :  "  They  are  all  brass  [sic]  and  iron  ;  they 
"  are  corrupters.  The  bellows  are  burned,  the  lead  is  consumed  in  the  fire,  the  founder 
"  melteth  in  vain  ;  for  the  wicked  are  not  plucked  away.  Reprobate  silver  shall  men  call 
"  them."  Jeremiah  lived  about  600  B.C.  His  contemporary  Ezekiel  (xxn,  18)  also 
makes  remark  :  "  All  they  are  brass  and  tin  and  iron  and  lead  in  the  midst  of  the  furnace  ; 
"  they  are  even  the  dross  of  the  silver."  Among  Greek  authors  Theognis  (6th  century  B.C.) 
and  Hippocrates  (5th  century  B.C.)  are  often  cited  as  mentioning  the  refining  of  gold  with  lead, 
but  we  do  not  believe  their  statements  will  stand  this  construction  without  strain.  Aristotle 
(Problems  xxiv,  9)  makes  the  following  remark,  which  has  been  construed  not  only  as 
cupellation,  but  also  as  the  refining  of  silver  in  "  tests."  "  What  is  the  reason  that  boiling 
"  water  does  not  leap  out  of  the  vessel  ....  silver  also  does  this  when  it  is  purified. 
"  Hence  those  whose  office  it  is  in  the  silversmiths'  shops  to  purify  silver,  derive  gain  by 
"  appropriation  to  themselves  of  the  sweepings  of  silver  which  leap  out  of  the  melting-pot." 

The  quotation  of  Diodorus  Siculus  from  Agatharcides  (2nd  century  B.C.)  on  gold 
refining  with  lead  and  salt  in  Egypt  we  give  in  note  8,  p.  279.  The  methods  quoted  by  Strabo 
(63  B.C.-24  A.D.)  from  Polybius  (204-125  B.C.)  for  treating  silver,  which  appear  to  involve 
cupellation,  are  given  in  note  8,  p.  281.  It  is  not,  however,  until  the  beginning  of  the  Christian 
era  that  we  get  definite  literary  information,  especially  with  regard  to  litharge,  in  Dioscorides  and 
Pliny.  The  former  describes  many  substances  under  the  terms  scoria,  molybdaena,  scoria  argyros 
and  lithargyros,  which  are  all  varieties  of  litharge.  Under  the  latter  term  he  says  (v,  62) : 
"  One  kind  is  produced  from  a  lead  sand  (concentrates  ?),  which  has  been  heated  in  the  furnaces 
"  until  completely  fused  ;  another  (is  made)  out  of  silver  ;  another  from  lead.  The  best  is 


466  BOOK    X. 

is  separated  from  gold  or  silver.  The  vertical  wall  of  its  chimney  is 
erected  upon  the  middle  wall,  and  the  sloping  chimney-wall  rests  on  the 
beams  which  extend  from  the  second  transverse  wall  to  the  third ;  these  are 
so  located  that  they  are  at  a  distance  of  thirteen  feet  from  the  middle  long 
wall  and  four  from  the  rear  wall,  and  they  are  two  feet  wide  and  thick. 
From  the  ground  up  to  the  roof-beams  is  twelve  feet,  and  lest  the  sloping 
chimney-wall  should  fall  down,  it  is  partly  supported  by  means  of  many 
iron  rods,  and  partly  by  means  of  a  few  tie-beams  covered  with  lute,  which 
extend  from  the  small  beams  of  the  sloping  chimney-wall  to  the  beams  of  the 
vertical  chimney-wall.  The  rear  roof  is  arranged  in  the  same  way  as  the  roof 

"  from  Attica,  the  second  (best)  from  Spain  ;  after  that  the  kinds  made  in  Puteoli,  in  Campania, 

"  and  at  Baia  in  Sicily,  for  in  these  places  it  is  mostly  produced  by  burning  lead  plates.     The 

"  best  of  all  is  that  which  is  a  bright  golden  colour,  called  chrysitis,  that  from  Sicily  (is  called) 

"  argyritis,   that  made  from  silver  is  called  lauritis."       Pliny  refers  in  several  passages  to 

litharge  (spuma  argenti)  and  to  what  is  evidently  cupellation,  (xxxin,  31)  :    "  And  this  the 

"  same  agency  of  fire  separates  part  into  lead,  which  floats  on  the  silver  like  oil  on  water  " 

(xxxiv,  47).     "  The  metal  which  flows  liquid  at  the  first  melting  is  called  stannum,  the  second 

"  melting  is  silver  ;  that  which  remains  in  the  furnace  is  galena,  which  is  added  to  a  third  part 

"  of  the  ore.       This   being  again  melted,  produced  lead  with  a  deduction  of  two-ninths." 

Assuming  stannum  to  be  silver-lead  alloy,  and  galena  to  be   molybdaena,   and   therefore 

litharge,  this  becomes  a  fairly  clear  statement  of  cupellation  (see  note  23,  p.  392).     He  further 

states  (xxxin,  35)  :  "  There  is  made  in  the  same  mines  what  is  called  spuma  argenti  (litharge). 

''  There  are  three  varieties  of  it ;  the  best,  known  as  chrysitis  ;  the  second  best,  which  is  called 

'  argyritis ;    and  a  third  kind,  which  is  called  molybditis.     And  generally  all  these  colours 

'  are  to  be  found  in  the  same  tubes  (see  p.  480).     The  most  approved  kind  is  that  of  Attica  ; 

'  the  next,  that  which  comes  fiom  Spain.      Chrysitis  is  the  product  from  the  ore  itself ; 

'  argyritis  is  made  from  the  silver,  and  molybditis  is  the  result  of  smelting  of  lead,  which  is 

'  done  at  Puteoli,  and  from  this  has  its  name.      All  three  are  made  as  the  material  when 

'  smelted  flows  from  an  upper  crucible  into  a  lower  one.     From  this  last  it  is  raised  with  an 

'  iron  bar,  and  is  then  twirled  round  in  the  flames  in  order  to  make  it  less  heavy  (made  in 

'  tubes).     Thus,  as  may  be  easily  perceived  from  the  name,  it  is  in  reality  the  spuma  of  a 

'  boiling  substance — of  the  future  metal,  in  fact.     It  differs  from  slag  in  the  same  way  that 

'  the  scum   of  a  liquid  differs  from  the  lees,  the  one  being  purged  from  the  material  while 

'  purifying  itself,  the  other  an  excretion  of  the  metal  when  purified." 

The  works  of  either  Theophilus  (1150-1200  A.D.)  or  Geber  (prior  to  the  I4th  century) 

are  the  first  where  adequate  description  of  the  cupel  itself  can  be  found.     The  uncertainty  of 

dates  renders  it  difficult  to  say  which  is  earliest.     Theophilus  (Hendrie's  Trans.,  p.  317) 

says  :    "  How  gold  is  separated  from  copper  :    But  if  at  any  time  you  have  broken  copper 

'  or  silver-gilt  vessels,  or  any  other  work,  you  can  in  this  manner  separate  the  gold.     Take 

'  the  bones  of  whatever  animal  you  please,  which  (bones)  you  may  have  found  in  the  street, 

'  and  burn  them,   being  cold,  grind  them  finely,  and  mix  with  them  a  third  part  of  beech- 

'  wood  ashes,  and  make  cups  as  we  have  mentioned  above  in  the  purification  of  silver  ;  you 

'  will  dry  these  at  the  fire  or  in  the  sun.     Then  you  carefulty  scrape  the  gold  from  the  copper, 

'  and  you  will  fold  this  scraping  in  lead  beaten  thin,  and  one  of  these  cups  being  placed  in 

'  the  embers  before  the  furnace,  and  now  become  warm,  you  place  in  this  fold  of  lead  with  the 

'  scraping,    and   coals  being  heaped  upon  it  you  will  blow  it.      And  when  it  has  become 

'  melted,  in  the  same  manner  as  silver  is  accustomed  to  be  purified,  sometimes  by  removing 

'  the  embers  and  by  adding  lead,  sometimes  by  re-cooking  and  warily  blowing,  you  burn  it 

'  until,  the  copper  being  entirely  absorbed,  the  gold  may  appear  pure." 

We  quote  Geber  from  the  Nuremberg  edition  of  1545,  p.  152  :  "  Now  we  describe  the 
'  method  of  this.  Take  sifted  ashes  or  calx,  or  the  powder  of  the  burned  bones  of  animals, 
'  or  all  of  them  mixed,  or  some  of  them  ;  moisten  with  water,  and  press  it  with  your  hand  to 
'  make  the  mixture  firm  and  solid,  and  in  the  middle  of  this  bed  make  a  round  solid  crucible 
'  and  sprinkle  a  quantity  of  crushed  glass.  Then  permit  it  to  dry.  When  it  is  dry,  place 
'  into  the  crucible  that  which  we  have  mentioned  which  you  intend  to  test.  On  it  kindle 
'  a  strong  fire,  and  blow  upon  the  surface  of  the  body  that  is  being  tested  until  it  melts,  which, 
'  when  melted,  piece  after  piece  of  lead  is  thrown  upon  it,  and  blow  over  it  a  strong  flame. 
'  When  you  see  it  agitated  and  moved  with  strong  shaking  motion  it  is  not  pure.  Then  wait 
'  until  all  of  the  lead  is  exhaled.  If  it  vanishes  and  does  not  cease  its  motion  it  is  not  purified. 
'  Then  again  throw  lead  and  blow  again  until  the  lead  separates.  If  it  does  not  become  quiet 
'  again,  throw  in  lead  and  blow  on  it  until  it  is  quiet  and  you  see  it  bright  and  clear  on  the 
'  surface." 

Cupellation  is  mentioned  by  most  of  the  alchemists,  but  as  a  metallurgical  operation 
on  a  large  scale  the  first  description  is  by  Biringuccio  in  1540. 


BOOK     X.  467 

of  the  works  in  which  ore  is  smelted.  In  the  space  between  the  middle  and 
the  front  long  walls  and  between  the  second27  and  the  third  transverse  walls  are 
the  bellows,  the  machinery  for  depressing  and  the  instrument  for  raising  them. 
A  drum  on  the  axle  of  a  water-wheel  has  rundles  which  turn  the  toothed 
drum  of  an  axle,  whose  long  cams  depress  the  levers  of  the  bellows,  and  also 
another  toothed  drum  on  an  axle,  whose  cams  raise  the  tappets  of  the  stamps, 
but  in  the  opposite  direction.  So  that  if  the  cams  which  depress  the  levers 
of  the  bellows  turn  from  north  to  south,  the  cams  of  the  stamps  turn  from 
south  to  north. 

Lead  is  separated  from  gold  or  silver  in  a  cupellation  furnace,  of 
which  the  structure  consists  of  rectangular  stones,  of  two  interior  walls  of  which 
the  one  intersects  the  other  transversely,  of  a  round  sole,  and  of  a  dome.  Its 
crucible  is  made  from  powder  of  earth  and  ash ;  but  I  will  first  speak  of  the 
structure  and  also  of  the  rectangular  stones.  A  circular  wall  is  built  four 
feet  and  three  palms  high,  and  one  foot  thick  ;  from  the  height  of  two  feet 
and  three  palms  from  the  bottom,  the  upper  part  of  the  interior  is  cut  away 
to  the  width  of  one  palm,  so  that  the  stone  sole  may  rest  upon  it.  There  are 
usually  as  many  as  fourteen  stones  ;  on  the  outside  they  are  a  foot  and  a 
palm  wide,  and  on  the  inside  narrower,  because  the  inner  circle  is  much 
smaller  than  the  outer ;  if  the  stones  are  wider,  fewer  are  required,  if 
narrower  more  ;  they  are  sunk  into  the  earth  to  a  depth  of  a  foot  and  a  palm. 
At  the  top  each  one  is  joined  to  the  next  by  an  iron  staple,  the  points  of 
which  are  embedded  in  holes,  and  into  each  hole  is  poured  molten  lead.  This 
stone  structure  has  six  air-holes  near  the  ground,  at  a  height  of  a  foot  above 
the  ground  ;  they  are  two  feet  and  a  palm  from  the  bottom  of  the  stones  ; 
each  of  these  air-holes  is  in  two  stones,  and  is  two  palms  high,  and  a  palm  and 
three  digits  wide.  One  of  them  is  on  the  right  side,  between  the  wall  which 
protects  the  main  wall  from  the  fire,  and  the  channel  through  which  the 
litharge  flows  out  of  the  furnace  crucible  ;  the  other  five  air-holes  are 
distributed  all  round  at  equal  distances  apart  ;  through  these  escapes  the 
moisture  which  the  earth  exhales  when  heated,  and  if  it  were  not  for  these 
openings  the  crucible  would  absorb  the  moisture  and  be  damaged.  In  such  a 
case  a  lump  would  be  raised,  like  that  which  a  mole  throws  up  from  the  earth, 
and  the  ash  would  float  on  the  top,  and  the  crucible  would  absorb  the  silver-lead 
alloy  ;  there  are  some  who,  because  of  this,  make  the  rear  part  of  the  structure 
entirely  open.  The  two  inner  walls,  of  which  one  intersects  the  other,  are 
built  of  bricks,  and  are  a  brick  in  thickness.  There  are  four  air-holes-  in 
these,  one  in  each  part,  which  are  about  one  digit's  breadth  higher  and  wider 
than  the  others.  Into  the  four  compartments  is  thrown  a  wheelbarrowful 
of  slag,  and  over  this  is  placed  a  large  wicker  basket  full  of  charcoal  dust. 
These  walls  extend  a  cubit  above  the  ground,  and  on  these,  and  on  the  ledge 
cut  in  the  rectangular  stones,  is  placed  the  stone  sole  ;  this  sole  is  a  palm  and 
three  digits  thick,  and  on  all  sides  touches  the  rectangular  stones  ;  if  there 
are  any  cracks  in  it  they  are  filled  up  with  fragments  of  stone  or  brick.  The 
front  part  of  the  sole  is  sloped  so  that  a  channel  can  be  made,  through  which 

*'In  Agricolas'  text  this  is  "  first," — obviously  an  error. 


468 


BOOK    X. 


the  litharge  flows  out.     Copper  plates  are  placed  on  this  part  of  the  sole-stone 
so  that  the  silver-lead  or  other  alloy  may  be  more  rapidly  heated. 

A  dome  which  has  the  shape  of  half  a  sphere  covers  the  crucible.  It  con- 
sists of  iron  bands  and  of  bars  and  of  a  lid.  There  are  three  bands,  each  about 
a  palm  wide  and  a  digit  thick  ;  the  lowest  is  at  a  distance  of  one  foot  from  the 
middle  one,  and  the  middle  one  a  distance  of  two  feet  from  the  upper  one. 
Under  them  are  eighteen  iron  bars  fixed  by  iron  rivets  ;  these  bars  are  of 
the  same  width  and  thickness  as  the  bands,  and  they  are  of  such  a  length,  that 
curving,  they  reach  from  the  lower  band  to  the  upper,  that  is  two  feet  and 
three  palms  long,  while  the  dome  is  only  one  foot  and  three  palms  high.  All 
the  bars  and  bands  of  the  dome  have  iron  plates  fastened  on  the  underside 
with  iron  wire.  In  addition,  the  dome  has  four  apertures  ;  the  rear  one, 
which  is  situated  opposite  the  channel  through  which  the  litharge  flows  out, 
is  two  feet  wide  at  the  bottom  ;  toward  the  top,  since  it  slopes  gently,  it  is 
narrower,  being  a  foot,  three  palms,  and  a  digit  wide  ;  there  is  no  bar  at 
this  place,  for  the  aperture  extends  from  the  upper  band  to  the  middle  one, 
but  not  to  the  lower  one.  The  second  aperture  is  situated  above  the 


A — RECTANGULAR    STONES.     B — SOLE-STONE.      C — AIR-HOLES.    D — INTERNAL    WALLS. 
E — DOME.     F — CRUCIBLE.      G — BANDS.     H — BARS.    I — APERTURES    IN    THE    DOME. 

K — LlD   OF   THE    DOME.      L — RlNGS.      M — PlPES.      N — VALVES.      0 — CHAINS. 


BOOK     X.  46q 

channel,  is  two  and  a  half  feet  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  two  feet  and  a  palm 
at  the  top ;  and  there  is  likewise  no  bar  at  this  point ;  indeed,  not  only  does 
the  bar  not  extend  to  the  lower  band,  but  the  lower  band  itself  does  not 
extend  over  this  part,  in  order  that  the  master  can  draw  the  litharge  out 
of  the  crucible.  There  are  besides,  in  the  wall  which  protects  the  principal 
wall  against  the  heat,  near  where  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows  are  situated, 
two  apertures,  three  palms  wide  and  about  a  foot  high,  in  the  middle 
of  which  two  rods  descend,  fastened  on  the  inside  with  plates. 
Near  these  apertures  are  placed  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows,  and  through 
the  apertures  extend  the  pipes  in  which  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows  are 
set.  These  pipes  are  made  of  iron  plates  rolled  up ;  they  are  two 
palms  three  digits  long,  and  their  inside  diameter  is  three  and  a  half 
digits  ;  into  these  two  pipes  the  nozzles  of  the  bellows  penetrate  a  distance  of 
three  digits  from  their  valves.  The  lid  of  the  dome  consists  of  an  iron  band 
at  the  bottom,  two  digits  wide,  and  of  three  curved  iron  bars,  which  extend 
from  one  point  on  the  band  to  the  point  opposite  ;  they  cross  each  other  at 
the  top,  where  they  are  fixed  by  means  of  iron  rivets.  On  the  under  side  of 
the  bars  there  are  likewise  plates  fastened  by  rivets  ;  each  of  the  plates  has 
small  holes  the  size  of  a  finger,  so  that  the  lute  will  adhere  when  the  interior 
is  lined.  The  dome  has  three  iron  rings  engaged  in  wide  holes  in  the  heads  of 
iron  claves,  which  fasten  the  bars  to  the  middle  band  at  these  points.  Into 
these  rings  are  fastened  the  hooks  of  the  chains  with  which  the  dome  is 
raised,  when  the  master  is  preparing  the  crucible. 

On  the  sole  and  the  copper  plates  and  the  rock  of  the  furnace,  lute  mixed 
with  straw  is  placed  to  a  depth  of  three  digits,  and  it  is  pounded  with  a  wooden 
rammer  until  it  is  compressed  to  a  depth  of  one  digit  only.  The  rammer-head 
is  round  and  three  palms  high,  two  palms  wide  at  the  bottom,  and  tapering 
upward  ;  its  handle  is  three  feet  long,  and  where  it  is  set  into  the  rammer- 
head  it  is  bound  around  with  an  iron  band.  The  top  of  the  stonework  in 
which  the  dome  rests  is  also  covered  with  lute,  likewise  mixed  with  straw, 
to  the  thickness  of  a  palm.  All  this,  as  soon  as  it  becomes  loosened,  must 
be  repaired. 

The  artificer  who  undertakes  the  work  of  parting  the  metals,  distributes 
the  operation  into  two  shifts  of  two  days.  On  the  one  morning  he  sprinkles 
a  little  ash  into  the  lute,  and  when  he  has  poured  some  water  over  it  he  brushes 
it  over  with  a  broom.  Then  he  throws  in  sifted  ashes  and  dampens  them 
with  water,  so  that  they  could  be  moulded  into  balls  like  snow.  The  ashes 
are  those  from  which  lye  has  been  made  by  letting  water  percolate 
through  them,  for  other  ashes  which  are  fatty  would  have  to  be  burnt 
again  in  order  to  make  them  less  fat.  When  he  has  made  the  ashes 
smooth  by  pressing  them  with  his  hands,  he  makes  the  crucible  slope  down 
toward  the  middle  ;  then  he  tamps  it,  as  I  have  described,  with  a  rammer. 
He  afterward,  with  two  small  wooden  rammers,  one  held  in  each  hand, 
forms  the  channel  through  which  the  litharge  flows  out.  The  heads  of  these 
small  rammers  are  each  a  palm  wide,  two  digits  thick,  and  one  foot  high  ; 
the  handle  of  each  is  somewhat  rounded,  is  a  digit  and  a  half  less  in 


470 


BOOK    X. 


A — AN    ARTIFICER    TAMPING     THE     CRUCIBLE     WITH     A     RAMMER.  B — LARGE    RAMMER. 

C — BROOM.      D — Two  SMALLER  RAMMERS.      E — CURVED  IRON  PLATES.      F — PART  OF 

A    WOODEN    STRIP.  G — SlEVE.          H — ASHES.  I — IRON    SHOVEL.  K — IRON    PLATE. 

L — BLOCK  OF  WOOD.  M — ROCK.  N — BASKET  MADE  OF  WOVEN  TWIGS.  O — HOOKED 
BAR.  P — SECOND  HOOKED  BAR.  Q — OLD  LINEN  RAG.  R — BUCKET.  S — DOESKIN. 
T — BUNDLES  OF  STRAW.  V — WOOD.  X — CAKES  OF  LEAD  ALLOY.  Y — FORK. 
Z — ANOTHER  WORKMAN  COVERS  THE  OUTSIDE  OF  THE  FURNACE  WITH  LUTE  WHERE  THE 

DOME  FITS  ON  IT.  AA — BASKET  FULL  OF  ASHES.  BB — LlD  OF  THE  DOME.  CC — THE 
ASSISTANT  STANDING  ON  THE  STEPS  POURS  CHARCOAL  INTO  THE  CRUCIBLE  THROUGH  THE 
HOLE  AT  THE  TOP  OF  THE  DOME.  DD — IRON  IMPLEMENT  WITH  WHICH  THE  LUTE  IS 

BEATEN.  EE — LUTE.  FF — LADLE  WITH  WHICH  THE  WORKMAN  OR  MASTER  TAKES  A 
SAMPLE.  GG — RABBLE  WITH  WHICH  THE  SCUM  OF  IMPURE  LEAD  is  DRAWN  OFF.  HH 

IRON    WEDGE   WITH   WHICH   THE    SILVER   MASS   IS  RAISED. 


BOOK     X.  471 

diameter  than  the  rammer-head,  and  is  three  feet  in  length  ;  the  rammer- 
head  as  well  as  the  handle  is  made  of  one  piece  of  wood.  Then  with  shoes  on, 
he  descends  into  the  crucible  and  stamps  it  in  every  direction  with  his  feet, 
in  which  manner  it  is  packed  and  made  sloping.  Then  he  again  tamps  it 
with  a  large  rammer,  and  removing  his  shoe  from  his  right  foot  he  draws  a  circle 
around  the  crucible  with  it,  and  cuts  out  the  circle  thus  drawn  with  an  iron 
plate.  This  plate  is  curved  at  both  ends,  is  three  palms  long,  as  many  digits 
wide,  and  has  wooden  handles  a  palm  and  two  digits  long,  and  two  digits 
thick  ;  the  iron  plate  is  curved  back  at  the  top  and  ends,  which  penetrate 
into  handles.  There  are  some  who  use  in  the  place  of  the  plate  a  strip  of 
wood,  like  the  rim  of  a  sieve  ;  this  is  three  digits  wide,  and  is  cut  out  at  both 
ends  that  it  may  be  held  in  the  hands.  Afterward  he  tamps  the  channel 
through  which  the  litharge  discharges.  Lest  the  ashes  should  fall  out,  he 
blocks  up  the  aperture  with  a  stone  shaped  to  fit  it,  against  which  he  places 
a  board,  and  lest  this  fall,  he  props  it  with  a  stick.  Then  he  pours  in 
a  basketful  of  ashes  and  tamps  them  with  the  large  rammer  ;  then  again  and 
again  he  pours  in  ashes  and  tamps  them  with  the  rammer.  When  the 
channel  has  been  made,  he  throws  dry  ashes  all  over  the  crucible  with  a  sieve, 
and  smooths  and  rubs  it  with  his  hands.  Then  he  throws  three  basketsful 
of  damp  ashes  on  the  margin  all  round  the  edge  of  the  crucible,  and  lets  down 
the  dome.  Soon  after,  climbing  upon  the  crucible,  he  builds  up  ashes  all 
around  it,  lest  the  molten  alloy  should  flow  out.  Then,  having  raised  the  lid  of 
the  dome,  he  throws  a  basketful  of  charcoal  into  the  crucible,  together  with 
an  iron  shovelful  of  glowing  coals,  and  he  also  throws  some  of  the  latter 
through  the  apertures  in  the  sides  of  the  dome,  and  he  spreads  them  with  the 
same  shovel.  This  work  and  labour  is  finished  in  the  space  of  two  hours. 

An  iron  plate  is  set  in  the  ground  under  the  channel,  and  upon  this  is 
placed  a  wooden  block,  three  feet  and  a  palm  long,  a  foot  and  two  palms  and 
as  many  digits  wide  at  the  back,  and  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide  in 
front ;  on  the  block  of  wood  is  placed  a  stone,  and  over  it  an  iron  plate  similar 
to  the  bottom  one,  and  upon  this  he  puts  a  basketful  of  charcoal,  and  also 
an  iron  shovelful  of  burning  charcoals.  The  crucible  is  heated  in  an 
hour,  and  then,  with  the  hooked  bar  with  which  the  litharge  is  drawn  off,  he 
stirs  the  remainder  of  the  charcoal  about.  This  hook  is  a  palm  long  and  three 
digits  wide,  has  the  form  of  a  double  triangle,  and  has  an  iron  handle  four 
feet  long,  into  which  is  set  a  wooden  one  six  feet  long.  There  are  some  who 
use  instead  a  simple  hooked  bar.  After  about  an  hour's  time,  he  stirs  the 
charcoal  again  with  the  bar,  and  with  the  shovel  throws  into  the  crucible 
the  burning  charcoals  lying  in  the  channel ;  then  again,  after  the  space  of  an 
hour,  he  stirs  the  burning  charcoals  with  the  same  bar.  If  he  did  not  thus 
stir  them  about,  some  blackness  would  remain  in  the  crucible  and  that  part 
would  be  damaged,  because  it  would  not  be  sufficiently  dried.  Therefore 
the  assistant  stirs  and  turns  the  burning  charcoal  that  it  may  be  entirely- 
burnt  up,  and  so  that  the  crucible  may  be  well  heated,  which  takes  three 
hours  ;  then  the  crucible  is  left  quiet  for  the  remaining  two  hours. 


472  BOOK     X. 

When  the  hour  of  eleven  has  struck,  he  sweeps  up  the  charcoal  ashes  with 
a  broom  and  throws  them  out  of  the  crucible.  Then  he  climbs  on  to  the 
dome,  and  passing  his  hand  in  through  its  opening,  and  dipping  an  old  linen 
rag  in  a  bucket  of  water  mixed  with  ashes,  he  moistens  the  whole  of  the 
crucible  and  sweeps  it.  In  this  way  he  uses  two  bucketsful  of  the  mixture, 
each  holding  five  Roman  sextarU,28  and  he  does  this  lest  the  crucible, 
when  the  metals  are  being  parted,  should  break  open  ;  after  this  he  rubs  the 
crucible  with  a  doe  skin,  and  fills  in  the  cracks.  Then  he  places  at  the  left  side 
of  the  channel,  two  fragments  of  hearth-lead,  laid  one  on  the  top  of  the  other, 
so  that  when  partly  melted  they  remain  fixed  and  form  an  obstacle,  that  the 
litharge  will  not  be  blown  about  by  the  wind  from  the  bellows,  but  remain  in 
its  place.  It  is  expedient,  however,  to  use  a  brick  in  the  place  of  the  hearth- 
lead,  for  as  this  gets  much  hotter,  therefore  it  causes  the  litharge  to  form 
more  rapidly.  The  crucible  in  its  middle  part  is  made  two  palms  and  as 
many  digits  deeper.29 

There  are  some  who  having  thus  prepared  the  crucible,  smear  it  over 
with  incense30,  ground  to  powder  and  dissolved  in  white  of  egg,  soaking 
it  up  in  a  sponge  and  then  squeezing  it  out  again  ;  there  are  others  who 
smear  over  it  a  liquid  consisting  of  white  of  egg  and  double  the  amount  of 
bullock's  blood  or  marrow.  Some  throw  lime  into  the  crucible  through  a 
sieve. 

Afterward  the  master  of  the  works  weighs  the  lead  with  which  the  gold 
or  silver  or  both  are  mixed,  and  he  sometimes  puts  a  hundred  centumpondia31 
into  the  crucible,  but  frequently  only  sixty,  or  fifty,  or  much  less.  After  it 
has  been  weighed,  he  strews  about  in  the  crucible  three  small  bundles  of 
straw,  lest  the  lead  by  its  weight  should  break  the  surface.  Then  he  places 
in  the  channel  several  cakes  of  lead  alloy,  and  through  the  aperture  at  the  rear 
of  the  dome  he  places  some  along  the  sides  ;  then,  ascending  to  the  opening  at 
the  top  of  the  dome,  he  arranges  in  the  crucible  round  about  the  dome  the 
cakes  which  his  assistant  hands  to  him,  and  after  ascending  again  and  passing 
his  hands  through  the  same  aperture,  he  likewise  places  other  cakes  inside  the 
crucible.  On  the  secord  day  those  which  remain  he,  with  an  iron  fork, 
places  on  the  wood  through  the  rear  aperture  of  the  dome. 

When  the  cakes  have  been  thus  arranged  through  the  hole  at  the  top  of 
the  dome,  he  throws  in  charcoal  with  a  basket  woven  of  wooden  twigs.  Then 
he  places  the  lid  over  the  dome,  and  the  assistant  covers  over  the  joints  with 
lute.  The  master  himself  throws  half  a  basketful  of  charcoal  into  the  crucible 
through  the  aperture  next  to  the  nozzle  pipe,  and  prepares  the  bellows,  in 
order  to  be  able  to  begin  the  second  operation  on  the  morning  of  the  following 
day.  It  takes  the  space  of  one  hour  to  carry  out  such  a  piece  of  work,  and 

28The  Roman  sexta/ius  was  about'  a  pint. 

29This  sentence  continues,  Ipsa  vero  media  pars  praelerea  digito,  to  which  we  are  unable 
to  attribute  any  meaning. 

*°Thus,  or  (us — "  incense." 

810ne  centumpondium,  Roman,  equals  about  70.6  Ibs.  avoirdupois  ;  one  centner,  old 
German,  equals  about  114.2  Ibs.  avoirdupois.  Therefore,  if  German  weights  are  meant,  the 
maximum  charge  would  be  about  5.7  short  tons  ;  if  Roman  weights,  about  3.5  short  tons. 


BOOK     X.  473 

at  twelve  all  is  prepared.  These  hours  all  reckoned  up  make  a  sum  of  eight 
hours. 

Now  it  is  time  that  we  should  come  to  the  second  operation.  In  the 
morning  the  workman  takes  up  two  shovelsful  of  live  charcoals  and  throws 
them  into  the  crucible  through  the  aperture  next  to  the  pipes  of  the  nozzles  ; 
then  through  the  same  hole  he  lays  upon  them  small  pieces  of  fir-wood  or  of 
pitch  pine,  such  as  are  generally  used  to  cook  fish.  After  this  the  water-gates 
are  opened,  in  order  that  the  machine  may  be  turned  which  depresses  the  levers 
of  the  bellows.  In  the  space  of  one  hour  the  lead  alloy  is  melted  ;  and  when  this 
has  been  done,  he  places  four  sticks  of  wood,  twelve  feet  long,  through  the 
hole  in  the  back  of  the  dome,  and  as  many  through  the  channel ;  these 
sticks,  lest  they  should  damage  the  crucible,  are  both  weighted  on  the  ends 
and  supported  by  trestles  ;  these  trestles  are  made  of  a  beam,  three  feet 
long,  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide,  two  palms  thick,  and  have  two 
spreading  legs  at  each  end.  Against  the  trestle,  in  front  of  the  channel,  there 
is  placed  an  iron  plate,  lest  the  litharge,  when  it  is  extracted  from  the  furnace, 
should  splash  the  smelter's  shoes  and  injure  his  feet  and  legs.  With  an  iron 
shovel  or  a  fork  he  places  the  remainder  of  the  cakes  through  the  aperture  at 
the  back  of  the  dome  on  to  the  sticks  of  wood  already  mentioned. 

The  native  silver,  or  silver  glance,  or  grey  silver,  or  ruby  silver,  or  any 
other  sort,  when  it  has  been  flattened  out32,  and  cut  up,  and  heated  in  an 
iron  crucible,  is  poured  into  the  molten  lead  mixed  with  silver,  in  order  that 
impurities  may  be  separated.  As  I  have  often  said,  this  molten  lead  mixed 
with  silver  is  called  stannum33. 

When  the  long  sticks  of  wood  are  burned  up  at  the  fore  end,  the 
master,  with  a  hammer,  drives  into  them  pointed  iron  bars,  four  feet  long  and 
two  digits  wide  at  the  front  end,  and  beyond  that  one  and  a  half  digits  wide 

82See  description,  p.  269. 

t3Stannum,  as  a  term  for  lead-silver  alloys,  is  a  term  which  Agricola  (De  Nalura  Fossilium, 

pp.  341-3)  adopted  from  his  views  of  Pliny.       In  the  Interpretatio  and  the  Glossary  he  gives 

the  German  equivalent   as   werk,  which    would  sufficiently  identify  his  meaning    were    it 

not  obvious  from  the  context.     There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Pliny  uses  the  term  for  lead 

alloys,  but  it  had  come  into  general  use  for  tin  before  Agricola's  time.      The  Roman  term  was 

plumbum  candidum,  and  as  a  result  of  Agricola's  insistence  on  using  it  and  stannum  in  what 

he  conceived  was  their  original  sense,  he  managed  to  give  considerable  confusion  to  mineralogic 

literature  for  a  century  or  two.     The  passages  from  Pliny,  upon  which  he  bases  his  use,  are 

(xxxiv,  47)  :  "  The  metal  which  flows  liquid  at  the  first  melting  in  the  furnace  is  called  stannum, 

'  the  second  melting  is  silver,"    etc.     (xxxiv,  48)  :    "  When  copper  vessels  are  coated  with 

'  stannum  they  produce  a  less  disagreeable  flavour,  and  it  prevents  verdigris.     It  is  also 

'  remarkable  that  the  weight  is  not  increased.     ...     At  the  present  day  a  counterfeit 

'  stannum  is  made  by  adding  one- third  of  white  copper  to  tin.     It  is  also  made  in  another  way, 

'  by  mixing  together  equal  parts  of  tin  and  lead  ;    this  last  is  called  by  some  argentarium. 

.     .     .     .     There  is  also  a  composition  called  tcrtiarium,  a  mixture  of  two  parts  of  lead  and 

'  one  of  tin.     Its  price  is  twenty  denarii  per  pound,  and  it  is  used  for  soldering  pipes.     Persons 

'  still  more  dishonest  mix  together  equal  parts  of  tertiarium  and  tin,  and  calling  the  compound 

'  argentarium,  when  it  is  melted  coat  articles  with  it."      Although  this  last  passage  probably 

indicates  that  stannum  was  a  tin  compound,  yet  it  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  view  that  the 

genuine  stannum  was  silver-lead,  and  that  the  counterfeits  were  made  as  stated  by  Pliny. 

At  what  period  the  term  stannum  was  adopted  for  tin  is  uncertain.     As  shown  by  Beckmann 

(Hist,  of  Inventions  n,   p.  225),  it  is  used  as  early  as  the  6th  century  in  occasions  where  tin 

was  undoubtedly  meant.     We  may  point  out  that  this  term  appears  continuously  in  the  official 

documents  relating  to  Cornish  tin  mining,  beginning  with  the  report  of  William  de  Wrotham  in 

1198. 


474 


BOOK     X. 


and  thick  ;  with  these  he  pushes  the  sticks  of  wood  forward  and  the  bars 
then  rest  on  the  trestles.  There  are  others  who,  when  they  separate  metals, 
put  two  such  sticks  of  wood  into  the  crucible  through  the  aperture  which  is 
between  the  bellows,  as  many  through  the  holes  at  the  back,  and  one  through 
the  channel ;  but  in  this  case  a  larger  number  of  long  sticks  of  wood  is 
necessary,  that  is,  sixty  ;  in  the  former  case,  forty  long  sticks  of  wood  suffice 
to  carry  out  the  operation.  When  the  lead  has  been  heated  for  two  hours, 
it  is  stirred  with  a  hooked  bar,  that  the  heat  may  be  increased. 

If  it  be  difficult  to  separate  the  lead  from  the  silver,  he  throws  copper 
and  charcoal  dust  into  the  molten  silver-lead  alloy.  If  the  alloy  of  argen- 
tiferous gold  and  lead,  or  the  silver-lead  alloy,  contains  impurities  from  the 
ore,  then  he  throws  in  either  equal  portions  of  argol  and  Venetian  glass  or  of 
sal-ammoniac,  or  of  Venetian  glass  and  of  Venetian  soap  ;  or  else  unequal 
portions,  that  is,  two  of  argol  and  one  of  iron  rust ;  there  are  some  who 
mix  a  little  saltpetre  with  each  compound.  To  one  centumpondium  of  the 
alloy  is  added  a  bes  or  a  libra  and  a  third  of  the  powder,  according 
to  whether  it  is  more  or  less  impure.  The  powder  certainly  separates  the 
impurities  from  the  alloy.  Then,  with  a  kind  of  rabble  he  draws  out  through 


A — FURNACE.     B — STICKS  OF  WOOD.     C — LITHARGE.      D — PLATE.      E — THE  FOREMAN 

WHEN  HUNGRY  EATS  BUTTER,  THAT  THE  POISON  WHICH  THE  CRUCIBLE  EXHALES  MAY  NOT 
HARM   HIM,   FOR  THIS   IS  A   SPECIAL   REMEDY  AGAINST  THAT  POISON. 


BOOK     X.  475 

the  channel,  mixed  with  charcoal,  the  scum,  as  one  might  say,  of  the  lead ; 
the  lead  makes  this  scum  when  it  becomes  hot,  but  that  less  of  it  may  be 
made  it  must  be  stirred  frequently  with  the  bar. 

Within  the  space  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  crucible  absorbs  the  lead  ; 
at  the  time  when  it  penetrates  into  the  crucible  it  leaps  and  bubbles.  Then 
the  master  takes  out  a  little  lead  with  an  iron  ladle,  which  he  assays,  in  order 
to  find  what  proportion  of  silver  there  is  in  the  whole  of  the  alloy  ;  the 
ladle  is  five  digits  wide,  the  iron  part  of  its  handle  is  three  feet  long  and  the 
wooden  part  the  same.  Afterward,  when  they  are  heated,  he  extracts  with 
a  bar  the  litharge  which  comes  from  the  lead  and  the  copper,  if  there  be  any 
of  it  in  the  alloy.  Wherefore,  it  might  more  rightly  be  called  spuma  of  lead 
than  of  silver34.  There  is  no  injury  to  the  silver,  when  the  lead  and  copper 
are  separated  from  it.  In  truth  the  lead  becomes  much  purer  in  the  crucible 
of  the  other  furnace,  in  which  silver  is  refined.  In  ancient  times,  as  the 
author  Pliny35  relates,  there  was  under  the  channel  of  the  crucible  another 
crucible,  and  the  litharge  flowed  down  from  the  upper  one  into  the  lower 
one,  out  of  which  it  was  lifted  up  and  rolled  round  with  a  stick  in  order  that 
it  might  be  of  moderate  weight.  For  which  reason,  they  formerly  made  it 
into  small  tubes  or  pipes,  but  now,  since  it  is  not  rolled  round  a  stick,  they 
make  it  into  bars. 

If  there  be  any  danger  that  the  alloy  might  flow  out  with  the  litharge,  the 
foreman  keeps  on  hand  a  piece  of  lute,  shaped  like  a  cylinder  and  pointed  at 
both  ends  ;  fastening  this  to  a  hooked  bar  he  opposes  it  to  the  alloy  so  that 
it  will  not  flow  out. 

Now  when  the  colour  begins  to  show  in  the  silver,  bright  spots  appear, 
some  of  them  being  almost  white,  and  a  moment  afterward  it  becomes 
absolutely  white.  Then  the  assistant  lets  down  the  water-gates,  so  that,  the 
race  being  closed,  the  water-wheel  ceases  to  turn  and  the  bellows  are  still. 
Then  the  master  pours  several  buckets  of  water  on  to  the  silver  to  cool  it ; 
others  pour  beer  over  it  to  make  it  whiter,  but  this  is  of  no  importance  since 
the  silver  has  yet  to  be  refined.  Afterward,  the  cake  of  silver  is  raised  with 
the  pointed  iron  bar,  which  is  three  feet  long  and  two  digits  wide,  and  has  a 
wooden  handle  four  feet  long  fixed  in  its  socket.  When  the  cake  of  silver  has 
been  taken  from  the  crucible,  it  is  laid  upon  a  stone,  and  from  part  of  it  the 
hearth-lead,  and  from  the  other  part  the  litharge,  is  chipped  away  with  a 
hammer  ;  then  it  is  cleansed  with  a  bundle  of  brass  wire  dipped  in  water. 
When  the  lead  is  separated  from  the  silver,  more  silver  is  frequently  found 
than  when  it  was  assayed ;  for  instance,  if  before  there  were  three  unciae  and 
as  many  drachmae  in  a  centumpondium,  they  now  sometimes  find  three  unciae 
and  a  half36.  Often  the  hearth-lead  remaining  in  the  crucible  is  a  palm 
deep  ;  it  is  taken  out  with  the  rest  of  the  ashes  and  is  sifted,  and  that  which 
remains  in  the  sieve,  since  it  is  hearth-lead,  is  added  to  the  hearth-lead37. 

34The  Latin  term  for  litharge  is  spuma  argenti,  spume  of  silver. 

38Pliny,  xxxin,  35.  This  quotation  is  given  in  full  in  the  footnote  p.  466.  Agricola 
illustrates  these  "  tubes  "  of  litharge  on  p.  481. 

36Assuming  Roman  weights,  three  unciae  and  three  drachmae  per  centumpondium 
would  be  about  82  ozs.,  and  the  second  case  would  equal  about  85  ozs.  per  short  ton. 

*7Agricola  uses  throughout  De  Re  Metallica  the  term  molybdaena  for  this  substance. 


476 


BOOK     X. 


A — CAKE.    B — STONE.    C — HAMMER.   D — BRASS  WIRE.    E — BUCKET  CONTAINING  WATER. 

F— FURNACE    FROM   WHICH   THE  CAKE  HAS    BEEN   TAKEN,   WHICH  is  STILL   SMOKING. 

G — LABOURER  CARRYING  A  CAKE  OUT  OF  THE  WORKS. 

The  ashes  which  pass  through  the  sieve  are  of  the  same  use  as  they  were 
at  first,  for,  indeed,  from  these  and  pulverised  bones  they  make  the  cupels. 
Finally,  when  much  of  it  has  accumulated,  the  yellow  pompholyx  adhering  to 
the  walls  of  the  furnace,  and  likewise  to  those  rings  of  the  dome  near  the 
apertures,  is  cleared  away. 

I  must  also  describe  the  crane  with  which  the  dome  is  raised.  When 
it  is  made,  there  is  iirst  set  up  a  rectangular  upright  post  twelve  feet 
long,  each  side  of  which  measures  a  foot  in  width.  Its  lower  pinion  turns 
in  a  bronze  socket  set  in  an  oak  sill ;  there  are  two  sills  placed  crosswise  so 

It  is  obvious  from  the  context  that  he  means  saturated  furnace  bottoms — the  herdpley  of  the  old 
German  metallurgists — and,  in  fact,  he  himself  gives  this  equivalent  in  the  Interpretatio,  and 
describes  it  in  great  detail  in  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  353).  The  derivatives  coined  one  time 
and  another  from  the  Greek  molybdos  for  lead,  and  their  applications,  have  resulted  in  a 
stream  of  wasted  ink,  to  which  we  also  must  contribute.  Agricola  chose  the  word  molybdaena 
in  the  sense  here  used  from  his  interpretation  of  Pliny.  The  statements  in  Pliny  are  a  hopeless 
confusion  of  molybdaena  and  galena.  He  says  (xxxm,  35)  :  "  There  are  three  varieties  of 
"  it  (litharge) — the  best-known  is  chrysitis  ;  the  second  best  is  called  argyritis  ;  and 

"  a  third  kind  is  called  molybditis Molybditis  is  the  result  of  the  smelting  of 

"  lead.  .  .  .  Some  people  make  two  kinds  of  litharge,  which  they  call  scirerytis  and 
"  peumene  ;  and  a  third  variety  being  molybdaena,  will  be  mentioned  with  lead."  (xxxiv, 
53)  :  "  Molybdaena,  which  in  another  place  I  have  called  galena,  is  an  ore  of  mixed  silver 


BOOK    X.  477 

that  the  one  fits  in  a  mortise  in  the  middle  of  the  other,  and  the  other  likewise 
fits  in  the  mortise  of  the  first,  thus  making  a  kind  of  a  cross  ;  these  sills  are 
three  feet  long  and  one  foot  wide  and  thick.  The  crane-post  is  round  at  its 
upper  end  and  is  cut  down  to  a  depth  of  three  palms,  and  turns  in  a  band 
fastened  at  each  end  to  a  roof-beam,  from  which  springs  the  inclined  chimney 
wall.  To  the  crane-post  is  affixed  a  frame,  which  is  made  in  this  way  :  first,  at  a 
height  of  a  cubit  from  the  bottom,  is  mortised  into  the  crane-post  a  small 
cross-beam,  a  cubit  and  three  digits  long,  except  its  tenons,  and  two  palms  in 
width  and  thickness.  Then  again,  at  a  height  of  five  feet  above  it,  is  another 
small  cross-beam  of  equal  length,  width,  and  thickness,  mortised  into  the 
crane-post.  The  other  ends  of  these  two  small  cross-beams  are  mortised 
into  an  upright  timber,  six  feet  three  palms  long,  and  three-quarters  wide 
and  thick  ;  the  mortise  is  transfixed  by  wooden  pegs.  Above,  at  a  height  of 
three  palms  from  the  lower  small  cross-beam,  are  two  bars,  one  foot  one  palm 
long,  not  including  the  tenons,  a  palm  three  digits  wide,  and  a  palm  thick, 
which  are  mortised  in  the  other  sides  of  the  crane-post.  In  the  same  manner, 
under  the  upper  small  cross-beam  are  two  bars  of  the  same  size.  Also  in  the 
upright  timber  there  are  mortised  the  same  number  of  bars,  of  the  same  length 
as  the  preceding,  but  three  digits  thick,  a  palm  two  digits  wide,  the  two 
lower  ones  being  above  the  lower  small  cross-beam.  From  the  upright 
timber  near  the  upper  small  cross-beam,  which  at  its  other  end  is  mortised 
into  the  crane-post,  are  two  mortised  bars.  On  the  outside  of  this  frame, 
boards  are  fixed  to  the  small  cross-beams,  but  the  front  and  back  parts  of  the 
frame  have  doors,  whose  hinges  are  fastened  to  the  boards  which  are  fixed 
to  the  bars  that  are  mortised  to  the  sides  of  the  crane-post. 

Then  boards  are  laid  upon  the  lower  small  cross-beam,  and  at  a  height 
of  two  palms  above  these  there  is  a  small  square  iron  axle,  the  sides  of  which 
are  two  digits  wide  ;  both  ends  of  it  are  round  and  turn  in  bronze  or  iron 
bearings,  one  of  these  bearings  being  fastened  in  the  crane-post,  the  other  in 
the  upright  timber.  About  each  end  of  the  small  axle  is  a  wooden  disc,  of  three 
palms  and  a  digit  radius  and  one  palm  thick,  covered  on  the  rim  with  an  iron 
band  ;  these  two  discs  are  distant  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  from  each 

"  and  lead.  It  is  considered  better  in  quality  the  nearer  it  approaches  to  a  golden  colour 
"  and  the  less  lead  there  is  in  it ;  it  is  also  friable  and  moderately  heavy.  When  it  is  boiled 
"  with  oil  it  becomes  liver-coloured,  adheres  to  the  gold  and  silver  furnaces,  and  in  this  state 
"  it  is  called  metallica."  From  these  two  passages  it  would  seem  that  molybdaena,  a  variety 
of  litharge,  might  quite  well  be  hearth-lead.  Further  (in  xxxiv,  47),  he  says :  "  The  metal 
"  which  flows  liquid  at  the  first  melting  in  the  furnace  is  called  stannum,  at  the  second  melt- 
ing is  silver,  that  which  remains  in  the  furnace  is  galena."  If  we  still  maintain  that  molybdaena 
is  hearth-lead,  and  galena  is  its  equivalent,  then  this  passage  becomes  clear  enough,  the 
second  melting  being  cupellation.  The  difficulty  with  Pliny,  however,  arises  from  the 
passage  (xxxm,  31),  where,  speaking  of  silver  ore,  he  says :  "  It  is  impossible  to  melt  it 
except  with  lead  ore,  called  galena,  which  is  generally  found  next  to  silver  veins." 
Agricola  (Bermannus,  p.  427,  &c.),  devotes  a  great  deal  of  inconclusive  discussion  to  an 
attempt  to  reconcile  this  conflict  of  Pliny,  and  also  that  of  Dioscorides.  The  probable 
explanation  of  this  conflict  arises  in  the  resemblance  of  cupellation  furnace  bottoms  to  lead 
carbonates,  and  the  native  molybdaena  of  Dioscorides ;  and  some  of  those  referred  to  by  Pliny 
may  be  this  sort  of  lead  ores.  In  fact,  in  one  or  two  places  in  Book  IX,  Agricola  appears 
to  use  the  term  in  this  sense  himself.  After  Agricola's  time  the  term  molybdaenum  was  applied 
to  substances  resembling  lead,  such  as  graphite,  and  what  we  now  know  as  molybdenite  (Mo  Sz). 
Some  time  in  the  latter  part  of  the  i8th  century,  an  element  being  separated  from  the  latter,  it 
was  dubbed  molybdenum,  and  confusion  was  five  times  confounded. 

33 


478  BOOK    X. 

other,  and  are  joined  with  five  rundles ;  these  rundles  are  two  and  a  half 
digits  thick  and  are  placed  three  digits  apart.  Thus  a  drum  is  made,  which 
is  a  palm  and  a  digit  distant  from  the  upright  timber,  but  further  from  the 
crane-post,  namely,  a  palm  and  three  digits.  At  a  height  of  a  foot  and  a 
palm  above  this  little  axle  is  a  second  small  square  iron  axle,  the  thickness  of 
which  is  three  digits  ;  this  one,  like  the  first  one,  turns  in  bronze  or  iron 
bearings.  Around  it  is  a  toothed  wheel,  composed  of  two  discs  a  foot  three 
palms  in  diameter,  a  palm  and  two  digits  thick  ;  on  the  rim  of  this  there 
are  twenty-three  teeth,  a  palm  wide  and  two  digits  thick  ;  they  protrude 
a  palm  from  the  wheel  and  are  three  digits  apart.  And  around  this  same 
axle,  at  a  distance  of  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  toward  the  upright 
timber,  is  another  disc  of  the  same  diameter  as  the  wheel  and  a  palm  thick  ; 
this  turns  in  a  hollowed-out  place  in  the  upright  timber.  Between  this  disc 
and  the  disc  of  the  toothed  wheel  another  drum  is  made,  having  likewise  five 
rundles.  There  is,  in  addition  to  this  second  axle,  at  a  height  of  a  cubit 
above  it,  a  small  wooden  axle,  the  journals  of  which  are  of  iron  ;  the  ends 
are  bound  round  with  iron  rings  so  that  the  journals  may  remain  firmly  fixed, 
and  the  journals,  like  the  little  iron  axles,  turn  in  bronze  or  iron  bearings. 
This  third  axle  is  at  a  distance  of  about  a  cubit  from  the  upper  small  cross- 
beam ;  it  has,  near  the  upright  timber,  a  toothed  wheel  two  and  a  half  feet 
in  diameter,  on  the  rim  of  which  are  twenty-seven  teeth  ;  the  other  part  of 
this  axle,  near  the  crane-post,  is  covered  with  iron  plates,  lest  it  should  be  worn 
away  by  the  chain  which  winds  around  it.  The  end  link  of  the  chain  is  fixed 
in  an  iron  pin  driven  into  the  little  axle  ;  this  chain  passes  out  of  the  frame 
and  turns  over  a  little  pulley  set  between  the  beams  of  the  crane-arm. 

Above  the  frame,  at  a  height  of  a  foot  and  a  palm,  is  the  crane- arm.  This 
consists  of  two  beams  fifteen  feet  long,  three  palms  wide,  and  two  thick, 
mortised  into  the  crane-post,  and  they  protrude  a  cubit  from  the  back  of  the 
crane-post  and  are  fastened  together.  Moreover,  they  are  fastened  by  means 
of  a  wooden  pin  which  penetrates  through  them  and  the  crane-post  ;  this 
pin  has  at  the  one  end  a  broad  head,  and  at  the  other  a  hole,  through  which 
is  driven  an  iron  bolt,  so  that  the  beams  may  be  tightly  bound  into  the  crane- 
post.  The  beams  of  the  crane-arm  are  supported  and  stayed  by  means  of 
two  oblique  beams,  six  feet  and  two  palms  long,  and  likewise  two  palms  wide 
and  thick  ;  these  are  mortised  into  the  crane-post  at  their  lower  ends,  and 
their  upper  ends  are  mortised  into  the  beams  of  the  crane-arm  at  a  point 
about  four  feet  from  the  crane-post,  and  they  are  fastened  with  iron  nails. 
At  the  back  of  the  upper  end  of  these  oblique  beams,  toward  the  crane-post, 
is  an  iron  staple,  fastened  into  the  lower  sides  of  the  beams  of  the  crane-arm,  in 
order  that  it  may  hold  them  fast  and  bind  them.  The  outer  end  of  each 
beam  of  the  crane-arm  is  set  in  a  rectangular  iron  plate,  and  between  these 
are  three  rectangular  iron  plates,  fixed  in  such  a  manner  that  the  beams  of  the 
crane-arm  can  neither  move  away  from,  nor  toward,  each  other.  The  upper 
sides  of  these  crane-arm  beams  are  covered  with  iron  plates  for  a  length  of 
six  feet,  so  that  a  trolley  can  move  on  it. 


BOOK    X. 


479 


-.///JJJ.  IJJJJJJ «  .JJ«L  , 


A — CRANE-POST.      B — SOCKET.      C — OAK  CROSS-SILLS.      D — BAND.      E — ROOF-BEAM. 
F — FRAME.     G — LOWER   SMALL  CROSS-BEAM.     H — UPRIGHT  TIMBER.    I — BARS   WHICH 

COME    FROM   THE    SIDES  OF  THE    CRANE-POST.       K — BARS   WHICH  COME  FROM  THE  SIDES  OF 
THE    UPRIGHT   TIMBER.  L — RUNDLE     DRUMS.  M — TOOTHED    WHEELS.  N — CHAIN. 

O — PULLEY.    P — BEAMS  OF  THE  CRANE-ARM.    Q — OBLIQUE  BEAMS  SUPPORTING  THE  BEAMS 

OF  THE  CRANE-ARM.       R — RECTANGULAR  IRON  PLATES.       S — TROLLEY.      T — DOME  OF  THE 

FURNACE.    V— RING.     X — THREE  CHAINS.    Y — CRANK.    Z— THE  CRANE-POST  OF  THE 

OTHER      CONTRIVANCE.        AA— CRANE-ARM.       BB— OBLIQUE      BEAM.      CC— RlNG      OF     THE 
CRANE-ARM.  DD — THE     SECOND     RING.  EE — LEVER-BAR.  FF — THIRD     RING. 

GG— HOOK.    HH— CHAIN  OF  THE  DOME.     II — CHAIN  OF  THE  LEVER-BAR 


480  BOOK    X. 

The  body  of  the  trolley  is  made  of  wood  from  the  Ostrya  or  any  other 
hard  tree,  and  is  a  cubit  long,  a  foot  wide,  and  three  palms  thick  ;  on  both 
edges  of  it  the  lower  side  is  cut  out  to  a  height  and  width  of  a  palm,  so  that 
the  remainder  may  move  backward  and  forward  between  the  two  beams  of 
the  crane-arm  ;  at  the  front,  in  the  middle  part,  it  is  cut  out  to  a  width  of 
two  palms  and  as  many  digits,  that  a  bronze  pulley,  around  a  small  iron 
axle,  may  turn  in  it.  Near  the  corners  of  the  trolley  are  four  holes,  in  which 
as  many  small  wheels  travel  on  the  beams  of  the  crane-arm.  Since  this 
trolley,  when  it  travels  backward  and  forward,  gives  out  a  sound  somewhat 
similar  to  the  barking  of  a  dog,  we  have  given  it  this  name38.  It  is  propelled 
forward  by  means  of  a  crank,  and  is  drawn  back  by  means  of  a  chain.  There 
is  an  iron  hook  whose  ring  turns  round  an  iron  pin  fastened  to  the  right  side 
of  the  trolley,  which  hook  is  held  by  a  sort  of  clavis,  which  is  fixed  in  the 
right  beam  of  the  crane-arm. 

At  the  end  of  the  crane-post  is  a  bronze  pulley,  the  iron  axle  of  which  is 
fastened  in  the  beams  of  the  crane-arm,  and  over  which  the  chain  passes 
as  it  comes  from  the  frame,  and  then,  penetrating  through  the  hollow  in  the 
top  of  the  trolley,  it  reaches  to  the  little  bronze  pulley  of  the  trolley,  and  passing 
over  this  it  hangs  down.  A  hook  on  its  end  engages  a  ring,  in  which  are 
fixed  the  top  links  of  three  chains,  each  six  feet  long,  which  pass  through 
the  three  iron  rings  fastened  in  the  holes  of  the  claves  which  are  fixed  into 
the  middle  iron  band  of  the  dome,  of  which  I  have  spoken. 

Therefore  when  the  master  wishes  to  lift  the  dome  by  means  of  the 
crane,  the  assistant  fits  over  the  lower  small  iron  axle  an  iron  crank,  which 
projects  from  the  upright  beam  a  palm  and  two  digits  ;  the  end  of  the  little 
axle  is  rectangular,  and  one  and  a  half  digits  wide  and  one  digit  thick  ;  it  is 
set  into  a  similar  rectangular  hole  in  the  crank,  which  is  two  digits  long  and  a 
little  more  than  a  digit  wide.  The  crank  is  semi-circular,  and  one  foot  three 
palms  and  two  digits  long,  as  many  digits  wide,  and  one  digit  thick.  Its 
handle  is  straight  and  round,  and  three  palms  long,  and  one  and  a  half  digits 
thick.  There  is  a  hole  in  the  end  of  the  little  axle,  through  which  an  iron 
pin  is  driven  so  that  the  crank  may  not  come  off.  The  crane  having  four 
drums,  two  of  which  are  rundle-drums  and  two  toothed-wheels,  is  more  easily 
moved  than  another  having  two  drums,  one  of  which  has  rundles  and  the 
other  teeth. 

Many,  however,  use  only  a  simple  contrivance,  the  pivots  of  whose 
crane-post  turn  in  the  same  manner,  the  one  in  an  iron  socket,  the  other  in  a 
ring.  There  is  a  crane-arm  on  the  crane-post,  which  is  supported  by  an 
oblique  beam ;  to  the  head  of  the  crane-arm  a  strong  iron  ring  is  fixed, 
which  engages  a  second  iron  ring.  In  this  iron  ring  a  strong  wooden  lever-bar 
is  fastened  firmly,  the  head  of  which  is  bound  by  a  third  iron  ring,  from  which 
hangs  an  iron  hook,  which  engages  the  rings  at  the  ends  of  the  chains  from 
the  dome.  At  the  other  end  of  the  lever-bar  is  another  chain,  which,  when 
it  is  pulled  down,  raises  the  opposite  end  of  the  bar  and  thus  the  dome;  and 
when  it  is  relaxed  the  dome  is  lowered. 

38Agricola  here  refers  to  the  German  word  used  in  this  connection,  i.e.,  hundt,  a  dog. 


BOOK    X. 


481 


A— CHAMBER  OF  THE  FURNACE.  B — ITS  BED.  C — PASSAGES.  D — RAMMER. 
E — MALLET.  F — ARTIFICER  MAKING  TUBES  FROM  LITHARGE  ACCORDING  TO  THE  ROMAN 
METHOD.  G— CHANNEL.  H — LITHARGE.  I— LOWER  CRUCIBLE  OR  HEARTH.  K— STICK. 

L — TUBES. 


482 


BOOK    X. 


In  certain  places,  as  at  Freiberg  in  Meissen,  the  upper  part  of  the 
cupellation  furnace  is  vaulted  almost  like  an  oven.  This  chamber  is  four 
feet  high  and  has  either  two  or  three  apertures,  of  which  the  first,  in 
front,  is  one  and  a  half  feet  high  and  a  foot  wide,  and  out  of  this  flows 
the  litharge  ;  the  second  aperture  and  likewise  the  third,  if  there  be  three, 
are  at  the  sides,  and  are  a  foot  and  a  half  high  and  two  and  a  half  feet  wide, 
in  order  that  he  who  prepares  the  crucible  may  be  able  to  creep  into  the 
furnace.  Its  circular  bed  is  made  of  cement,  it  has  two  passages  two  feet  high 
and  one  foot  wide,  for  letting  out  the  vapour,  and  these  lead  directly  through 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  so  that  the  one  passage  crosses  the  other  at  right 
angles,  and  thus  four  openings  are  to  be  seen  ;  these  are  covered  at  the  top 
by  rocks,  wide,  but  only  a  palm  thick.  On  these  and  on  the  other  parts 
of  the  interior  of  the  bed  made  of  cement,  is  placed  lute  mixed  with  straw, 
to  a  depth  of  three  digits,  as  it  was  placed  over  the  sole  and  the  plates  of 
copper  and  the  rocks  of  that  other  furnace.  This,  together  with  the  ashes  which 
are  thrown  in,  the  master  or  the  assistant,  who,  upon  his  knees,  prepares 
the  crucible,  tamps  down  with  short  wooden  rammers  and  with  mallets 
likewise  made  of  wood. 


NMp^ 


A — FURNACE  SIMILAR  TO  AN  OVEN.    B — PASSAGE.     C — IRON  BARS.    D — HOLE  THROUGH 

WHICH  THE  LITHARGE  IS  DRAWN  OUT.      E — CRUCIBLE  WHICH  LACKS  A  DOME.      F — THICK 

STICKS.    G — BELLOWS 


BOOK    X.  483 

The  cupellation  furnace  in  Poland  and  Hungary  is  likewise  vaulted  at  the 
top,  and  is  almost  similar  to  an  oven,  but  in  the  lower  part  the  bed  is  solid, 
and  there  is  no  opening  for  the  vapours,  while  on  one  side  of  the  crucible  is  a 
wall,  between  which  and  the  bed  of  the  crucible  is  a  passage  in  place  of  the 
opening  for  vapours  ;  this  passage  is  covered  by  iron  bars  or  rods  extending 
from  the  wall  to  the  crucible,  and  placed  a  distance  of  two  digits  from  each 
other.  In  the  crucible,  when  it  is  prepared,  they  first  scatter  straw,  and  then 
they  lay  in  it  cakes  of  silver-lead  alloy,  and  on  the  iron  bars  they  lay  wood, 
which  when  kindled  heats  the  crucible.  They  melt  cakes  to  the  weight  of  some- 
times eighty  centumpondla  and  sometimes  a  hundred  centumpondia39 .  They 
stimulate  a  mild  fire  by  means  of  a  blast  from  the  bellows,  and  throw  on  to  the 
bars  as  much  wood  as  is  required  to  make  a  flame  which  will  reach  into  the 
crucible,  and  separate  the  lead  from  the  silver.  The  litharge  is  drawn  out 
on  the  other  side  through  an  aperture  that  is  just  wide  enough  for  the  master 
to  creep  through  into  the  crucible.  The  Moravians  and  Carni,  who  very 
rarely  make  more  than  a  bes  or  five-sixths  of  a  libra  of  silver,  separate 
the  lead  from  it,  neither  in  a  furnace  resembling  an  oven,  nor  in  the  crucible 
covered  by  a  dome,  but  on  a  crucible  which  is  without  a  cover  and  exposed  to 
the  wind  ;  on  this  crucible  they  lay  cakes  of  silver-lead  alloy,  and  over  them 
they  place  dry  wood,  and  over  these  again  thick  green  wood.  The  wood 
having  been  kindled,  they  stimulate  the  fire  by  means  of  a  bellows. 

I  have  explained  the  method  of  separating  lead  from  gold  or  silver.  Now 
I  will  speak  of  the  method  of  refining  silver,  for  I  have  already  explained 
the  process  for  refining  gold.  Silver  is  refined  in  a  refining  furnace, 
over  whose  hearth  is  an  arched  chamber  built  of  bricks  ;  this  chamber 
in  the  front  part  is  three  feet  high.  The  hearth  itself  is  five  feet  long 
and  four  wide.  The  walls  are  unbroken  along  the  sides  and  back,  but 
in  front  one  chamber  is  placed  over  the  other,  and  above  these  and  the 
wall  is  the  upright  chimney.  The  hearth  has  a  round  pit,  a  cubit  wide  and  two 
palms  deep,  into  which  are  thrown  sifted  ashes,  and  in  this  is  placed  a  prepared 
earthenware  "  test,"  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is  surrounded  on  all  sides 
by  ashes  to  a  height  equal  to  its  own.  The  earthenware  test  is  filled 
with  a  powder  consisting  of  equal  portions  of  bones  ground  to  powder,  and  of 
ashes  taken  from  the  crucible  in  which  lead  is  separated  from  gold  or  silver ; 
others  mix  crushed  brick  with  the  ashes,  for  by  this  method  the  powder 
attracts  no  silver  to  itself.  When  the  powder  has  been  made  up  and 
moistened  with  water,  a  little  is  thrown  into  the  earthenware  test  and  tamped 
with  a  wooden  pestle.  This  pestle  is  round,  a  foot  long,  and  a  palm  and  a 
digit  wide,  out  of  which  extend  six  teeth,  each  a  digit  thick,  and  a  digit  and  a 
third  long  and  wide,  and  almost  a  digit  apart ;  these  six  teeth  form  a  circle, 
and  in  the  centre  of  them  is  the  seventh  tooth,  which  is  round  and  of  the 
same  length  as  the  others,  but  a  digit  and  a  half  thick ;  this  pestle  tapers  a 
little  from  the  bottom  up,  that  the  upper  part  of  the  handle  may  be  round 
and  three  digits  thick.  Some  use  a  round  pestle  without  teeth.  Then  a 

3'If  Agricola  means  the  German  centner,  this  charge  would  be  from  about  4.6  to  5.7  short 
tons.     If  he  is  using  Roman  weights,  it  would  be  from  about  3  to  3.7  short  tons. 


BOOK     X. 


A — PESTLE  WITH  TEETH.     B — PESTLE  WITHOUT  TEETH.     C — DISH  OR  TRAY  FULL  OF  ASHES. 
D — PREPARED  TESTS  PLACED  ON  BOARDS  OR  SHELVES.     E — EMPTY  TESTS.     F — WOOD. 

G— SAW. 

little  powder  is  again  moistened,  and  thrown  into  the  test,  and  tamped  ;  this 
work  is  repeated  until  the  test  is  entirely  full  of  the  powder,  which  the 
master  then  cuts  out  with  a  knife,  sharp  on  both  sides,  and  turned  upward  at 
both  ends  so  that  the  central  part  is  a  palm  and  a  digit  long  ;  therefore  it  is 
partly  straight  and  partly  curved.  The  blade  is  one  and  a  half  digits  wide, 
and  at  each  end  it  turns  upward  two  palms,  which  ends  to  the  depth  of  a 
palm  are  either  not  sharpened  or  they  are  enclosed  in  wooden  handles.  The 
master  holds  the  knife  with  one  hand  and  cuts  out  the  powder  from  the  test, 
so  that  it  is  left  three  digits  thick  all  round  ;  then  he  sifts  the  powder  of  dried 
bones  over  it  through  a  sieve,  the  bottom  of  which  is  made  of  closely-woven 
bristles.  Afterward  a  ball  made  of  very  hard  wood,  six  digits  in  diameter, 
is  placed  in  the  test  and  rolled  about  with  both  hands,  in  order  to  make  the 
inside  even  and  smooth  ;  for  that  matter  he  may  move  the  ball  about  with  only 
one  hand.  The  tests40  are  of  various  capacities,  for  some  of  them  when  prepared 

40The  refining  of  silver  in  "  tests  "  (Latin  testa)  is  merely  a  second  cupellation,  with 
greater  care  and  under  stronger  blast.  Stirring  the  mass  with  an  iron  rod  serves  to  raise  the 
impurities  which  either  volatilize  as  litharge  or,  floating  to  the  edges,  are  absorbed  into  the 
"  test."  The  capacity  of  the  tests,  from  15  librae  to  50  librae,  would  be  from  about  155  to 
515  ozs.  Troy. 


BOOK    X. 


485 


A — STRAIGHT  KNIFE  HAVING  WOODEN  HANDLES.    B — CURVED  KNIFE  LIKEWISE  HAVING 

WOODEN      HANDLES.         C — CURVED      KNIFE     WITHOUT      WOODEN      HANDLES.         D — SlEVE. 

E — BALLS.    F — IRON  DOOR  WHICH  THE  MASTER  LETS  DOWN  WHEN  HE  REFINES  SILVER,  LEST 

THE    HEAT  OF  THE  FIRE  SHOULD    INJURE    HIS  EYES.         G — IRON  IMPLEMENT  ON  WHICH  THE 

WOOD  IS    PLACED    WHEN    THE    LIQUID    SILVER    IS    TO    BE    REFINED.        H — ITS    OTHER  PART 

PASSING   THROUGH  THE   RING  OF  ANOTHER  IRON  IMPLEMENT  ENCLOSED  IN  THE  WALL  OF  THE 

FURNACE.       I — TESTS  IN   WHICH   BURNING  CHARCOAL  HAS  BEEN   THROWN. 

hold  much  less  than  fifteen  librae  of  silver,  others  twenty,  some  thirty,  others 
forty,  and  others  fifty.  All  these  tests  thus  prepared  are  dried  in  the  sun,  or 
set  in  a  warm  and  covered  place  ;  the  more  dry  and  old  they  are  the  better. 
All  of  them,  when  used  for  refining  silver,  are  heated  by  means  of  burning 
charcoal  placed  in  them.  Others  use  instead  of  these  tests  an  iron  ring ;  but 
the  test  is  more  useful,  for  if  the  powder  deteriorates  the  silver  remains  in 
it,  while  there  being  no  bottom  to  the  ring,  it  falls  out ;  besides,  it  is  easier  to 
place  in  the  hearth  the  test  than  the  iron  ring,  and  furthermore  it  requires 
much  less  powder.  In  order  that  the  test  should  not  break  and  damage  the 
silver,  some  bind  it  round  with  an  iron  band. 

In  order  that  they  may  be  more  easily  broken,  the  silver  cakes  are  placed 
upon  an  iron  grate  by  the  refiner,  and  are  heated  by  burning  charcoal 
placed  under  them.  He  has  a  brass  block  two  palms  and  two  digits  long  and 
wide,  with  a  channel  in  the  middle,  which  he  places  upon  a  block  of  hard 
wood.  Then  with  a  double-headed  hammer,  he  beats  the  hot  cakes  of  silver 


486 


BOOK    X. 


placed  on  the  brass  block,  and  breaks  them  in  pieces.  The  head  of  this 
hammer  is  a  foot  and  two  digits  long,  and  a  palm  wide.  Others  use  for  this 
purpose  merely  a  block  of  wood  channelled  in  the  top.  While  the  fragments 
of  the  cake  are  still  hot,  he  seizes  them  with  the  tongs  and  throws  them  into 
a  bowl  with  holes  in  the  bottom,  and  pours  water  over  them.  When  the 
fragments  are  cooled,  he  puts  them  nicely  into  the  test  by  placing  them  so 
that  they  stand  upright  and  project  from  the  test  to  a  height  of  two  palms,  and 
lest  one  should  fall  against  the  other,  he  places  little  pieces  of  charcoal  between 
them  ;  then  he  places  live  charcoal  in  the  test,  and  soon  two  twig  basketsful 
of  charcoal.  Then  he  blows  in  air  with  the  bellows.  This  bellows  is  double, 
and  four  feet  two  palms  long,  and  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  wide  at  the 
back  ;  the  other  parts  are  similar  to  those  described  in  Book  VII.  The 
nozzle  of  the  bellows  is  placed  in  a  bronze  pipe  a  foot  long,  the  aperture  in 
this  pipe  being  a  digit  in  diameter  in  front  and  quite  round,  and  at  the  back 
two  palms  wide.  The  master,  because  he  needs  for  the  operation  of  refining 


A — GRATE.  B — BRASS  BLOCK.  C — BLOCK  OF  WOOD.  D — CAKES  OF  SILVER.  E — HAMMER. 
F — BLOCK  OF  WOOD  CHANNELLED  IN  THE  MIDDLE.  G — BOWL  FULL  OF  HOLES. 
H — BLOCK  OF  WOOD  FASTENED  TO  AN  IRON  IMPLEMENT.  I — FIR-WOOD.  K — IRON  BAR. 
L — IMPLEMENT  WITH  A  HOLLOW  END.  THE  IMPLEMENT  WHICH  HAS  A  CIRCULAR  END  is 

SHOWN     IN     THE    NEXT   PICTURE.         M — IMPLEMENT,    THE   EXTREMITY   OF   WHICH   IS   BENT 

UPWARDS.      N — IMPLEMENT  IN  THE  SHAPE  OF  TONGS. 


BOOK    X.  487 

silver  a  fierce  fire,  and  requires  on  that  account  a  vigorous  blast,  places  the 
bellows  very  much  inclined,  in  order  that,  when  the  silver  has  melted,  it 
may  blow  into  the  centre  of  the  test.  When  the  silver  bubbles,  he  presses  the 
nozzle  down  by  means  of  a  small  block  of  wood  moistened  with  water  and 
fastened  to  an  iron  rod,  the  outer  end  of  which  bends  upward.  The  silver 
melts  when  it  has  been  heated  in  the  test  for  about  an  hour  ;  when  it  is 
melted,  he  removes  the  live  coals  from  the  test  and  places  over  it  two  billets 
of  fir-wood,  a  foot  and  three  palms  long,  a  palm  two  digits  wide,  one  palm 
thick  at  the  upper  part,  and  three  digits  at  the  lower.  He  joins  them 
together  at  the  lower  edges,  and  into  the  billets  he  again  throws  the  coals, 
for  a  fierce  fire  is  always  necessary  in  refining  silver.  It  is  refined  in  two  or 
three  hours,  according  to  whether  it  was  pure  or  impure,  and  if  it  is  impure  it 
is  made  purer  by  dropping  granulated  copper  or  lead  into  the  test  at  the 
same  time.  In  order  that  the  refiner  may  sustain  the  great  heat  from  the  fire 
while  the  silver  is  being  refined,  he  lets  down  an  iron  door,  which  is  three  feet 
long  and  a  foot  and  three  palms  high  ;  this  door  is  held  on  both  ends  in  iron 
plates,  and  when  the  operation  is  concluded,  he  raises  it  again  with  an  iron 
shovel,  so  that  its  edge  holds  against  the  iron  hook  in  the  arch,  and  thus  the 
door  is  held  open.  When  the  silver  is  nearly  refined,  which  may  be  judged 
by  the  space  of  time,  he  dips  into  it  an  iron  bar,  three  and  a  half  feet 
long  and  a  digit  thick,  having  a  round  steel  point.  The  small  drops  of  silver 
that  adhere  to  the  bar  he  places  on  the  brass  block  and  flattens  with 
a  hammer,  and  from  their  colour  he  decides  whether  the  silver  is  sufficiently 
refined  or  not.  If  it  is  thoroughly  purified  it  is  very  white,  and  in  a  bes  there 
is  only  a  drachma  of  impurities.  Some  ladle  up  the  silver  with  a  hollow  iron 
implement.  Of  each  bes  of  silver  one  sicilicus  is  consumed,  or  occasionally 
when  very  impure,  three  drachmae  or  half  an  uncia*1. 

The  refiner  governs  the  fire  and  stirs  the  molten  silver  with  an  iron 
implement,  nine  feet  long,  a  digit  thick,  and  at  the  end  first  curved  toward 
the  right,  then  curved  back  in  order  to  form  a  circle,  the  interior  of  which  is  a 
palm  in  diameter  ;  others  use  an  iron  implement,  the  end  of  which  is  bent 
directly  upward.  Another  iron  implement  has  the  shape  of  tongs,  with 
which,  by  compressing  it  with  his  hands,  he  seizes  the  coals  and  puts  them  on 
or  takes  them  off  ;  this  is  two  feet  long,  one  and  a  half  digits  wide,  and  the 
third  of  a  digit  thick. 

When  the  silver  is  seen  to  be  thoroughly  refined,  the  artificer  removes 
the  coals  from  the  test  with  a  shovel.  Soon  afterward  he  draws  water  in 
a  copper  ladle,  which  has  a  wooden  handle  four  feet  long  ;  it  has  a  small 
hole  at  a  point  half-way  between  the  middle  of  the  bowl  and  the  edge,  through 
which  a  hemp  seed  just  passes.  He  fills  this  ladle  three  times  with  water, 
and  three  times  it  ah1  flows  out  through  the  hole  on  to  the  silver,  and  slowly 
quenches  it ;  if  he  suddenly  poured  much  water  on  it,  it  would  burst  asunder 
and  injure  those  standing  near.  The  artificer  has  a  pointed  iron  bar,  three 

41 A  drachma  of  impurities  in  a  bes,  would  be  one  part  in  64,  or  984.4  fine.  A  loss  of  a 
sicilicus  of  silver  to  the  bes,  would  be  one  part  in  32,  or  about  3.1%  ;  three  drachmae  would 
equal  4.7%,  and  half  an  uncia  6.2%,  or  would  indicate  that  the  original  bullion  had  a  fineness 
in  the  various  cases  of  about  950,  933,  and  912. 


BOOK     X. 


A — IMPLEMENT  WITH  A  RING.  B — LADLE.  C — ITS  HOLE.  D — POINTED  BAR.  E — FORKS. 
F — CAKE  OF  SILVER  LAID  UPON  THE  IMPLEMENT  SHAPED  LIKE  TONGS.  G — TUB^OF  WATER. 
H — BLOCK  OF  WOOD,  WITH  A  CAKE  LAID  UPON  IT.  I — HAMMER.  K — SILVER  AGAIN 

PLACED   UPON   THE   IMPLEMENT  RESEMBLING  TONGS.      L — ANOTHER   TUB   FULL   OF  WATER. 

M — BRASS  WIRES.    N — TRIPOD.    0 — ANOTHER  BLOCK.    P — CHISEL.    Q — CRUCIBLE  OF 

THE    FURNACE.      R — TEST   STILL   SMOKING. 

feet  long,  which  has  a  wooden  handle  as  many  feet  long,  and  he  puts  the  end  of 
this  bar  into  the  test  in  order  to  stir  it.  He  also  stirs  it  with  a  hooked  iron 
bar,  of  which  the  hook  is  two  digits  wide  and  a  palm  deep,  and  the  iron  part 
of  its  handle  is  three  feet  long  and  the  wooden  part  the  same.  Then  he 
removes  the  test  from  the  hearth  with  a  shovel  or  a  fork,  and  turns  it  over, 
and  by  this  means  the  silver  falls  to  the  ground  in  the  shape  of  half  a  sphere ; 
then  lifting  the  cake  with  a  shovel  he  throws  it  into  a  tub  of  water,  where 
it  gives  out  a  great  sound.  Or  else,  having  lifted  the  cake  of  silver  with  a 
fork,  he  lays  it  upon  the  iron  implement  similar  to  tongs,  which  are  placed 
across  a  tub  full  of  water  ;  afterward,  when  cooled,  he  takes  it  from  the 
tub  again  and  lays  it  on  the  block  made  of  hard  wood  and  beats  it  with  a 
hammer,  in  order  to  break  off  any  of  the  powder  from  the  test  which 
adheres  to  it.  The  cake  is  then  placed  on  the  implement  similar  to 
tongs,  laid  over  the  tub  full  of  water,  and  cleaned  with  a  bundle  of  brass  wire 


BOOK    X. 


489 


dipped  into  the  water  ;  this  operation  of  beating  and  cleansing  is  repeated 
until  it  is  all  clean.  Afterward  he  places  it  on  an  iron  grate  or  tripod  ;  the 
tripod  is  a  palm  and  two  digits  high,  one  and  a  half  digits  wide,  and  its  span 
is  two  palms  wide  ;  then  he  puts  burning  charcoal  under  the  tripod  or  grate, 
in  order  again  to  dry  the  silver  that  was  moistened  by  the  water.  Finally, 
the  Royal  Inspector42  in  the  employment  of  the  King  or  Prince,  or  the  owner, 
lays  the  silver  on  a  block  of  wood,  and  with  an  engraver's  chisel  he  cuts  out  two 


A  —  MUFFLE.     B  —  ITS  LITTLE  WINDOWS.    C  —  ITS  LITTLE  BRIDGE.    D  —  BRICKS.    E  —  IRON 

DOOR.       F  —  ITS     LITTLE     WINDOW.       G  —  BELLOWS.       H  —  HAMMER-CHISEL.       I  —  IRON     RING 
WHICH  SOME  USE  INSTEAD  OF  THE  TEST.       K  —  PESTLE  WITH  WHICH  THE  ASHES  PLACED  IN 

THE    RING    ARE    POUNDED. 

small  pieces,  one  from  the  under  and  the  other  from  the  upper  side.  These 
are  tested  by  fire,  in  order  to  ascertain  whether  the  silver  is  thoroughly  refined 
or  not,  and  at  what  price  it  should  be  sold  to  the  merchants.  Finally  he 
impresses  upon  it  the  seal  of  the  King  or  the  Prince  or  the  owner,  and,  near 
the  same,  the  amount  of  the  weight. 

There  are  some  who  refine  silver  in  tests  placed  under  iron  or  earthen- 
ware muffles.  They  use  a  furnace,  on  the  hearth  of  which  they  place  the  test 
containing  the  fragments  of  silver,  and  they  place  the  muffle  over  it  ;  the 


Regis. 


4QO 


BOOK     X. 


muffle  has  small  windows  at  the  sides,  and  in  front  a  little  bridge.  In  order 
to  melt  the  silver,  at  the  sides  of  the  muffle  are  laid  bricks,  upon  which  the 
charcoal  is  placed,  and  burning  firebrands  are  put  on  the  bridge.  The 
furnace  has  an  iron  door,  which  is  covered  on  the  side  next  to  the  fire  with  lute 
in  order  that  it  may  not  be  injured.  When  the  door  is  closed  it  retains  the 
heat  of  the  fire,  but  it  has  a  small  window,  so  that  the  artificers  may  look 
into  the  test  and  may  at  times  stimulate  the  fire  with  the  bellows.  Although 
by  this  method  silver  is  refined  more  slowly  than  by  the  other,  nevertheless  it  is 
more  useful,  because  less  loss  is  caused,  for  a  gentle  fire  consumes  fewer  particles 
than  a  fierce  fire  continually  excited  by  the  blast  of  the  bellows.  If,  on 
account  of  its  great  size,  the  cake  of  silver  can  be  carried  only  with  difficulty 
when  it  is  taken  out  of  the  muffle,  they  cut  it  up  into  two  or  three 
pieces  while  it  is  still  hot,  with  a  wedge  or  a  hammer-chisel ;  for  if  they  cut 
it  up  after  it  has  cooled,  little  pieces  of  it  frequently  fly  off  and  are  lost. 

END     OF     BOOK     X. 


BOOK    XI. 


IFFERENT  methods  of  parting  gold  from  silver, 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  silver  from  gold,  were  dis- 
cussed in  the  last  book;  also  the  separation  of  copper 
from  the  latter,  and  further,  of  lead  from  gold  as 
well  as  from  silver;  and,  lastly,  the  methods  for 
refining  the  two  precious  metals.  Now  I  will  speak 
of  the  methods  by  which  silver  must  be  separated 
from  copper,  and  likewise  from  iron.1 

The  officina,  or  the  building  necessary  for  the 
purposes  and  use  of  those  who  separate  silver  from  copper,  is  constructed 
in  this  manner.  First,  four  long  walls  are  built,  of  which  the  first,  which 
is  parallel  with  the  bank  of  a  stream,  and  the  second,  are  both  two  hundred  and 
sixty-four  feet  long.  The  second,  however,  stops  at  one  hundred  and  fifty-one 
feet,  and  after,  as  it  were,  a  break  for  a  length  of  twenty-four  feet,  it  continues 
again  until  it  is  of  a  length  equal  to  the  first  wall.  The  third  wall  is  one 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  long,  starting  at  a  point  opposite  the  sixty-seventh 
foot  of  the  other  walls,  and  reaching  to  their  one  hundred  and  eighty-sixth  foot. 

1The  whole  of  this  Book  is  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  separation  of  silver  from 
copper  by  liquation,  except  pages  530-9  on  copper  refining,  and  page  544  on  the  separation 
of  silver  from  iron.  We  believe  a  brief  outline  of  the  liquation  process  here  will  refresh  the  mind 
of  the  reader,  and  enable  him  to  peruse  the  Book  with  more  satisfaction.  The  fundamental 
principle  of  the  process  is  that  if  a  copper-lead  alloy,  containing  a  large  excess  of  lead,  be 
heated  in  a  reducing  atmosphere,  above  the  melting  point  of  lead  but  below  that  of  copper, 
the  lead  will  liquate  out  and  carry  with  it  a  large  proportion  of  the  silver.  As  the  results  are 
imperfect,  the  process  cannot  be  carried  through  in  one  operation,  and  a  large  amount  of 
bye-products  is  created  which  must  be  worked  up  subsequently.  The  process,  as  here 
described,  falls  into  six  stages.  1st,  Melting  the  copper  and  lead  in  a  blast  furnace  to  form 
"  liquation  cakes  " — that  is,  the  "  leading."  If  the  copper  contain  too  little  silver  to  warrant 
liquation  directly,  then  the  copper  is  previously  enriched  by  melting  and  drawing  off  from 
a  settling  pot  the  less  argentiferous  "  tops  "  from  the  metal,  liquation  cakes  being  made 
from  the  enriched  "  bottoms."  2nd,  Liquation  of  the  argentiferous  lead  from  the  copper. 
This  work  was  carried  out  in  a  special  furnace,  to  which  the  admission  of  air  was  prevented  as 
much  as  possible  in  order  to  prevent  oxidation.  3rd,  "  Drying  "  the  residual  copper,  which 
retained  some  lead,  in  a  furnace  with  a  free  admission  of  air.  The  temperature  was  raised 
to  a  higher  degree  than  in  the  liquation  furnace,  and  the  expelled  lead  was  oxidized.  4th, 
Cupellation  of  the  argentiferous  lead.  5th,  Refining  of  the  residual  copper  from  the 
"  drying  "  furnace  by  oxidation  of  impurities  and  poling  in  a  "  refining  furnace."  6th, 
Re-alloy  and  re-liquation  of  the  bye-products.  These  consist  of :  a,  "  slags "  from 
"  leading  "  ;  b,  "  slags  "  from  "  drying  "  ;  c,  "  slags  "  from  refining  of  the  copper.  All  of 
these  "  slags  "  were  mainly  lead  oxides,  containing  some  cuprous  oxides  and  silica  from 
the  furnace  linings  ;  d,  "  thorns  "  from  liquation  ;  e,  "  thorns  "  from  "  drying  "  ;  /,  "  thorns  " 
from  skimmings  during  cupellation  ;  these  were  again  largely  lead  oxides,  but  contained 
rather  more  copper  and  less  silica  than  the  "  slags  "  ;  g,  "  ash-coloured  copper,"  being 
scales  from  the  "  dried "  copper,  were  cuprous  oxides,  containing  considerable  lead 
oxides  ;  h,  concentrates  from  furnace  accretions,  crushed  bricks,  &c. 

The  discussion  of  detailed  features  of  the  process  has  been  reserved  to  notes  attached 
to  the  actual  text,  to  which  the  reader  is  referred.  As  to  the  general  result  of  liquation, 
Karsten  (see  below)  estimates  the  losses  in  the  liquation  of  the  equivalent  of  100  Ibs.  of  argenti- 
ferous copper  to  amount  to  32-35  Ibs.  of  lead  and  5  to  6  Ibs.  of  copper.  Percy  (see  below) 
quotes  results  at  Lautenthalin  the  Upper  Harz  for  the  years  1857-60,  showing  losses  of  25%  of 
the  silver,  9.1%  of  the  copper,  and  36.37  Ibs.  of  lead  to  the  100  Ibs.  of  copper,  or  say,  16% 
of  the  lead ;  and  a  cost  of  £8  6s.  per  ton  of  copper.  The  theoretical  considerations  involved  in 
liquation  have  not  been  satisfactorily  determined.  Those  who  may  wish  to  pursue  the  subject 
will  find  repeated  descriptions  and  much  discussion  in  the  following  works,  which  have  been 
freely  consulted  in  the  notes  which  follow  upon  particular  features  of  the  process.  It  may  be 
mentioned  that  Agricola's  treatment  of  the  subject  is  more  able  than  any  down  to  the  i8th 
century.  Ercker  (Beschreibung  Allerfiirnemsten  Mineralischen,  etc.,  Prague,  1574). 
Lohneys  (Bericht  vom  Bergwercken,  etc.,  Zellerfeldt,  1617).  Schliiter  (Griindlicher  Unterricht 


492 


BOOK     XI. 


The  fourth  wall  is  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  feet  long.  The  height  of  each  of 
these  walls,  and  likewise  of  the  other  two  and  of  the  transverse  walls,  of 
which  I  will  speak  later  on,  is  ten  feet,  and  the  thickness  two  feet  and  as 
many  palms.  The  second  long  wall  only  is  built  fifteen  feet  high,  because 
of  the  furnaces  which  must  be  built  against  it.  The  first  long  wall  is  distant 
fifteen  feet  from  the  second,  and  the  third  is  distant  the  same  number  of  feet 
from  the  fourth,  but  the  second  is  distant  thirty-nine  feet  from  the  third. 
Then  transverse  walls  are  built,  the  first  of  which  leads  from  the  beginning 
of  the  first  long  wall  to  the  beginning  of  the  second  long  wall ;  and  the  second 
transverse  wall  from  the  beginning  of  the  second  long  wall  to  the  beginning  of 
the  fourth  long  wall,  for  the  third  long  wall  does  not  reach  so  far.  Then  from 
the  beginning  of  the  third  long  wall  are  built  two  walls — the  one  to  the 
sixty-seventh  foot  of  the  second  long  wall,  the  other  to  the  same  point  in 
the  fourth  long  wall.  The  fifth  transverse  wall  is  built  at  a  distance  of  ten 
feet  from  the  fourth  transverse  wall  toward  the  second  transverse  wall ; 


von  HiUte-Werken,  Braunschweig,  1738).  Karsten  (System  der  Metallurgie  V.  and  Arc-hiv  fur 
Bergbau  und  Huttenwesen,  ist  series,  1825).  Berthier  (Annales  des  Mines,  1825,  II.).  Percy 
(Metallurgy  of  Silver  and  Gold,  London,  1880). 

NOMENCLATURE. — This  process  held  a  very  prominent  position  in  German  metallurgy 
for  over  four  centuries,  and  came  to  have  a  well-defined  nomenclature  of  its  own,  which  has 
never  found  complete  equivalents  in  English,  our  metallurgical  writers  to  the  present 
day  adopting  more  or  less  of  the  German  terms.  Agricola  apparently  found  no  little  difficulty 
in  adapting  Latin  words  to  his  purpose,  but  stubbornly  adhered  to  his  practice  of  using  no 
German  at  the  expense  of  long  explanatory  clauses.  The  following  table,  prepared  for  con- 
venience in  translation,  is  reproduced.  The  German  terms  are  spelled  after  the  manner 
used  in  most  English  metallurgies,  some  of  them  appear  in  Agricola's  Glossary  to  De  Re 
Metallica. 

Latin.  German. 

Prima  fornax  Schmeltzofen 

Fornax  in  qua  argentum  et  plumbum  ab          Saigernofen 

aere  secernuntur 
Fornax  in  qua  aerei  panes  fathiscentes  Darrofen 

torrentur 
Fornax  in  qua  panes    aerei    torrefacti  Gaarherd 

coquuntur 
Secunda  fornax,  or  fornax  in  qua  plum-  Treibherd 

bum  ab  argento  separalur 
Mistura 

Stillare,  or  distillare 
Torrere 

Aes  ex  panibus  torrefactis  conficere 
Panes  ex  aere  ac  plumbo  misti 
Panes  fathiscentes 


English. 
Blast  furnace 
Liquation  furnace 

Drying  furnace 
Refining  hearth 
Cupellation  furnace 


Leading 
Liquating 
"  Drying  " 
Refining 
Liquation  cakes 
Exhausted  liquation 

cakes 

"Dried"    cakes 
Slags  : 

from  leading 

drying 

refining 
Liquation  thorns 

Thorns  from  "  drying  " 

,,     „     cupellation 
Silver-lead  or  liquated 

silver-lead 

Ash-coloured  copper 
Furnace  accretions  or 

"  accretions  " 


Panes  torrefacti 

Recrementa  (with  explanatory  phrases) 

i »  »  » 

>i  »  *> 

Spinae  (with  explanatory  phrases) 

f>  »  i» 

»  »  Fl 

Stannum 
Aes  cinereum 
Cadmiae 


Frischen 

Saigern 

Darren 

Gaarmachen 

Saigerstock 

Kiehnstock,  or 

Kinstocke 

Darrlinge 


Frischschlacke 
Darrost 
Gaarschlacke 
Saigerdorner,  or 
Rostdorner 
Darrsohle 
Abstrich 
Saigerwerk  or  saiger- 

blei 
Pickschiefer  or  schifer 

Offenbritche 


BOOK    XI. 


493 


/a     a4 

!..-!•  •  '  I  • 


•* 


120 


84  7 
7*7 


T      V 


£njf 


f     48      <S    $> 

•  •  •  r«  •  •  i  •  •  r 

R  S 


k. 


48 


^ 


B 


:  L^-ni 
T& 


Asa? 


48- 


-108 
»uo 

D!I 


7130 
»• 

7tf* 


zl 


r 


-c£* 


..  i  .  .  .  i  ...  i..  .    i  ...  i 
&     48     3»     *»      ia 


SlX  LONG  WALLS  :  A— THE  FIRST.  B — THE  FIRST  PART  OF  THE  SECOND.  C — THE 
FURTHER  PART  OF  THE  SECOND.  D — THE  THIRD.  E — THE  FOURTH.  F — THE  FIFTH. 

G — THE  SIXTH.  FOURTEEN  TRANSVERSE  WALLS  :  H — THE  FIRST.  I — THE  SECOND. 
K — THE  THIRD.  L — THE  FOURTH.  M — THE  FIFTH.  N — THE  SIXTH.  O— THE  SEVENTH. 
P — THE  EIGHTH.  Q — THE  NINTH.  R — THE  TENTH.  S — THE  ELEVENTH.  T — THE 

TWELFTH.      V — THE  THIRTEENTH.      X — THE  FOURTEENTH. 


34 


494  BOOK    XI. 

it  is  twenty  feet  long,  and  starts  from  the  fourth  long  wall.  The  sixth 
transverse  wall  is  built  also  from  the  fourth  long  wall,  at  a  point  distant 
thirty  feet  from  the  fourth  transverse  wall,  and  it  extends  as  far  as  the  back 
of  the  third  long  wall.  The  seventh  transverse  wall  is  constructed  from 
the  second  long  wall,  where  this  first  leaves  off,  to  the  third  long  wall ;  and 
from  the  back  of  the  third  long  wall  the  eighth  transverse  wall  is  built, 
extending  to  the  end  of  the  fourth  long  wall.  Then  the  fifth  long  wall  is  built 
from  the  seventh  transverse  wall,  starting  at  a  point  nineteen  feet  from  the 
second  long  wall ;  it  is  one  hundred  and  nine  feet  in  length  ;  and  at  a  point 
twenty-four  feet  along  it,  the  ninth  transverse  wall  is  carried  to  the  third  end 
of  the  second  long  wall,  where  that  begins  again.  The  tenth  transverse  wall  is 
built  from  the  end  of  the  fifth  long  wall,  and  leads  to  the  further  end  of  the 
second  long  wall ;  and  from  there  the  eleventh  transverse  wall  leads  to  the 
further  end  of  the  first  long  wall.  Behind  the  fifth  long  wall,  and  five  feet 
toward  the  third  long  wall,  the  sixth  long  wall  is  built,  leading  from  the 
seventh  transverse  wall ;  its  length  is  thirty-five  feet,  and  from  its  further 
end  the  twelfth  transverse  wall  is  built  to  the  third  long  wall,  and  from  it  the 
thirteenth  transverse  wall  is  built  to  the  fifth  long  wall.  The  fourteenth 
transverse  wall  divides  into  equal  parts  the  space  which  lies  between  the 
seventh  transverse  wall  and  the  twelfth. 

The  length,  height,  breadth,  and  position  of  the  walls  are  as  above. 
Their  archways,  doors,  and  openings  are  made  at  the  same  time  that  the  walls 
are  built.  The  size  of  these  and  the  way  they  are  made  will  be  much  better 
understood  hereafter.  I  will  now  speak  of  the  furnace  hoods  and  of  the  roofs. 
The  first  side2  of  the  hood  stands  on  the  second  long  wall,  and  is  similar  in 
every  respect  to  those  whose  structure  I  explained  in  Book  IX,  when  I 
described  the  works  in  whose  furnaces  are  smelted  the  ores  of  gold,  silver, 
and  copper.  From  this  side  of  the  hood  a  roof,  which  consists  of  burnt'  tiles, 
extends  to  the  first  long  wall ;  and  this  part  of  the  building  contains  the 
bellows,  the  machinery  for  compressing  them,  and  the  instruments  for 
inflating  them.  In  the  middle  space,  which  is  situated  between  the  second 
and  third  transverse  walls,  an  upright  post  eight  feet  high  and  two  feet  thick 

HISTORICAL  NOTE. — So  far  as  we  are  aware,  this  is  the  first  complete  discussion 
of  this  process,  although  it  is  briefly  mentioned  by  one  writer  before  Agricola — that  is,  by 
Biringuccio  (in,  5,  8),  who  wrote  ten  years  before  this  work  was  sent  to  the  printer.  His 
account  is  very  incomplete,  for  he  describes  only  the  bare  liquation,  and  states  that  the  copper 
is  re-melted  with  lead  and  re-liquated  until  the  silver  is  sufficiently  abstracted.  He  neither 
mentions  "  drying  "  nor  any  of  the  bye-products.  In  his  directions  the  silver-lead  alloy  was 
cupelled  and  the  copper  ultimately  refined,  obviously  by  oxidation  and  poling,  although  he 
omits  the  pole.  In  A.D.  1150  Theophilus  (p.  305,  Hendrie's  Trans.)  describes  melting  lead 
out  of  copper  ore,  which  would  be  a  form  of  liquation  so  far  as  separation  of  these  two  metals 
is  concerned,  but  obviously  not  a  process  for  separating  silver  from  copper.  This  passage  is 
quoted  in  the  note  on  copper  smelting  (Note  on  p.  405).  A  process  of  such  well-developed  and 
complicated  a  character  must  have  come  from  a  period  long  before  Agricola ;  but  further  than 
such  a  surmise,  there  appears  little  to  be  recorded.  Liquation  has  been  during  the  last  fifty 
years  displaced  by  other  methods,  because  it  was  not  only  tedious  and  expensive,  but  the 
losses  of  metal  were  considerable. 

*Paries, — "  Partition "  or  "  wall."  The  author  uses  this  term  throughout  in 
distinction  to  murus,  usually  applying  the  latter  to  the  walls  of  the  building  and  the  former  to 
furnace  walls,  chimney  walls,  etc.  In  order  to  gain  clarity,  we  have  introduced  the  term 
"  hood  "  in  distinction  to  "  chimney,"  and  so  far  as  possible  refer  to  the  paries  of  these  con- 
structions and  furnaces  as  "  side  of  the  furnace,"  "  side  of  the  hood,"  etc. 


BOOK    XI. 


495 


and  wide,  is  erected  on  a  rock  foundation,  and  is  distant  thirteen  feet  from 
the  second  long  wall.  On  that  upright  post,  and  in  the  second  transverse 
wall,  which  has  at  that  point  a  square  hole  two  feet  high  and  wide,  is  placed 
a  beam  thirty-four  feet  and  a  palm  long.  Another  beam,  of  the  same  length, 
width,  and  thickness,  is  fixed  on  the  same  upright  post  and  in  the  third 
transverse  wall.  The  heads  of  those  two  beams,  where  they  meet,  are  joined 
together  with  iron  staples.  In  a  similar  manner  another  post  is  erected,  at  a 
distance  of  ten  feet  from  the  first  upright  post  in  the  direction  of  the  fourth 
wall,  and  two  beams  are  laid  upon  it  and  into  the  same  walls  in  a  similar 
way  to  those  I  have  just  now  described.  On  these  two  beams  and  on  the 
fourth  long  wall  are  fixed  seventeen  cross-beams,  forty-three  feet  and  three 
palms  long,  a  foot  wide,  and  three  palms  thick  ;  the  first  of  these  is  laid  upon 
the  second  transverse  wall,  the  last  lies  along  the  third  and  fourth  transverse 
walls  ;  the  rest  are  set  in  the  space  between  them.  These  cross-beams  are 
three  feet  apart  one  from  the  other. 

In  the  ends  of  these  cross-beams,  facing  the  second  long  wall,  are  mortised 
the  ends  of  the  same  number  of  rafters  reaching  to  those  timbers  which 
stand  upright  on  the  second  long  wall,  and  in  this  manner  is  made  the  inclined 
side  of  the  hood  in  a  similar  way  to  the  one  described  in  Book  IX.  To  prevent 
this  from  falling  toward  the  vertical  wall  of  the  hood,  there  are  iron  rods 
securing  it,  but  only  a  few,  because  the  four  brick  chimneys  which  have 
to  be  built  in  that  space  partly  support  it.  Twelve  feet  back  are  likewise 
mortised  into  the  cross-beams,  which  lie  upon  the  two  longitudinal  beams 
and  the  fourth  long  wall,  the  lower  ends  of  as  many  rafters,  whose  upper  ends 
are  mortised  into  the  upper  ends  of  an  equal  number  of  similar  rafters,  whose 
lower  ends  are  mortised  to  the  ends  of  the  beams  at  the  fourth  long  wall. 
From  the  first  set  of  rafters4  to  the  second  set  of  rafters  is  a  distance  of  twelve 
feet,  in  order  that  a  gutter  may  be  well  placed  in  the  middle  space.  Between 
these  two  are  again  erected  two  sets  of  rafters,  the  lower  ends  of  which  are  like- 
wise mortised  into  the  beams,  which  lie  on  the  two  longitudinal  beams  and  the 
fourth  long  wall,  and  are  inter  distant  a  cubit.  The  upper  ends  of  the  ones 
fifteen  feet  long  rest  on  the  backs  of  the  rafters  of  the  first  set ;  the  ends  of  the 
others,  which  are  eighteen  feet  long,  rest  on  the  backs  of  the  rafters  of  the 
second  set,  which  are  longer  ;  in  this  manner,  in  the  middle  of  the  rafters,  is 
a  sub-structure.  Upon  each  alternate  cross-beam  which  is  placed  upon  the 
two  longitudinal  beams  and  the  fourth  long  wall  is  erected  an  upright  post, 
and  that  it  may  be  sufficiently  firm  it  is  strengthened  by  means  of  a  slanting 
timber.  Upon  these  posts  is  laid  a  long  beam,  upon  which  rests  one  set  of 
middle  rafters.  In  a  similar  manner  the  other  set  of  middle  rafters  rests  on  a 
long  beam  which  is  placed  upon  other  posts.  Besides  this,  two  feet  above 
every  cross-beam,  which  is  placed  on  the  two  longitudinal  beams  and  the 

fFrom  this  point  on,  the  construction  of  the  roofs,  in  the  absence  of  illustration,  is 
hopeless  of  intelligent  translation.  The  constant  repetition  of  "  lignum,"  "  tigillum," 
"  trabs,"  for  at  least  fifteen  different  construction  members  becomes  most  hopelessly  involved, 
especially  as  the  author  attempts  to  distinguish  between  them  in  a  sort  of  "  House-that-Jack- 
built  "  arrangement  of  explanatory  clauses. 


496  BOOK    XI. 

fourth  long  wall,  is  placed  a  tie-beam  which  reaches  from  the  first  set  of 
middle  rafters  to  the  second  set  of  middle  rafters  ;  upon  the  tie-beams  is 
placed  a  gutter  hollowed  out  from  a  tree.  Then  from  the  back  of  each  of 
the  first  set  of  middle  rafters  a  beam  six  feet  long  reaches  almost  to  the  gutter ; 
to  the  lower  end  of  this  beam  is  attached  a  piece  of  wood  two  feet  long  ; 
this  is  repeated  with  each  rafter  of  the  first  set  of  middle  rafters.  Similarly 
from  the  back  of  each  rafter  of  the  second  set  of  middle  rafters  a  little  beam, 
seven  feet  long,  reaches  almost  to  the  gutter  ;  to  the  lower  end  of  it 
is  likewise  attached  a  short  piece  of  wood  ;  this  is  repeated  on  each  rafter 
of  the  second  set  of  middle  rafters.  Then  in  the  upper  part,  to  the  first  and 
second  sets  of  principal  rafters  are  fastened  long  boards,  upon  which  are 
fixed  the  burnt  tiles  ;  and  in  the  same  manner,  in  the  middle  part,  they  are 
fastened  to  the  first  and  second  sets  of  middle  rafters,  and  at  the  lower  part  to 
the  little  beams  which  reach  from  each  rafter  of  the  first  and  second  set  of 
middle  rafters  almost  to  the  gutter ;  and,  finally,  to  the  little  boards  fastened 
to  the  short  pieces  of  wood  are  fixed  shingles  of  pinewood  extending  into  the 
gutter,  so  that  the  violent  rain  or  melted  snow  may  not  penetrate  into  the 
building.  The  substructures  in  the  interior  which  support  the  second  set  of 
rafters,  and  those  on  the  opposite  side  which  support  the  third,  being  not 
unusual,  I  need  not  explain. 

In  that  part  of  the  building  against  the  second  long  wall  are  the 
furnaces,  in  which  exhausted  liquation  cakes  which  have  already  been 
"dried"  are  smelted,  that  they  may  recover  once  again  the  appearance 
and  colour  of  copper,  inasmuch  as  they  really  are  copper.  The  remainder 
of  the  room  is  occupied  by  the  passage  which  leads  from  the  door  to  the 
furnaces,  together  with  two  other  furnaces,  in  one  of  which  the  whole  cakes 
of  copper  are  heated,  and  in  the  other  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are 
"  dried  "  by  the  heat  of  the  fire. 

Likewise,  in  the  room  between  the  third  and  seventh5  transverse  walls, 
two  posts  are  erected  on  rock  foundation  ;  both  of  them  are  eight  feet  high 
and  two  feet  wide  and  thick.  The  one  is  at  a  distance  of  thirteen  feet  from 
the  second  long  wall ;  the  other  at  the  same  distance  from  the  third  long  wall ; 
there  is  a  distance  of  thirteen  feet  between  them.  Upon  these  two  posts  and 
upon  the  third  transverse  wall  are  laid  two  longitudinal  beams,  forty-one  feet 
and  one  palm  long,  and  two  feet  wide  and  thick.  Two  other  beams  of  the 
same  length,  width,  and  thickness  are  laid  upon  the  upright  posts  and  upon 
the  seventh  transverse  wall,  and  the  heads  of  the  two  long  beams,  where  they 
meet,  are  joined  with  iron  staples.  On  these  longitudinal  beams  are  again 
placed  twenty-one  transverse  beams,  thirteen  feet  long,  a  foot  wide,  and  three 
palms  thick,  of  which  the  first  is  set  on  the  third  transverse  wall,  and  the  last 
on  the  seventh  transverse  wall ;  the  rest  are  laid  in  the  space  between  these 
two,  and  they  are  distant  from  one  another  three  feet.  Into  the  ends  of 
the  transverse  beams  which  face  the  second  long  wall,  are  mortised  the 
ends  of  the  same  number  of  rafters  erected  toward  the  upright  posts 
which  are  placed  upon  the  second  long  wall,  and  in  this  manner  is  made 

"In  the  original  text  this  is  given  as  the   "  fifth,"   a  manifest  impossibility. 


BOOK    XI. 


497 


the  second  inclined  side  wall  of  the  hood.  Into  the  ends  of  the  transverse 
beams  facing  the  third  long  wall,  are  mortised  the  ends  of  the  same 
number  of  rafters  rising  toward  the  rafters  of  the  first  inclined  side  of 
the  second  hood,  and  in  this  manner  is  made  the  other  inclined  side  of 
the  second  hood.  But  to  prevent  this  from  falling  in  upon  the  opposite 
inclined  side  of  the  hood,  and  that  again  upon  the  opposite  vertical  one, 
there  are  many  iron  rods  reaching  from  some  of  the  rafters  to  those 
opposite  them  ;  and  this  is  also  prevented  in  part  by  means  of  a  few  tie-beams, 
extending  from  the  back  of  the  rafters  to  the  back  of  those  which  are  behind 
them.  These  tie-beams  are  two  palms  thick  and  wide,  and  have  holes  made 
through  them  at  each  end  ;  each  of  the  rafters  is  bound  round  with  iron 
bands  three  digits  wide  and  half  a  digit  thick,  which  hold  together  the  ends 
of  the  tie-beams  of  which  I  have  spoken ;  and  so  that  the  joints  may  be  firm, 
an  iron  nail,  passing  through  the  plate  on  both  sides,  is  driven  through  the 
holes  in  the  ends  of  the  beams.  Since  one  weight  counter-balances  another,  the 
rafters  on  the  opposite  hoods  cannot  fall.  The  tie-beams  and  middle  posts 
which  have  to  support  the  gutters  and  the  roof,  are  made  in  every  particular 
as  I  stated  above,  except  only  that  the  second  set  of  middle  rafters  are  not 
longer  than  the  first  set  of  middle  rafters,  and  that  the  little  beams  which 
reach  from  the  back  of  each  rafter  of  the  second  set  of  middle  rafters  nearly 
to  the  gutter  are  not  longer  than  the  little  beams  which  reach  from  the  back 
of  each  rafter  of  the  first  set  of  middle  rafters  almost  to  the  gutter.  In  this 
part  of  the  building,  against  the  second  long  wall,  are  the  furnaces  in  which 
copper  is  alloyed  with  lead,  and  in  which  "  slags  "  are  re-smelted.  Against 
the  third  long  wall  are  the  furnaces  in  which  silver  and  lead  are  liquated  from 
copper.  The  interior  is  also  occupied  by  two  cranes,  of  which  one  deposits 
on  the  ground  the  cakes  of  copper  lifted  out  of  the  moulding  pans  ;  the  other 
lifts  them  from  the  ground  into  the  second  furnace. 

On  the  third  and  the  fourth  long  walls  are  set  twenty-one  beams  eighteen 
feet  and  three  palms  long.  In  mortises  in  them,  two  feet  behind  the  third  long 
wall,  are  set  the  ends  of  the  same  number  of  rafters  erected  opposite  to  the 
rafters  of  the  other  inclined  wall  of  the  second  furnace  hood,  and  in  this 
manner  is  made  the  third  inclined  wall,  exactly  similar  to  the  others.  The 
ends  of  as  many  rafters  are  mortised  into  these  beams  where  they  are  fixed  in 
the  fourth  long  wall ;  these  rafters  are  erected  obliquely,  and  rest  against  the 
backs  of  the  preceding  ones  and  support  the  roof,  which  consists  entirely  of 
burnt  tiles  and  has  the  usual  substructures.  In  this  part  of  the  building 
there  are  two  rooms,  in  the  first  of  which  the  cakes  of  copper,  and  in  the  other 
the  cakes  of  lead,  are  stored. 

In  the  space  enclosed  between  the  ninth  and  tenth  transverse  walls  and 
the  second  and  fifth  long  walls,  a  post  twelve  feet  high  and  two  feet  wide  and 
thick  is  erected  on  a  rock  foundation  ;  it  is  distant  thirteen  feet  from  the 
second  long  wall,  and  six  from  the  fifth  long  wall.  Upon  this  post  and  upon 
the  ninth  transverse  wall  is  laid  a  beam  thirty-three  feet  and  three  palms 
long,  and  two  palms  wide  and  thick.  Another  beam,  also  of  the  same  length, 
width  and  thickness,  is  laid  upon  the  same  post  and  upon  the  tenth  transverse 


BOOK    XL 

wall,  and  the  ends  of  these  two  beams  where  they  meet  are  joined  by  means 
of  iron  staples.  On  these  beams  and  on  the  fifth  long  wall  are  placed  ten 
cross-beams,  eight  feet  and  three  palms  long,  the  first  of  which  is  placed  on 
the  ninth  transverse  wall,  the  last  on  the  tenth,  the  remainder  in  the  space 
between  them  ;  they  are  distant  from  one  another  three  feet.  Into  the 
ends  of  the  cross-beams  facing  the  second  long  wall,  are  mortised  the  ends  of 
the  same  number  of  rafters  inclined  toward  the  posts  which  stand  vertically 
upon  the  second  long  wall.  This,  again,  is  the  manner  in  which  the  inclined 
side  of  the  furnace  hood  is  made,  just  as  with  the  others  ;  at  the  top 
where  the  fumes  are  emitted  it  is  two  feet  distant  from  the  vertical  side. 
The  ends  of  the  same  number  of  rafters  are  mortised  into  the  cross-beams, 
where  they  are  set  in  the  fifth  long  wall ;  each  of  them  is  set  up  obliquely  and 
rests  against  the  back  of  one  of  the  preceding  set ;  they  support  the  roof, 
made  of  burnt  tiles.  In  this  part  of  the  building,  against  the  second  long 
wall,  are  four  furnaces  in  which  lead  is  separated  from  silver,  together  with 
the  cranes  by  means  of  which  the  domes  are  lifted  from  the  crucibles. 

In  that  part  of  the  building  which  lies  between  the  first  long  wall  and 
the  break  in  the  second  long  wall,  is  the  stamp  with  which  the  copper  cakes 
are  crushed,  and  the  four  stamps  with  which  the  accretions  that  are  chipped 
off  the  walls  of  the  furnace  are  broken  up  and  crushed  to  powder,  and  likewise 
the  bricks  on  which  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  of  copper  are  stood  to 
be  "  dried."  This  room  has  the  usual  roof,  as  also  has  the  space  between 
the  seventh  transverse  wall  and  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  transverse  walls. 

At  the  sides  of  these  rooms  are  the  fifth,  the  sixth,  and  the  third  long 
walls.  This  part  of  the  building  is  divided  into  two  parts,  in  the  first  of 
which  stand  the  little  furnaces  in  which  the  artificer  assays  metals ;  and  the 
bone  ash,  together  with  the  other  powders,  are  kept  here.  In  the  other  room 
is  prepared  the  powder  from  which  the  hearths  and  the  crucibles  of  the  fur- 
naces are  made.  Outside  the  building,  at  the  back  of  the  fourth  long  wall, 
near  the  door  to  the  left  as  you  enter,  is  a  hearth  in  which  smaller 
masses  of  lead  are  melted  from  large  ones,  that  they  may  be  the  more  easily 
weighed ;  because  the  masses  of  lead,  just  as  much  as  the  cakes  of  copper, 
ought  to  be  first  prepared  so  that  they  can  be  weighed,  and  a  definite  weight 
can  be  melted  and  alloyed  in  the  furnaces.  To  begin  with,  the  hearth  in 
which  the  masses  of  lead  are  liquefied  is  six  feet  long  and  five  wide ;  it  is 
protected  on  both  sides  by  rocks  partly  sunk  into  the  earth,  but  a  palm  higher 
than  the  hearth,  and  it  is  lined  in  the  inside  with  lute.  It  slopes  toward  the 
middle  and  toward  the  front,  in  order  that  the  molten  lead  may  run  down 
and  flow  out  into  the  dipping-pot.  There  is  a  wall  at  the  back  of  the  hearth 
which  protects  the  fourth  long  wall  from  damage  by  the  heat ;  this  wall, 
which  is  made  of  bricks  and  lute,  is  four  feet  high,  three  palms  thick,  and  five 
feet  long  at  the  bottom,  and  at  the  top  three  feet  and  two  palms  long  ;  there- 
fore it  narrows  gradually,  and  in  the  upper  part  are  laid  seven  bricks,  the 
middle  ones  of  which  are  set  upright,  and  the  end  ones  inclined  ;  they  are  all 
thickly  coated  with  lute.  In  front  of  the  hearth  is  a  dipping-pot,  whose  pit  is 
a  foot  deep,  and  a  foot  and  three  palms  wide  at  the  top,  and  gradually  narrows. 


BOOK    XI. 


499 


A— HEARTH.      B— ROCKS  SUNK  INTO  THE  GROUND.       C— WALLS  WHICH  PROTECT  THE 

FOURTH    LONG   WALL   FROM    DAMAGE    BY   FIRE.      D — DlPPING-POT.      E — MASSES   OF   LEAD. 

F— TROLLEY.     G— ITS  WHEELS.      H— CRANE.     I— TONGS.      K— WOOD.      L— MOULDS. 

M— LADLE.    N— PICK.    O— CAKES. 


500  BOOK    XI. 

When  the  masses  of  lead  are  to  be  melted,  the  workman  first  places  the  wood 
in  the  hearth  so  that  one  end  of  each  billet  faces  the  wall,  and  the  other  end 
the  dipping-pot.  Then,  assisted  by  other  workmen,  he  pushes  the  mass 
of  lead  forward  with  crowbars  on  to  a  low  trolley,  and  draws  it  to  the 
crane.  The  trolley  consists  of  planks  fastened  together,  is  two  and  one-half 
feet  wide  and  five  feet  long,  and  has  two  small  iron  axles,  around  which  at 
each  end  revolve  small  iron  wheels,  two  palms  in  diameter  and  as  many  digits 
wide.  The  trolley  has  a  tongue,  and  attached  to  this  is  a  rope,  by  which  it  is 
drawn  to  the  crane.  The  crane  is  exactly  similar  to  those  in  the  second  part 
of  the  works,  except  that  the  crane-arm  is  not  so  long.  The  tongs  in  whose 
jaws6  the  masses  of  lead  are  seized,  are  two  feet  a  palm  and  two  digits  long  ; 
both  of  the  jaws,  when  struck  with  a  hammer,  impinge  upon  the  mass  and  are 
driven  into  it.  The  upper  part  of  both  handles  of  the  tongs  are  curved  back, 
the  one  to  the  right,  the  other  to  the  left,  and  each  handle  is  engaged  in  one 
of  the  lowest  links  of  two  short  chains,  which  are  three  links  long.  The  upper 
links  are  engaged  in  a  large  round  ring,  in  which  is  fixed  the  hook  of  a  chain 
let  down  from  the  pulley  of  the  crane-arm.  When  the  crank  of  the  crane 
is  turned,  the  mass  is  lifted  and  is  carried  by  the  crane-arm  to  the  hearth  and 
placed  on  the  wood.  The  workmen  wheel  up  one  mass  after  another  and 
place  them  in  a  similar  manner  on  the  wood  of  the  hearth ;  masses  which 
weigh  a  total  of  about  a  hundred  and  sixty  centumpondia7  are  usually  placed 
upon  the  wood  and  melted  at  one  time.  Then  a  workman  throws  charcoal 
on  the  masses,  and  all  are  made  ready  in  the  evening.  If  he  fears  that  it  may 
rain,  he  covers  it  up  with  a  cover,  which  may  be  moved  here  and  there  ;  at  the 
back  this  cover  has  two  legs,  so  that  the  rain  which  it  collects  may  flow  down 
the  slope  on  to  the  open  ground.  Early  in  the  morning  of  the  following  day, 
he  throws  live  coals  on  the  charcoal  with  a  shovel,  and  by  this  method  the 
masses  of  lead  melt,  and  from  time  to  time  charcoal  is  added.  The  lead,  as 
soon  as  it  begins  to  run  into  the  dipping-pot,  is  ladled  out  with  an  iron  ladle 
into  copper  moulds  such  as  the  refiners  generally  use.  If  it  does  not  cool 
immediately  he  pours  water  over  it,  and  then  sticks  the  pointed  pick  into 
it  and  pulls  it  out.  The  pointed  end  of  the  pick  is  three  palms  long  and 
the  round  end  is  two  digits  long.  It  is  necessary  to  smear  the  moulds  with  a 
wash  of  lute,  in  order  that,  when  they  have  been  turned  upside  down  and 
struck  with  the  broad  round  end  of  the  pick,  the  cakes  of  lead  may  fall  out 
easily.  If  the  moulds  are  not  washed  over  with  the  lute,  there  is  a  risk  that 
they  may  be  melted  by  the  lead  and  let  it  through.  Others  take  hold  of  a 
billet  of  wood  with  their  left  hand,  and  with  the  heavy  lower  end  of  it  they 
pound  the  mould,  and  with  the  right  hand  they  stick  the  point  of  the  pick 
into  the  cake  of  lead,  and  thus  pull  it  out.  Then  immediately  the  workman 
pours  other  lead  into  the  empty  moulds,  and  this  he  does  until  the  work  of 
melting  the  lead  is  finished.  When  the  lead  is  melted,  something  similar  to 
litharge  is  produced  ;  but  it  is  no  wonder  that  it  should  be  possible  to  make 

^Chelae,—"  claws." 

7If  Roman  weights,  this  would  be  5.6  short  tons,  and  7.5  tons  if  German  centner  is 
meant. 


BOOK    XL 

it  in  this  case,  when  it  used  formerly  to  be  produced  at  Puteoli  from  lead 
alone  when  melted  by  a  fierce  fire  in  the  cupellation  furnace.8  Afterward 
these  cakes  of  lead  are  carried  into  the  lead  store-room. 

The  cakes  of  copper,  put  into  wheelbarrows,  are  carried  into  the  third 
part  of  the  building,  where  each  is  laid  upon  a  saddle,  and  is  broken  up  by 
the  impact  of  successive  blows  from  the  iron-shod  stamp.  This  machine 
is  made  by  placing  upon  the  ground  a  block  of  oak,  five  feet  long  and  three  feet 


A — BLOCK  OF  WOOD.     B — UPRIGHT  POSTS.     C — TRANSVERSE  BEAMS.     D — HEAD  OF  THE 

STAMP.       E — ITS  TOOTH.      F — THE  HOLE  IN  THE  STAMP-STEM.     G — IRON  BAR.     H — MASSES 
OF  LEAD.      I — THE  BRONZE   SADDLE.      K — AXLE.      L — ITS  ARMS.       M — LITTLE   IRON  AXLE. 

N — BRONZE  PIPE. 

wide  and  thick  ;  it  is  cut  out  in  the  middle  for  a  length  of  two  feet  and  two 
palms,  a  width  of  two  feet,  and  a  depth  of  three  palms  and  two  digits,  and  is 
open  in  front ;  the  higher  part  of  it  is  at  the  back,  and  the  wide  part  lies  flat 
in  the  block.  In  the  middle  of  it  is  placed  a  bronze  saddle.  Its  base 
is  a  palm  and  two  digits  wide,  and  is  planted  between  two  masses  of 
lead,  and  extends  under  them  to  a  depth  of  a  palm  on  both  sides. 
The  whole  saddle  is  three  palms  and  two  digits  wide,  a  foot  long,  and 

8This  is,  no  doubt,  a  reference  to  Pliny's  statement  (xxxm,  35)  regarding  litharge 
at  Puteoli.  This  passage  from  Pliny  is  given  in  the  footnote  on  p.  466.  Puteoli  was  situated  on 
the  Bay  of  Naples. 


502  BOOK    XI. 

two  palms  thick.  Upon  each  end  of  the  block  stands  a  post,  a  cubit  wide 
and  thick,  the  upper  end  of  which  is  somewhat  cut  away  and  is  mortised  into 
the  beams  of  the  building.  At  a  height  of  four  feet  and  two  digits  above  the 
block  there  are  joined  to  the  posts  two  transverse  beams,  each  of  which  is 
three  palms  wide  and  thick  ;  their  ends  are  mortised  into  the  upright  posts, 
and  holes  are  bored  through  them;  in  the  holes  are  driven  iron  claves, 
horned  in  front  and  so  driven  into  the  post  that  one  of  the  horns  of  each 
points  upward  and  the  other  downward  ;  the  other  end  of  each  clavis  is 
perforated,  and  a  wide  iron  wedge  is  inserted  and  driven  into  the  holes,  and 
thus  holds  the  transverse  beams  in  place.  These  transverse  beams  have  in  the 
middle  a  square  opening  three  palms  and  half  a  digit  wide  in  each 
direction,  through  which  the  iron-shod  stamp  passes.  At  a  height  of  three 
feet  and  two  palms  above  these  transverse  beams  there  are  again  two  beams 
of  the  same  kind,  having  also  a  square  opening  and  holding  the  same  stamp. 
This  stamp  is  square,  eleven  feet  long,  three  palms  wide  and  thick  ;  its  iron 
shoe  is  a  foot  and  a  palm  long  ;  its  head  is  two  palms  long  and  wide,  a  palm 
two  digits  thick  at  the  top,  and  at  the  bottom  the  same  number  of  digits,  for 
it  gradually  narrows.  But  the  tail  is  three  palms  long  ;  where  the  head 
begins  is  two  palms  wide  and  thick,  and  the  further  it  departs  from  the  same 
the  narrower  it  becomes.  The  upper  part  is  enclosed  in  the  stamp-stem,  and 
it  is  perforated  so  that  an  iron  bolt  may  be  driven  into  it  ;  it  is  bound  by  three 
rectangular  iron  bands,  the  lowest  of  which,  a  palm  wide,  is  between  the  iron 
shoe  and  the  head  of  the  stamp  ;  the  middle  band,  three  digits  wide,  follows 
next  and  binds  round  the  head  of  the  stamp,  and  two  digits  above  is  the 
upper  one,  which  is  the  same  number  of  digits  wide.  At  a  distance  of  two 
feet  and  as  many  digits  above  the  lowest  part  of  the  iron  shoe,  is  a  rectangular 
tooth,  projecting  from  the  stamp  for  a  distance  of  a  foot  and  a  palm  ;  it  is 
two  palms  thick,  and  when  it  has  extended  to  a  distance  of  six  digits  from  the 
stamp  it  is  made  two  digits  narrower.  At  a  height  of  three  palms  upward 
from  the  tooth  there  is  a  round  hole  in  the  middle  of  the  stamp-stem,  into 
which  can  be  thrust  a  round  iron  bar  two  feet  long  and  a  digit  and  a  half  in 
diameter  ;  in  its  hollow  end  is  fixed  a  wooden  handle  two  palms  and  the  same 
number  of  digits  long.  The  bar  rests  on  the  lower  transverse  beam,  and  holds 
up  the  stamp  when  it  is  not  in  use.  The  axle  which  raises  the  stamp 
has  on  each  side  two  arms,  which  are  two  palms  and  three  digits  distant 
from  each  other,  and  which  project  from  the  axle  a  foot,  a  palm  and  two 
digits  ;  penetrating  through  them  are  bolts,  driven  in  firmly  ;  the  arms  are 
each  a  palm  and  two  digits  wide  and  thick,  and  their  round  heads,  for  a  foot 
downward  on  either  side,  are  covered  with  iron  plates  of  the  same  width  as 
the  arms  and  fastened  by  iron  nails.  The  head  of  each  arm  has  a  round 
hole,  into  which  is  inserted  an  iron  pin,  passing  through  a  bronze  pipe  ;  this 
little  axle  has  at  the  one  end  a  wide  head,  and  at  the  other  end  a  perforation 
through  which  is  driven  an  iron  nail,  lest  this  little  axle  should  fall  out  of  the 
arms.  The  bronze  pipe  is  two  palms  long  and  one  in  diameter;  the  little 
iron  axle  penetrates  through  its  round  interior,  which  is  two  digits  in  diameter. 
The  bronze  pipe  not  only  revolves  round  the  little  iron  axle,  but  it  also 


BOOK    XI.  503 

rotates  with  it ;  therefore,  when  the  axle  revolves,  the  little  axle  and 
the  bronze  tube  in  their  turn  raise  the  tooth  and  the  stamp.  When  the 
little  iron  axle  and  the  bronze  pipe  have  been  taken  out  of  the  arms,  the  tooth 
of  the  stamps  is  not  raised,  and  other  stamps  may  be  raised  without  this  one. 
Further  on,  a  drum  with  spindles  fixed  around  the  axle  of  a  water-wheel 
moves  the  axle  of  a  toothed  drum,  which  depresses  the  sweeps  of  the  bellows 
in  the  adjacent  fourth  part  of  the  building  ;  but  it  turns  in  the  contrary 
direction  ;  for  the  axis  of  the  drum  which  raises  the  stamps  turns  toward 
the  north,  while  that  one  which  depresses  the  sweeps  of  the  bellows  turns 
toward  the  south. 

Those  cakes  which  are  too  thick  to  be  rapidly  broken  by  blows  from 
the  iron-shod  stamp,  such  as  are  generally  those  which  have  settled  in  the 
bottom  of  the  crucible,9  are  carried  into  the  first  part  of  the  building.  They 
are  there  heated  in  a  furnace,  which  is  twenty-eight  feet  distant  from  the 
second  long  wall  and  twelve  feet  from  the  second  transverse  wall.  The  three 
sides  of  this  furnace  are  built  of  rectangular  rocks,  upon  which  bricks  are  laid ; 
the  back  furnace  wall  is  three  feet  and  a  palm  high,  and  the  rear  of  the  side 
walls  is  the  same  ;  the  side  walls  are  sloping,  and  where  the  furnace  is  open  in 
front  they  are  only  two  feet  and  three  palms  high ;  all  the  walls  are  a  foot  and 
a  palm  thick.  Upon  these  walls  stand  upright  posts  not  less  thick,  in  order 
that  they  may  bear  the  heavy  weight  placed  upon  them,  and  they  are  covered 
with  lute  ;  these  posts  support  the  sloping  chimney  and  penetrate  through 
the  roof.  Moreover,  not  only  the  ribs  of  the  chimney,  but  also  the  rafters, 
are  covered  thickly  with  lute.  The  hearth  of  the  furnace  is  six  feet 
long  on  each  side,  is  sloping,  and  is  paved  with  bricks.  The  cakes  of  copper 
are  placed  in  the  furnace  and  heated  in  the  following  way.  They  are  first  of 
all  placed  in  the  furnace  in  rows,  with  as  many  small  stones  the  size  of  an  egg 
between,  so  that  the  heat  of  the  fire  can  penetrate  through  the  spaces  between 
them  ;  indeed,  those  cakes  which  are  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  crucible  are 
each  raised  upon  half  a  brick  for  the  same  reason.  But  lest  the  last  row, 
which  lies  against  the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  should  fall  out,  against  the  mouth 
are  placed  iron  plates,  or  the  copper  cakes  which  are  the  first  taken  from  the 
crucible  when  copper  is  made,  and  against  them  are  laid  exhausted  liquation 
cakes  or  rocks.  Then  charcoal  is  thrown  on  the  cakes,  and  then  live  coals  ; 
at  first  the  cakes  are  heated  by  a  gentle  fire,  and  afterward  more  charcoal  is 
added  to  them  until  it  is  at  times  three-quarters  of  a  foot  deep.  A  fiercer  fire 
certainly  required  to  heat  the  hard  cakes  of  copper  than  the  fragile  ones. 
When  the  cakes  have  been  sufficiently  heated,  which  usually  occurs  within 
the  space  of  about  two  hours,  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  or  the  rocks 
and  the  iron  plate  are  removed  from  the  mouth  of  the  furnace.  Then  the 
hot  cakes  are  taken  out  row  after  row  with  a  two-pronged  rabble,  such  as  the 
one  which  is  used  by  those  who  "  dry  "  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes. 
Then  the  first  cake  is  laid  upon  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes,  and  beaten  by 
two  workmen  with  hammers  until  it  breaks  ;  the  hotter  the  cakes  are,  the 

9By  this  expression  is  apparently  meant  the  "  bottoms  "  produced  in  enriching  copper, 
as  described  on  p.  510. 


504 


BOOK    XI. 


sooner  they  are  broken  up ;  the  less  hot,  the  longer  it  takes,  for  now  and 
then  they  bend  into  the  shape  of  copper  basins.  When  the  first  cake  has 
been  broken,  the  second  is  put  on  to  the  other  fragments  and  beaten  until  it 
breaks  into  pieces,  and  the  rest  of  the  cakes  are  broken  up  in  the  same  manner 
in  due  order.  The  head  of  the  hammer  is  three  palms  long  and  one  wide, 
and  sharpened  at  both  ends,  and  its  handle  is  of  wood  three  feet  long. 
When  they  have  been  broken  by  the  stamp,  if  cold,  or  with  hammers  if  hot, 
the  fragments  of  copper  or  the  cakes  are  carried  into  the  store-room  for 
copper. 


S/^JLLLLLUJLLt 


A — BACK  WALL.       B — WALLS  AT  THE  SIDES.       C — UPRIGHT  POSTS.       D — CHIMNEY. 
E — THE    CAKES    ARRANGED.     F — IRON    PLATES.    G — ROCKS.     H — RABBLE  WITH  TWO 

PRONGS.     I — HAMMERS. 

The  foreman  of  the  works,  according  to  the  different  proportions  of 
silver  in  each  centumpondium  of  copper,  alloys  it  with  lead,  without  which 
he  could  not  separate  the  silver  from  the  copper.10  If  there  be  a  moderate 

10The  details  of  the  preparation  of  liquation  cakes — "  leading  " — were  matters  of  great 
concern  to  the  old  metallurgists.  The  size  of  the  cakes,  the  proportion  of  silver  in  the  original 
copper  and  in  the  liquated  lead,  the  proportion  of  lead  and  silver  left  in  the  residual  cakes,  all 
had  to  be  reached  by  a  series  of  compromises  among  militant  forces.  The  cakes  were  generally 
two  and  one-half  to  three  and  one-half  inches  thick  and  about  two  feet  in  diameter,  and 


BOOK    XI.  505 

amount  of  silver  in  the  copper,  he  alloys  it  fourfold  ;  for  instance,  if  in  three- 
quarters  of  a  centumpondium  of  copper  there  is  less  than  the  following  pro- 
portions, i.e.  :  half  a  libra  of  silver,  or  half  a  libra  and  a  sicilicus,  or  half  a  libra 
and  a  semi-uncia,  or  half  a  libra  and  semi-uncia  and  a  sicilicus,  then  rich 
lead — that  is,  that  from  which  the  silver  has  not  yet  been  separated — is 
added,  to  the  amount  of  half  a  centumpondium  or  a  whole  centumpondium,  or 
a  whole  and  a  half,  in  such  a  way  that  there  may  be  in  the  copper-lead  alloy 
some  one  of  the  proportions  of  silver  which  I  have  just  mentioned,  which  is 
the  first  alloy.  To  this  "  first  "  alloy  is  added  such  a  weight  of  de-silverized 
lead  or  litharge  as  is  required  to  make  out  of  all  of  these  a  single  liquation  cake 
that  will  contain  approximately  two  centumpondia  of  lead  ;  but  as  usually 
from  one  hundred  and  thirty  librae  of  litharge  only  one  hundred  librae  of  lead 
are  made,  a  greater  proportion  of  litharge  than  of  de-silverized  lead  is  added 
as  a  supplement.  Since  four  cakes  of  this  kind  are  placed  at  the  same  time 
into  the  furnace  in  which  the  silver  and  lead  is  liquated  from  copper,  there 
will  be  in  all  the  cakes  three  centumpondia  of  copper  and  eight  centumpondia 
of  lead.  When  the  lead  has  been  liquated  from  the  copper,  it  weighs  six 
centumpondia,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is  a  quarter  of  a  libra 
and  almost  a  sicilicus  of  silver.  Only  seven  unciae  of  the  silver  remain  in  the 
exhausted  liquation  cakes  and  in  that  copper-lead  alloy  which  we  call 
"  liquation  thorns  "  ;  they  are  not  called  by  this  name  so  much  because  they 
have  sharp  points  as  because  they  are  base.  If  in  three-quarters  of  a  centum- 
pondium of  copper  there  are  less  than  seven  uncia  and  a  semi-uncia  or  a  bes 
of  silver,  then  so  much  rich  lead  must  be  added  as  to  make  in  the  copper  and 
lead  alloy  one  of  the  proportions  of  silver  which  I  have  already  mentioned. 
This  is  the  "  second  "  alloy.  To  this  is  again  to  be  added  as  great  a  weight 

weighed  225  to  375lbs.  This  size  was  wonderfully  persistent  from  Agricola  down  to  modern 
times  ;  and  was,  no  doubt,  based  on  sound  experience.  If  the  cakes  were  too  small,  they 
required  proportionately  more  fuel  and  labour  ;  whilst  if  too  large,  the  copper  began  to  melt 
before  the  maximum  lead  was  liquated.  The  ratio  of  the  copper  and  lead  was  regulated  by 
the  necessity  of  enough  copper  to  leave  a  substantial  sponge  mass  the  shape  of  the  original 
cake,  and  not  so  large  a  proportion  as  to  imprison  the  lead.  That  is,  if  the  copper  be  in  too 
small  proportion  the  cakes  break  down  ;  and  if  in  too  large,  then  insufficient  lead  liquates 
out,  and  the  extraction  of  silver  decreases.  Ercker  (p.  106-9)  insists  on  the  equivalent  of  about 
3  copper  to  9.5  lead  ;  Lohneys  (p.  99),  3  copper  to  9  or  10  lead.  Schluter  (p.  479,  etc.) 
insists  on  a  ration  of  3  copper  to  about  n  lead.  Kerl  (Handbuch  Der  M  etallurgischen  Hutlen 
kunde,  1855  ;  Vol.  III.,  p.  116)  gives  3  copper  to  6  to  7  parts  lead.  Agricola  gives  variable 
amounts  of  3  parts  copper  to  from  8  to  12  parts  lead.  As  to  the  ratio  of  silver  in  the  copper, 
or  to  the  cakes,  there  does  not,  except  the  limit  of  payability,  seem  to  have  been  any  difficulty 
on  the  minimum  side.  On  the  other  hand,  Ercker,  Lohneys,  Schluter,  and  Karsten  all 
contend  that  if  the  silver  ran  above  a  certain  proportion,  the  copper  would  retain  considerable 
silver.  These  authors  give  the  outside  ratio  of  silver  permissible  for  good  results  in  one 
liquation  at  what  would  be  equivalent  to  45  to  65  ozs.  per  ton  of  cakes,  or  about  190  to  250  ozs. 
per  ton  on  the  original  copper.  It  will  be  seen,  however,  that  Agricola' s  cakes  greatly  exceed 
these  values.  A  difficulty  did  arise  when  the  copper  ran  low  in  silver,  in  that  the  liquated 
lead  was  too  poor  to  cupel,  and  in  such  case  the  lead  was  used  over  again,  until  it  became  rich 
enough  for  this  purpose.  According  to  Karsten,  copper  containing  less  than  an  equivalent 
of  80  to  90  ozs.  per  ton  could  not  be  liquated  profitably,  although  the  Upper  Harz  copper, 
according  to  Kerl,  containing  the  equivalent  of  about  50  ozs.  per  ton,  was  liquated  at  a  profit. 
In  such  a  case  the  cakes  would  run  only  12  to  14  ozs.  per  ton.  It  will  be  noticed  that  in  the 
eight  cases  given  by  Agricola  the  copper  ran  from  97  to  over  580  ozs.  per  ton,  and  in  the  de- 
scription of  enrichment  of  copper  "  bottoms  "  the  original  copper  runs  85  ozs.,  and  "  it  cannot 
be  separated  easily  "  ;  as  a  result,  it  is  raised  to  no  ozs.  per  ton  before  treatment.  In  addition 
to  the  following  tabulation  of  the  proportions  here  given  by  Agricola,  the  reader  should  refer  to 
footnotes  15  and  17,  where  four  more  combinations  are  tabulated.  It  will  be  observed  from 


506  BOOK    XI. 

of  de-silverized  lead,  or  of  litharge,  as  will  make  it  possible  to  obtain  from  that 
alloy  a  liquation  cake  containing  two  and  a  quarter  centumpondia  of  lead, 
in  which  manner  in  four  of  these  cakes  there  will  be  three  centumpondia  of 
copper  and  nine  centumpondia  of  lead.  The  lead  which  liquates  from  these 
cakes  weighs  seven  centumpondia,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is 
a  quarter  of  a  libra  of  silver  and  a  little  more  than  a  sicilicus.  About  seven 
unciae  of  silver  remain  in  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  and  in  the  liquation 
thorns,  if  we  may  be  allowed  to  make  common  the  old  name  (spinae=thoms) 
and  bestow  it  upon  a  new  substance.  If  in  three-quarters  of  a  centumpondium 
of  copper  there  is  less  than  three-quarters  of  a  libra  of  silver,  or  three-quarters 
and  a  semi-uncia,  then  as  much  rich  lead  must  be  added  as  will  produce  one 
of  the  proportions  of  silver  in  the  copper-lead  alloy  above  mentioned  ;  this 
is  the  "  third  "  alloy.  To  this  is  added  such  an  amount  of  de-silverized  lead 
or  of  litharge,  that  a  liquation  cake  made  from  it  contains  in  all  two  and 
three-quarters  centumpondia  of  lead.  In  this  manner  four  such  cakes  will 
contain  three  centumpondia  of  copper  and  eleven  centumpondia  of  lead. 
The  lead  which  these  cakes  liquate,  when  they  are  melted  in  the  furnace, 
weighs  about  nine  centumpondia,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is 
a  quarter  of  a  libra  and  more  than  a  sicilicus  of  silver  ;  and  seven  unciae  of 
silver  remain  in  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  and  in  the  liquation  thorns. 
If,  however,  in  three-quarters  of  a  centumpondium  of  copper  there  is  less  than 
ten-twelfths  of  a  libra  or  ten-twelfths  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver, 
then  such  a  proportion  of  rich  lead  is  added  as  will  produce  in  the  copper-lead 
alloy  one  of  the  proportions  of  silver  which  I  mentioned  above  ;  this  is  the 
"  fourth  "  alloy.  To  this  is  added  such  a  weight  of  de-silverized  lead  or  of 
litharge,  that  a  liquation  cake  made  from  it  contains  three  centumpondia  of 

this  table  that  with  the  increasing  richness  of  copper  an  increased  proportion  of  lead  was 
added,  so  that  the  products  were  of  similar  value.  It  has  been  assumed  (see  footnote  13 
p.  5°9).  that  Roman  weights  are  intended.  It  is  not  to  be  expected  that  metallurgical 
results  of  this  period  will  "  tie  up  "  with  the  exactness  of  the  modern  operator's,  and  it  has 
not  been  considered  necessary  to  calculate  beyond  the  nearest  pennyweight.  Where  two 
or  more  values  are  given  by  the  author  the  average  has  been  taken. 

IST  CHARGE.         2ND  CHARGE.        3RD  CHARGE.         4TH  CHARGE. 

Amount  of  argenti- 
ferous copper  .  211.8  Ibs.  -211. 8  Ibs.  211.8  Ibs.  211.8  Ibs. 

Amount  of  lead 

Weight  of  each  cake , 

Average    value   of 
charge 

Per  cent,  of  copper. 

Average  value  of  ori 

ginal  copper  per  ton    207  ozs.  4dwts.      251  ozs.  3dwts.      299  ozs.  isdwts.     332  ozs.  3dwts. 

Weight    of    argenti- 
ferous lead  liquated 
out  . .          . .    423.6  Ibs.  494-2  Ibs.  635.4  Ibs.  706  Ibs. 

Average  value  of  liqu- 
ated lead  per  ton . .  79  ozs.  79  ozs.  79  ozs.  85  ozs. 

Weight  of  residues  (re- 
sidual copper  and 
thorns)  . .  . .  353  Ibs.  353  Ibs.  353  Ibs.  353  Ibs. 

Average  value  of  re- 
sidues per  ton  . .  34  ozs.  34  ozs.  34  ozs.  34  ozs.  to  38  ozs. 

Extraction  of  silver 
into  the  argenti- 
ferous lead  . .  76.5%  73-4%  79%  85.3% 


564.8    „  635.4    ..  776-6    „  847.2 

193-5    ,,  211.5    „  247.1    „  264.75 

56  ozs.  3dwts.  62  ozs.  4dwts.  64  ozs.  4dwts.  66  ozs.  7dwts. 

27-2%  25%  21.4%  20% 


'o 


BOOK    XI.  507 

lead,  and  in  four  cakes  of  this  kind  there  are  three  centumpondia  of  copper  and 
twelve  centumpondia  of  lead.  The  lead  which  is  liquated  therefrom  weighs 
about  ten  centumpondia,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is  a  quarter 
of  a  libra  and  more  than  a  semi-uncia  of  silver,  or  seven  unciae  ;  a  bes,  or 
seven  unciae  and  a  semi-uncia,  of  silver  remain  in  the  exhausted  liquation 
cakes  and  in  the  liquation  thorns. 

Against  the  second  long  wall  in  the  second  part  of  the  building,  whose 
area  is  eighty  feet  long  by  thirty-nine  feet  wide,  are  four  furnaces  in  which 
the  copper  is  alloyed  with  lead,  and  six  furnaces  in  which  "  slags  "  are  re- 
smelted.  The  interior  of  the  first  kind  of  furnace  is  a  foot  and  three  palms  wide, 
two  feet  three  digits  long ;  and  of  the  second  is  a  foot  and  a  palm  wide  and  a  foot 
three  palms  and  a  digit  long.  The  side  walls  of  these  furnaces  are  the  same 
height  as  the  furnaces  in  which  gold  or  silver  ores  are  smelted.  As  the  whole 
room  is  divided  into  two  parts  by  upright  posts,  the  front  part  must  have, 
first,  two  furnaces  in  which  "  slags  "  are  re-melted  ;  second,  two  furnaces  in 
which  copper  is  alloyed  with  lead ;  and  third,  one  furnace  in  which  "  slags  "  are 
re-melted.  The  back  part  of  the  room  has  first,  one  furnace  in  which  "  slags  " 
are  re-melted  ;  next,  two  furnaces  in  which  copper  is  alloyed  with  lead  ;  and 
third,  two  furnaces  in  which  "  slags  "  are  re-melted.  Each  of  these  is  six  feet 
distant  from  the  next ;  on  the  right  side  of  the  first  is  a  space  of  three  feet 
and  two  palms,  and  on  the  left  side  of  the  last  one  of  seven  feet.  Each  pair  of 
furnaces  has  a  common  door,  six  feet  high  and  a  cubit  wide,  but  the  first  and 
the  tenth  furnace  each  has  one  of  its  own.  Each  of  the  furnaces  is  set  in  an  arch 
of  its  own  in  the  back  wall,  and  in  front  has  a  f orehearth  pit ;  this  is  filled  with 
a  powder  compound  rammed  down  and  compressed  in  order  to  make  a  crucible. 
Under  each  furnace  is  a  hidden  receptacle  for  the  moisture,11  from  which  a 
vent  is  made  through  the  back  wall  toward  the  right,  which  allows  the 
vapour  to  escape.  Finally,  to  the  right,  in  front,  is  the  copper  mould  into 
which  the  copper-lead  alloy  is  poured  from  the  forehearth,  in  order  that 
liquation  cakes  of  equal  weight  may  be  made.  This  copper  mould  is  a  digit 
thick,  its  interior  is  two  feet  in  diameter  and  six  digits  deep.  Behind  the 
second  long  wall  are  ten  pairs  of  bellows,  two  machines  for  compressing  them, 
and  twenty  instruments  for  inflating  them.  The  way  in  which  these  should 
be  made  may  be  understood  from  Book  IX. 

The  smelter,  when  he  alloys  copper  with  lead,  with  his  hand  throws  into 
the  heated  furnace,  first  the  large  fragments  of  copper,  then  a  basketful  of 
charcoal,  then  the  smaller  fragments  of  copper.  When  the  copper  is  melted 
and  begins  to  run  out  of  the  tap-hole  into  the  forehearth,  he  throws  litharge 
into  the  furnace,  and,  lest  part  of  it  should  fly  away,  he  first  throws 
charcoal  over  it,  and  lastly  lead.  As  soon  as  he  has  thrown  into  the  furnace 
the  copper  and  the  lead,  from  which  alloy  the  first  liquation  cake  is  made,  he 
again  throws  in  a  basket  of  charcoal,  and  then  fragments  of  copper  are  thrown 
over  them,  from  which  the  second  cake  may  be  made.  Afterward  with  a 
rabble  he  skims  the  "  slag  "  from  the  copper  and  lead  as  they  flow  into  the 
forehearth.  Such  a  rabble  is  a  board  into  which  an  iron  bar  is  fixed ;  the 

"See  p.  356. 


BOOK    XI. 

board  is  made  of  elder-wood  or  willow,  and  is  ten  digits  long,  six  wide,  and  one 
and  a  half  digits  thick ;  the  iron  bar  is  three  feet  long,  and  the  wooden 
handle  inserted  into  it  is  two  and  a  half  feet  long.  While  he  purges  the 
alloy  and  pours  it  out  with  a  ladle  into  the  copper  mould,  the  fragments  of 
copper  from  which  he  is  to  make  the  second  cake  are  melting.  As  soon  as 
this  begins  to  run  down  he  again  throws  in  litharge,  and  when  he  has  put  on 
more  charcoal  he  adds  the  lead.  This  operation  he  repeats  until  thirty 
liquation  cakes  have  been  made,  on  which  work  he  expends  nine  hours,  or  at 
most  ten  ;  if  more  than  thirty  cakes  must  be  made,  then  he  is  paid  for 
another  shift  when  he  has  made  an  extra  thirty. 

At  the  same  time  that  he  pours  the  copper-lead  alloy  into  the  copper 
mould,  he  also  pours  water  slowly  into  the  top  of  the  mould.  Then,  with  a 
cleft  stick,  he  takes  a  hook  and  puts  its  straight  stem  into  the  molten  cake. 
The  hook  itself  is  a  digit  and  a  half  thick  ;  its  straight  stem  is  two  palms 
long  and  two  digits  wide  and  thick.  Afterward  he  pours  more  water  over  the 
cakes.  When  they  are  cold  he  places  an  iron  ring  in  the  hook  of  the  chain 


A — FURNACE  IN  WHICH  "  SLAGS  "  ARE  RE-SMELTED.     B — FURNACE  IN  WHICH  COPPER  is 

ALLOYED     WITH     LEAD.       C DOOR.       D — FORE-HEARTHS     ON    THE    GROUND.       E — COPPER 

MOULDS.      F — RABBLE.      G — HOOK.      H — CLEFT    STICK.        I — ARM    OF   THE  CRANE. 

K — THE  HOOK  OF  ITS  CHAIN. 


BOOK    XL  509 

let  down  from  the  pulley  of  the  crane  arm  ;  the  inside  diameter  of  this  ring 
is  six  digits,  and  it  is  about  a  digit  and  a  half  thick  ;  the  ring  is  then  engaged 
in  the  hook  whose  straight  stem  is  in  the  cake,  and  thus  the  cake  is  raised  from 
the  mould  and  put  into  its  place. 

The  copper  and  lead,  when  thus  melted,  yield  a  small  amount  of  "  slag  "12 
and  much  litharge.  The  litharge  does  not  cohere,  but  falls  to  pieces  like  the 
residues  from  malt  from  which  beer  is  made.  Pompholyx  adheres  to  the  walls 
in  white  ashes,  and  to  the  sides  of  the  furnace  adheres  spodos. 

In  this  practical  manner  lead  is  alloyed  with  copper  in  which  there  is  but 
a  moderate  portion  of  silver.  If,  however,  there  is  much  silver  in  it,  as,  for 
instance,  two  librae,  or  two  librae  and  a  bes,  to  the  centumpondium, — which 
weighs  one  hundred  and  thirty-three  and  a  third  librae,  or  one  hundred  and 
forty-six  librae  and  a  bes,13 — then  the  foreman  of  the  works  adds  to  a  centum- 
pondium of  such  copper  three  centumpondia  of  lead,  in  each  centumpondium 
of  which  there  is  a  third  of  a  libra  of  silver,  or  a  third  of  a  libra  and  a  semi- 
uncia.  In  this  manner  three  liquation  cakes  are  made,  which  contain 
altogether  three  centumpondia  of  copper  and  nine  centumpondia  of  lead.14  The 
lead,  when  it  has  been  liquated  from  the  copper,  weighs  seven  centumpondia ; 
and  in  each  centumpondium — if  the  centumpondium  of  copper  contain  two 
librae  of  silver,  and  the  lead  contain  a  third  of  a  libra — there  will  be  a  libra 
and  a  sixth  and  more  than  a  semi-uncia  of  silver ;  while  in  the  exhausted 
liquation  cakes,  and  in  the  liquation  thorns,  there  remains  a  third  of  a  libra. 

"An  analysis  of  this  "  slag  "  by  Karsten  (Archiv.  ist  Series  IX,  p.  24)  showed  63.2% 
lead  oxide,  5.1%  cuprous  oxide,  20.1%  silica  (from  the  fuel  and  furnace  linings),  together 
with  some  iron  alumina,  etc.  The  pompholyx  and  spodos  were  largely  zinc  oxide  (see  note, 

P-  394)- 

"This  description  of  a  centumpondium  which  weighed  either  133  J  librae,  or  146  j  librae, 
adds  confusion  to  an  already  much  mixed  subject  (see  Appendix  C.).  Assuming  the 
German  pfundt  to  weigh  7,219  troy  grains,  and  the  Roman  libra  4,946  grains,  then  a  centner 
would  weigh  145.95  librae,  which  checks  up  fairly  well  with  the  second  case  ;  but  under  what 
circumstances  a  centner  can  weigh  133$  librae  we  are  unable  to  record.  At  first  sight  it  might 
appear  from  this  statement  that  where  Agricola  uses  the  word  centumpondium  he  means  the 
German  centner.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the  previous  five  or  six  pages  the  expressions  one- third, 
five-sixths,  ten-twelfths  of  a  libra  are  used,  which  are  even  divisions  of  the  Roman  12  unciae 
to  one  libra,  and  are  used  where  they  manifestly  mean  divisions  of  12  units.  If  Agricola 
had  in  mind  the  German  scale,  and  were  using  the  libra  for  a  pfundt  of  16  untzen,  these  divisions 
would  amount  to  fractions,  and  would  not  total  the  sicilicus  and  drachma  quantities  given, 
nor  would  they  total  any  of  the  possibly  synonymous  divisions  of  the  German  untzen  (see 
also  page  254). 

14If  we  assume  Roman  weights,  the  charge  in  the  first  case  can  be  tabulated  as  follows, 
and  for  convenience  will  be  called  the  fifth  charge  : — 

STH  CHARGE  (3  cakes). 
Amount  of  copper  ..         ..         ..         ..         ..         ..         ..     211.8  Ibs. 

Amount  of  lead      . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .     635.4  IDS- 

Weight  of  each  cake          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .     282.4  Ibs. 

Average  value  of  charge   . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .     218  ozs.  18  dwts. 

Per  cent,  of  copper  . .          . .         . .         . .         . .         . .         . .     25% 

Average  value  of  original  copper  per  ton          . .         . .         . .         . .     583  ozs.  6  dwts.  16  grs. 

Weight  of  argentiferous  lead  liquated  out        . .          . .          . .          . .     494.2  Ibs. 

Average  value  of  liquated  lead  per  ton . .         . .         . .         . .         . .     352  ozs.  8  dwts. 

Weight  of  residues . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .          . .     353  Ibs. 

Average  value  of  residues  per  ton          . .          . .          . .          . .  20  ozs.    (about). 

Extraction  of  silver  into  the  argentiferous  lead  . .          . .          . .     94% 

The  results  given  in  the  second  case  where  the  copper  contains  2  librae  and  a  bes  per 
centumpondium  do  not  tie  together  at  all,  for  each  liquation  cake  should  contain  3  librae 
9^  unciae,  instead  of  ij  librae  and  \  uncia  of  silver. 

35 


BOOK    XI. 

If  a  centumpondium  of  copper  contains  two  librae  and  a  bes  of  silver,  and 
the  lead  a  third  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia,  there  will  be  in  each  liquation 
cake  one  and  a  half  librae  and  a  semi-uncia,  and  a  little  more  than  a  sicilicus 
of  silver.  In  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  there  remain  a  third  of  a  libra 
and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver. 

If  there  be  in  the  copper  only  a  minute  proportion  of  silver,  it  cannot  be 
separated  easily  until  it  has  been  re-melted  in  other  furnaces,  so  that  in 
the  "  bottoms  "  there  remains  more  silver  and  in  the  "  tops  "  less.15  This 


A — FURNACE.     B — FOREHEARTH.     C — DIPPING-POT.     D — CAKES. 

furnace,  vaulted  with  unbaked  bricks,  is  similar  to  an  oven,  and  also  to  the 
cupellation  furnace,  in  which  the  lead  is  separated  from  silver,  which  I  described 
in  the  last  book.  The  crucible  is  made  of  ashes,  in  the  same  manner  as 

18In  this  enrichment  of  copper  by  the  "  settling  "  of  the  silver  in  the  molten  mass  the 
original  copper  ran,  in  the  two  cases  given,  60  ozs.  15  dwts  and  85  ozs.  i  dwt.  per  ton.  The 
whole  charge  weighed  2,685  Ibs.,  and  contained  in  the  second  case  114  ozs.  Troy,  omitting 
fractions.  On  melting,  1,060  Ibs.  were  drawn  off  as  "  tops,"  containing  24  ozs.  of  silver,  or 
running  45  ozs.  per  ton,  and  there  remained  1,625  Ibs.  of  "bottoms,"  containing  90  ozs.  of 
silver,  or  averaging  no  ozs.  per  ton.  It  will  be  noticed  later  on  in  the  description  of  making 
liquation  cakes  from  these  copper  bottoms,  that  the  author  alters  the  value  from  one-third 
librae,  a  semi-uncia  and  a  drachma  per  centumpondium  to  one- third  of  a  libra,  i.e.,  from  no  ozs. 
to  97  ozs.  4  dwts.  per  ton.  In  the  Glossary  this  furnace  is  described  as  a  spleisofen,  i.e.,  a 
refining  hearth. 


BOOK    XI.  511 

in  the  latter,  and  in  the  front  of  the  furnace,  three  feet  above  the  floor  of 
the  building,  is  the  mouth  out  of  which  the  re-melted  copper  flows  into  a 
forehearth  and  a  dipping-pot.  On  the  left  side  of  the  mouth  is  an  aperture, 
through  which  beech-wood  may  be  put  into  the  furnace  to  feed  the  fire.  If 
in  a  centumpondium  of  copper  there  were  a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of 
silver,  or  a  quarter  of  a  libra,  or  a  quarter  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia — there  is 
re-melted  at  the  same  time  thirty-eight  centumpondia  of  it  in  this  furnace,  until 
there  remain  in  each  centumpondium  of  the  copper  "  bottoms  "  a  third  of  a 
libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver.  For  example,  if  in  each  centumpondium  of 
copper  not  yet  re-melted,  there  is  a  quarter  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver, 
then  the  thirty-eight  centumpondia  that  are  smelted  together  must  contain  a 
total  of  eleven  librae  and  an  uncia  of  silver.  Since  from  fifteen  centumpondia 
of  re-melted  copper  there  was  a  total  of  four  and  a  third  librae  and  a  semi-uncia 
of  silver,  there  remain  only  two  and  a  third  librae.  Thus  there  is  left  in  the 
"  bottoms,"  weighing  twenty-three  centumpondia,  a  total  of  eight  and  three- 
quarter  librae  of  silver.  Therefore,  each  centumpondium  of  this  contains  a 
third  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia,  a  drachma,  and  the  twenty-third  part  of  a 
drachma  of  silver  ;  from  such  copper  it  is  profitable  to  separate  the  silver. 
In  order  that  the  master  may  be  more  certain  of  the  number  of  centumpondia 
of  copper  in  the  "  bottoms,"  he  weighs  the  "  tops  "  that  have  been  drawn 
off  from  it ;  the  "  tops  "  were  first  drawn  off  into  the  dipping-pot,  and  cakes 
were  made  from  them.  Fourteen  hours  are  expended  on  the  work  of  thus 
dividing  the  copper.  The  "  bottoms,"  when  a  certain  weight  of  lead  has 
been  added  to  them,  of  which  alloy  I  shall  soon  speak,  are  melted  in 
the  blast  furnace ;  liquation  cakes  are  then  made,  and  the  silver  is  afterward 
separated  from  the  copper.  The  "  tops "  are  subsequently  melted 
in  the  blast  furnace,  and  re-melted  in  the  refining  furnace,  in  order  that 
red  copper  shall  be  made16 ;  and  the  "  tops  "  from  this  are  again  smelted  in 
the  blast  furnace,  and  then  again  in  the  refining  furnace,  that  therefrom 

lThe  latter  part  of  this  paragraph  presents  great  difficulties.  The  term  "  refining 
furnace  "  is  given  in  the  Latin  as  the  "  second  furnace,"  an  expression  usually  applied  to  the 
cupellation  furnace.  The  whole  question  of  refining  is  exhaustively  discussed  on  pages 
530  to  539.  Exactly  what  material  is  meant  by  the  term  red  (rubrum),  yellow  (fulvum) 
and  caldarium  copper  is  somewhat  uncertain.  They  are  given  in  the  German  text  simply  as 
rot,  geel,  and  lebeter  kupfer,  and  apparently  all  were  "  coarse  "  copper  of  different  characters 
destined  for  the  refinery.  The  author  states  in  De  Natttra  Fossilium  (p.  334)  :  "  Copper  has  a 
'  red  colour  peculiar  to  itself ;  this  colour  in  smelted  copper  is  considered  the  most  excellent. 

'  It,  however,  varies.     In  some  it  is  red,  as  in  the  copper  smelted  at  Neusohl 

'  Other  copper  is  prepared  in  the  smelters  where  silver  is  separated  from  copper,  which  is 

'  called  yellow  copper  (luteum),  and  is  regnlare.     In  the  same  place  a  dark  yellow  copper  is 

'  made   which    is    called  caldarium,  taking  its  name  among  the  Germans  from  a  caldron. 

'      .     .     .     .     Regulare  differs  from  caldarium  in  that  the  former  is  not  only  fusible,  but 

'  also  malleable  ;    while  the  latter  is,  indeed,  fusible,  but  is  not  ductile,  for  it  breaks  when 

'  struck  with   the  hammer."     Later  on  in  De  Re  Metallica  (p.  542)  he  describes  yellow 

copper  as  made  from  "  baser  "  liquation  thorns  and  from  exhausted  liquation  cakes  made 

from  thorns.     These  products  were  necessarily  impure,   as  they  contained,   among    other 

things,  the  concentrates  from  furnace  accretions.     Therefore,  there  was  ample  source  for 

zinc,  arsenic  or  other  metallics  which  would  lighten  the  colour.     Caldarium  copper  is  described 

by  Pliny  (see  note,  p.  404),  and  was,  no  doubt,  "  coarse  "  copper,  and  apparently  Agricola 

adopted  this  term  from  that  source,  as  we  have  found  it  used  nowhere  else.     On  page  542  the 

author  describes  making  caldarium  copper  from  a  mixture  of  yellow  copper  and  a  peculiar 

cadmia,  which  he  describes  as  the  "  slags  "  from  refining  copper.     These  "  slags,"  which  are 

the  result  of  oxidation  and  poling,  would  contain  almost  any  of  the  metallic  impurities  of 

the  original  ore,  antimony,  lead,  arsenic,  zinc,  cobalt,  etc.     Coming  from  these  two  sources 

the  caldarium  must  have  been,  indeed,  impure. 


512 


BOOK    XI. 


shall  be  made  caldarium  copper.  But  when  the  copper,  yellow  or  red  or  caldar- 
ium  is  re-smelted  in  the  refining  furnace,  forty  centumpondia  are  placed  in 
it,  and  from  it  they  make  at  least  twenty,  and  at  most  thirty-five,  centum- 
pondia. About  twenty-two  centumpondia  of  exhausted  liquation  cakes  and 
ten  of  yellow  copper  and  eight  of  red,  are  simultaneously  placed  in  this  latter 
furnace  and  smelted,  in  order  that  they  may  be  made  into  refined  copper. 

The  copper  "  bottoms  "  are  alloyed  in  three  different  ways  with  lead.17 
First,  five-eighths  of  a  centumpondium  of  copper  and  two  and  three- 
quarters  centumpondia  of  lead  are  taken  ;  and  since  one  liquation  cake  is  made 
from  this,  therefore  two  and  a  half  centumpondia  of  copper  and  eleven  cen- 
tumpondia of  lead  make  four  liquation  cakes.  Inasmuch  as  in  each  centumpon- 
dium of  copper  there  is  a  third  of  a  libra  of  silver,  there  would  be  in  the  whole 
of  the  copper  ten-twelfths  of  a  libra  of  silver  ;  to  these  are  added  four  centum- 
pondia of  lead  re-melted  from  "  slags,"  each  centumpondium  of  which  contains 
a  sicilicus  and  a  drachma  of  silver,  which  weights  make  up  a  total  of  an  uncia 
and  a  half  of  silver.  There  is  also  added  seven  centumpondia  of  de-silverized 
lead,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is  a  drachma  of  silver  ;  therefore 
in  the  four  cakes  of  copper-lead  alloy  there  is  a  total  of  a  libra,  a  sicilicus  and 
a  drachma  of  silver.  In  each  single  centumpondium  of  lead,  after  it  has  been 
liquated  from  the  copper,  there  is  an  uncia  and  a  drachma  of  silver,  which  alloy 
we  call  "  poor  "  argentiferous  lead,  because  it  contains  but  little  silver.  But 
as  five  cakes. of  that  kind  are  placed  together  in  the  furnace,  they  liquate 
from  them  usually  as  much  as  nine  and  three-quarters  centumpondia  of  poor 


17The  liquation  of  these  low-grade  copper  "  bottoms  "  required  that  the  liquated  lead 
should  be  re-used  again  to  make  up  fresh  liquation  cakes,  in  order  that  it  might  eventually 
become  rich  enough  to  warrant  cupellation.  In  the  following  table  the  "  poor  "  silver-lead 
is  designated  (A)  the  "  medium  "  (B)  and  the  "  rich  "  (C).  The  three  charges  here  given 
are  designated  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth  for  purposes  of  reference.  It  will  be  seen  that  the 
data  is  insufficient  to  complete  the  ninth  and  tenth.  Moreover,  while  the  author  gives  direc- 
tions for  making  four  cakes,  he  says  the  charge  consists  of  five,  and  it  has,  therefore,  been 
necessary  to  reduce  the  volume  of  products  given  to  this  basis. 


Amount  of  copper  bottoms 

Amount  of  lead 

Amount  of  de-silverized 
lead  

Weight  of  each  cake 

Average  value  of  charge 
per  ton 

Per  cent,  of  copper 

Average  value  per  ton 
original  copper 

Average  value  per  ton  of . . 

Average  value  per  ton  of . . 

Weight  of  liquated  lead . . 

Average  value  of  the  liqu- 
ated lead  per  ton 

Weight  of  exhausted  liqu- 
ation cakes 

Average  value  of  the  ex- 
hausted liquation  cakes 
per  ton 

Weight  of  liquation  thorns 

Average  value  of  the  liqu- 
ation thorns  per  ton  . . 

Extraction  of  silver  into 
the  liquated  lead 


6rn  CHARGE. 

176.5  Ibs. 
282.4  ^s.  (slags) 

494.2  Ibs. 

238.3  Ibs. 

22  ozs.  sdwts. 

18.5% 

97  ozs.  4dwts. 

90  ozs.  2dwts.  (slags) 

3  ozs.  idwt.  (lead) 

550.6  Ibs. 


7TH  CHARGE. 
176.5  Ibs. 
564.8  Ibs.  or  (A) 

211. 8  Ibs. 
238.3  Ibs. 

35  ozs.  isdwts. 
18.5% 

97  ozs.  4dwts. 
28  ozs.  sdwts.  (A) 
3  ozs.  idwt.  (lead) 


STH  CHARGE. 
176.5  Ibs. 
635.4  Ibs.  °f  (B 


141.2  Ibs. 

238.3  Ibs 


(A) 


50  ozs.  sdwts. 
18.5% 


97  ozs.  4dwts. 
28  ozs.  sdwts.  (A) 
42  ozs.  lodwts  (B) 


28  ozs.  sdwts.  (A)          42  ozs.  lodwts.  (B)       63  ozs.  i6dwts.  (C) 


225.9 


12  ozs. 
169.4  I 


18  ozs.  4dwts. 
71% 


BOOK    XI.  513 

argentiferous  lead,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which  there  is  an  uncia  and  a 
drachma  of  silver,  or  a  total  of  ten  unciae  less  four  drachmae.  Of  the  liquation 
thorns  there  remain  three  centumpondia,  in  each  centumpondium  of  which 
there  are  three  sicilici  of  silver ;  and  there  remain  four  centumpondia  of 
exhausted  liquation  cakes,  each  centumpondium  of  which  contains  a  semi- 
uncia  or  four  and  a  half  drachmae.  Inasmuch  as  in  a  centumpondium  of  copper 
"  bottoms  "  there  is  a  third  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  of  silver,  in  five  of  those 
cakes  there  must  be  more  than  one  and  a  half  unciae  and  half  a  drachma  of 
silver. 

Then,  again,  from  another  two  and  a  half  centumpondia  of  copper 
"  bottoms,"  together  with  eleven  centumpondia  of  lead,  four  liquation  cakes 
are  made.  If  in  each  centumpondium  of  copper  there  was  a  third  of  a  libra  of 
silver,  there  would  be  in  the  whole  of  the  centumpondia  of  base  metal  five- 
sixths  of  a  libra  of  the  precious  metal.  To  this  copper  is  added  eight  centum- 
pondia of  poor  argentiferous  lead,  each  centumpondium  of  which  contains  an 
uncia  and  a  drachma  of  silver,  or  a  total  of  three-quarters  of  a  libra  of  silver. 
There  is  also  added  three  centumpondia  of  de-silverized  lead,  in  each  centum- 
pondium of  which  there  is  a  drachma  of  silver.  Therefore,  four  liquation 
cakes  contain  a  total  of  a  libra,  seven  unciae,  a  sicilicus  and  a  drachma  of  silver ; 
thus  each  centumpondium  of  lead,  when  it  has  been  liquated  from  the  copper, 
contains  an  uncia  and  a  half  and  a  sicilicus  of  silver,  which  alloy  we  call 
"medium"  silver-lead. 

Then,  again,  from  another  two  and  a  half  centumpondia  of  copper 
"  bottoms,"  together  with  eleven  centumpondia  of  lead,  they  make  four 
liquation  cakes.  If  in  each  centumpondium  of  copper  there  were  likewise  a 
third  of  a  libra  of  silver,  there  will  be  in  all  the  weight  of  the  base  metal  five- 
sixths  of  a  libra  of  the  precious  metal.  To  this  is  added  nine  centumpondia 
of  medium  silver-lead,  each  centumpondium  of  which  contains  an  uncia  and 
a  half  and  a  sicilicus  of  silver  ;  or  a  total  of  a  libra  and  a  quarter  and  a  semi- 
uncia  and  a  sicilicus  of  silver.  And  likewise  they  add  two  centumpondia  of 
poor  silver-lead,  in  each  of  which  there  is  an  uncia  and  a  drachma  of  silver. 
Therefore  the  four  liquation  cakes  contain  two  and  a  third  librae  of  silver. 
Each  centumpondium  of  lead,  when  it  has  been  liquated  from  the  copper, 
contains  a  sixth  of  a  libra  and  a  semi-uncia  and  a  drachma  of  silver.  This 
alloy  we  call  "rich"  silver-lead;  it  is  carried  to  the  cupellation  furnace, 
in  which  lead  is  separated  from  silver.  I  have  now  mentioned  in  how  many 
ways  copper  containing  various  proportions  of  silver  is  alloyed  with  lead, 
and  how  they  are  melted  together  in  the  furnace  and  run  into  the  casting  pan. 

Now  I  will  speak  of  the  method  by  which  lead  is  liquated  from  copper 
simultaneously  with  the  silver.  The  liquation  cakes  are  raised  from  the 
ground  with  the  crane,  and  placed  on  the  copper  plates  of  the  furnaces.  The 
hook  of  the  chain  let  down  from  the  arm  of  the  crane,  is  inserted  in  a 
ring  of  the  tongs,  one  jaw  of  which  has  a  tooth  ;  a  ring  is  engaged  in  each 
of  the  handles  of  the  tongs,  and  these  two  rings  are  engaged  in  a  third,  in 
which  the  hook  of  the  chain  is  inserted.  The  tooth  on  the  one  jaw  of  the 
tongs  is  struck  by  a  hammer,  and  driven  into  the  hole  in  the  cake,  at  the  point 


514 


BOOK    XL 


where  the  straight  end  of  the  hook  was  driven  into  it  when  it  was  lifted  out 
of  the  copper  mould  ;  the  other  jaw  of  the  tongs,  which  has  no  tooth, 
squeezes  the  cake,  lest  the  tooth  should  fall  out  of  it ;  the  tongs  are  one  and 
a  half  feet  long,  each  ring  is  a  digit  and  a  half  thick,  and  the  inside  is  a  palm 
and  two  digits  in  diameter.  Those  cranes  by  which  the  cakes  are  lifted  out 
of  the  copper  pans  and  placed  on  the  ground,  and  lifted  up  again  from  there 
and  placed  in  the  furnaces,  are  two  in  number — one  in  the  middle  space 
between  the  third  transverse  wall  and  the  two  upright  posts,  and  the  other  in 


A — CRANE.     B — DRUM   CONSISTING   OF   RUNDLES.     C — TOOTHED    DRUM.     D — TROLLEY 

AND     ITS     WHEELS.       E — TRIANGULAR     BOARD.       F — CAKES.       G — CHAIN     OF     THE     CRANE. 

H — ITS  HOOK.     I — RING.     K — THE  TONGS. 


the  middle  space  between  the  same  posts  and  the  seventh  transverse  wall. 
The  rectangular  crane-post  of  both  of  these  is  two  feet  wide  and  thick,  and 
is  eighteen  feet  from  the  third  long  wall,  and  nineteen  from  the  second  long 
wall.  There  are  two  drums  in  the  framework  of  each — one  drum  consisting 
of  rundles,  the  other  being  toothed.  The  crane-arm  of  each  extends  seventeen 
feet,  three  palms  and  as  many  digits  from  the  post.  The  trolley  of  each 
crane  is  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  long,  a  foot  and  two  digits  wide,  and  a 
palm  and  two  digits  thick  ;  but  where  it  runs  between  the  beams  of  the 
crane-arm  it  is  three  digits  wide  and  a  palm  thick  ;  it  has  five  notches,  in 


,n 


BOOK    XI.  515 

which  turn  five  brass  wheels,  four  of  which  are  small,  and  the  fifth  much 
larger  than  the  rest.  The  notches  in  which  the  small  wheels  turn  are  two 
palms  long  and  as  much  as  a  palm  wide  ;  those  wheels  are  a  palm  wide  and 
a  palm  and  two  digits  in  diameter ;  four  of  the  notches  are  near  the  four 
corners  of  the  trolley  ;  the  fifth  notch  is  between  the  two  front  ones,  and 
it  is  two  palms  back  from  the  front.  Its  pulley  is  larger  than  the  rest,  and 
turns  in  its  own  notch  ;  it  is  three  palms  in  diameter  and  one  palm  wide, 
and  grooved  on  the  circumference,  so  that  the  iron  chain  may  run  in  the 
groove.  The  trolley  has  two  small  axles,  to  the  one  in  front  are  fastened 
three,  and  to  the  one  at  the  back,  the  two  wheels  ;  two  wheels  run  on  the 
one  beam  of  the  crane-arm,  and  two  on  the  other ;  the  fifth  wheel,  which  is 
larger  than  the  others,  runs  between  those  two  beams.  Those  people  who 
have  no  cranes  place  the  cakes  on  a  triangular  board,  to  which  iron  cleats 
are  affixed,  so  that  it  will  last  longer  ;  the  board  has  three  iron  chains, 
which  are  fixed  in  an  iron  ring  at  the  top  ;  two  workmen  pass  a  pole  through 
the  ring  and  carry  it  on  their  shoulders,  and  thus  take  the  cake  to  the  furnace 
in  which  silver  is  separated  from  copper. 

From  the  vicinity  of  the  furnaces  in  which  copper  is  mixed  with  lead  and 
the  "  slags  "  are  re-melted,  to  the  third  long  wall,  are  likewise  ten  furnaces, 
in  which  silver  mixed  with  lead  is  separated  from  copper.  If  this  space  is 
eighty  feet  and  two  palms  long,  and  the  third  long  wall  has  in  the  centre  a 
door  three  feet  and  two  palms  wide,  then  the  spaces  remaining  at  either  side 
of  the  door  will  be  thirty-eight  feet  and  two  palms ;  and  if  each  of  the  furnaces 
occupies  four  feet  and  a  palm,  then  the  interval  between  each  furnace  and 
the  next  one  must  be  a  foot  and  three  palms  ;  thus  the  width  of  the  five 
furnaces  and  four  interspaces  will  be  twenty-eight  feet  and  a  palm.  There- 
fore, there  remain  ten  feet  and  a  palm,  which  measurement  is  so  divided 
that  there  are  five  feet  and  two  digits  between  the  first  furnace  and 
the  transverse  wall,  and  as  many  feet  and  digits  between  the  fifth  furnace 
and  the  door  ;  similarly  in  the  other  part  of  the  space  from  the  door  to  the 
sixth  furnace,  there  must  be  five  feet  and  two  digits,  and  from  the  tenth 
furnace  to  the  seventh  transverse  wall,  likewise,  five  feet  and  two  digits. 
The  door  is  six  feet  and  two  palms  high  ;  through  it  the  foreman  of  the  officina 
and  the  workmen  enter  the  store-room  in  which  the  silver-lead  alloy  is  kept. 

Each  furnace  has  a  bed,  a  hearth,  a  rear  wall,  two  sides  and  a  front, 
and  a  receiving-pit.  The  bed  consists  of  two  sole-stones,  four  rectangular 
stones,  and  two  copper  plates  ;  the  sole-stones  are  five  feet  and  a  palm 
long,  a  cubit  wide,  a  foot  and  a  palm  thick,  and  they  are  sunk  into  the  ground, 
so  that  they  emerge  a  palm  and  two  digits  ;  they  are  distant  from  each  other 
about  three  palms,  yet  the  distance  is  narrower  at  the  back  than  the  front. 
Each  of  the  rectangular  stones  is  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  long,  a  cubit 
wide,  and  a  cubit  thick  at  the  outer  edge,  and  a  foot  and  a  palm  thick  on  the 
inner  edge  which  faces  the  hearth,  thus  they  form  an  incline,  so  that  there  is  a 
slope  to  the  copper  plates  which  are  laid  upon  them.  Two  of  these  rectang- 
ular stones  are  placed  on  one  sole-stone ;  a  hole  is  cut  in  the  upper  edge  of 
each,  and  into  the  holes  are  placed  iron  clamps,  and  lead  is  poured  in  ;  they 


516  BOOK    XI. 

are  so  placed  on  the  sole-stones  that  they  project  a  palm  at  the  sides,  and  at  the 
front  the  sole-stones  project  to  the  same  extent ;  if  rectangular  stones  are 
not  available,  bricks  are  laid  in  their  place.  The  copper  plates  are  four  feet 
two  palms  and  as  many  digits  long,  a  cubit  wide,  and  a  palm  thick  ;  each 
edge  has  a  protuberance,  one  at  the  front  end,  the  other  at  the  back ;  these 
are  a  palm  and  three  digits  long,  and  a  palm  wide  and  thick.  The  plates  are 
so  laid  upon  the  rectangular  stones  that  their  rear  ends  are  three  digits  from 
the  third  long  wall  ;  the  stones  project  beyond  the  plate  the  same  number 
of  digits  in  front,  and  a  palm  and  three  digits  at  the  sides.  When  the  plates 
have  been  joined,  the  groove  which  is  between  the  protuberances  is  a  palm 
and  three  digits  wide,  and  four  feet  long,  and  through  it  flows  the  silver-lead 
which  liquates  from  the  cakes.  When  the  plates  are  corroded  either  by  the 
fire  or  by  the  silver-lead,  which  often  adheres  to  them  in  the  form  of  stalac- 
tites, and  is  chipped  off,  they  are  exchanged,  the  right  one  being  placed  to  the 
left,  and  the  left  one,  on  the  contrary,  to  the  right ;  but  the  left  side  of  the 
plates,  which,  when  the  fusion  of  the  copper  took  place,  came  into  contact 
with  the  copper,  must  he  flat ;  so  that  when  the  exchange  of  the  plates  has 
been  carried  out,  the  protuberances,  which  are  thus  on  the  underside,  raise 
the  plate  from  the  stones,  and  they  have  to  be  partially  chipped  off,  lest  they 
should  prove  an  impediment  to  the  work  ;  and  in  each  of  their  places  is 
laid  a  piece  of  iron,  three  palms  long,  a  digit  thick  at  both  ends,  and  a  palm 
thick  in  the  centre  for  the  length  of  a  palm  and  three  digits. 

The  passage  under  the  plates  between  the  rectangular  stones  is  a  foot 
wide  at  the  back,  and  a  foot  and  a  palm  wide  at  the  front,  for  it  gradually 
widens  out.  The  hearth,  which  is  between  the  sole-stones,  is  covered  with  a 
bed  of  hearth-lead,  taken  from  the  crucible  in  which  lead  is  separated  from 
silver.  The  rear  end  is  the  highest,  and  should  be  so  high  that  it  reaches  to 
within  six  digits  of  the  plates,  from  which  point  it  slopes  down  evenly  to  the 
front  end,  so  that  the  argentiferous  lead  alloy  which  liquates  from  the  cakes 
can  flow  into  the  receiving-pit.  The  wall  built  against  the  third  long  wall 
in  order  to  protect  it  from  injury  by  fire,  is  constructed  of  bricks  joined 
together  with  lute,  and  stands  on  the  copper  plates  ;  this  wall  is  two  feet,  a 
palm  and  two  digits  high,  two  palms  thick,  and  three  feet,  a  palm  and  three 
digits  wide  at  the  bottom,  for  it  reaches  across  both  of  them  ;  at  the  top  it  is 
three  feet  wide,  for  it  rises  up  obliquely  on  each  side.  At  each  side  of  this  wall, 
at  a  height  of  a  palm  and  two  digits  above  the  top  of  it,  there  is  inserted  in  a 
hole  in  the  third  long  wall  a  hooked  iron  rod,  fastened  in  with  molten  lead ; 
the  rod  projects  two  palms  from  the  wall,  and  is  two  digits  wide  and  one 
digit  thick  ;  it  has  two  hooks,  the  one  at  the  side,  the  other  at  the  end. 
Both  of  these  hooks  open  toward  the  wall,  and  both  are  a  digit  thick,  and 
both  are  inserted  in  the  last,  or  the  adjacent,  links  of  a  short  iron  chain.  This 
chain  consists  of  four  links,  each  of  which  is  a  palm  and  a  digit  long  and  half 
a  digit  thick  ;  the  first  link  is  engaged  in  the  first  hole  in  a  long  iron  rod,  and 
one  or  other  of  the  remaining  three  links  engages  the  hook  of  the  hooked  rod. 
The  two  long  rods  are  three  feet  and  as  many  palms  and  digits  long,  two 
digits  wide,  and  one  digit  thick ;  both  ends  of  both  of  these  rods  have  holes, 


BOOK    XL 


517 


A — SOLE-STONES.  B — RECTANGULAR  STONES.  C — COPPER  PLATES.  D — FRONT  PANEL. 
E — SIDE  PANELS.  F — BAR.  G — FRONT  END  OF  THE  LONG  IRON  RODS.  H — SHORT  CHAIN. 
I — HOOKED  ROD.  K — WALL  WHICH  PROTECTS  THE  THIRD  LONG  WALL  FROM  INJURY  BY 
FIRE.  L — THIRD  LONG  WALL.  M — FEET  OF  THE  PANELS.  N — IRON  BLOCKS.  O — CAKES. 

P — HEARTH.     Q — RECEIVING-PIT. 


5i8  BOOK    XI. 

the  back  one  of  which  is  round  and  a  digit  in  diameter,  and  in  this  is  engaged 
the  first  link  of  the  chain  as  I  have  stated  ;  the  hole  at  the  front  end  is  two 
digits  and  a  half  long  and  a  digit  and  a  half  wide.  This  end  of  each  rod 
is  made  three  digits  wide,  while  for  the  rest  of  its  length  it  is  only  two  digits, 
and  at  the  back  it  is  two  and  a  half  digits.  Into  the  front  hole  of  each  rod  is 
driven  an  iron  bar,  which  is  three  feet  and  two  palms  long,  two  digits  wide 
and  one  thick ;  in  the  end  of  this  bar  are  five  small  square  holes,  two-thirds 
of  a  digit  square  ;  each  hole  is  distant  from  the  other  half  a  digit,  the  first 
being  at  a  distance  of  about  a  digit  from  the  end.  Into  one  of  these  holes  the 
refiner  drives  an  iron  pin  ;  if  he  should  desire  to  make  the  furnace  narrower, 
then  he  drives  it  into  the  last  hole  ;  if  he  should  desire  to  widen  it,  then  into 
the  first  hole  ;  if  he  should  desire  to  contract  it  moderately,  then  into  one 
of  the  middle  holes.  For  the  same  reason,  therefore,  the  hook  is  sometimes 
inserted  into  the  last  link  of  the  chain,  and  sometimes  into  the  third  or  the 
second.  The  furnace  is  widened  when  many  cakes  are  put  into  it,  and  con- 
tracted when  there  are  but  few,  but  to  put  in  more  than  five  is  neither  usual 
nor  possible  ;  indeed,  it  is  because  of  thin  cakes  that  the  walls  are  contracted. 
The  bar  has  a  hump,  which  projects  a  digit  on  each  side  at  the  back,  of  the 
same  width  and  thickness  as  itself.  These  humps  project,  lest  the  bar  should 
slip  through  the  hole  of  the  right-hand  rod,  in  which  it  remains  fixed  when 
it,  together  with  the  rods,  is  not  pressing  upon  the  furnace  walls. 

There  are  three  panels  to  the  furnace — two  at  the  sides,  one  in  front, 
and  another  at  the  back.  Those  which  are  at  the  sides  are  three  feet 
and  as  many  palms  and  two  digits  long,  and  two  feet  high  ;  the  front  one  is 
two  feet  and  a  palm  and  three  digits  long,  and,  like  the  side  ones,  two  feet 
high.  Each  consists  of  iron  bars,  of  feet,  and  of  iron  plates.  Those  which  are 
at  the  side  have  seven  bars,  the  lower  and  upper  of  which  are  of  the  same 
length  as  the  panels  ;  the  former  holds  up  the  upright  bars  ;  the  latter  is 
placed  upon  them  ;  the  uprights  are  five  in  number,  and  have  the  same  height 
as  the  panels  ;  the  middle  ones  are  inserted  into  holes  in  the  upper  and  lower 
bars  ;  the  outer  ones  are  made  of  one  and  the  same  bar  as  the  lower  and 
upper  ones.  They  are  two  digits  wide  and  one  thick.  The  front  panel  has 
five  bars  ;  the  lower  one  holds  similar  uprights,  but  there  are  three  of  them 
only ;  the  upper  bar  is  placed  on  them.  Each  of  these  panels  has  two  feet 
fixed  at  each  end  of  the  lower  bar,  and  these  are  two  palms  long,  one  wide, 
and  a  digit  thick.  The  iron  plates  are  fastened  to  the  inner  side  of  the  bars 
with  iron  wire,  and  they  are  covered  with  lute,  so  that  they  may  last  longer 
and  may  be  uninjured  by  the  fire.  There  are,  besides,  iron  blocks  three  palms 
long,  one  wide,  and  a  digit  and  a  half  thick  ;  the  upper  surface  of  these  is 
somewhat  hollowed  out,  so  that  the  cakes  may  stand  in  them  ;  these  iron 
blocks  are  dipped  into  a  vessel  in  which  there  is  clay  mixed  with  water,  and 
they  are  used  only  for  placing  under  the  cakes  of  copper  and  lead  alloy  made 
in  the  furnaces.  There  is  more  silver  in  these  than  in  those  which  are 
made  of  liquation  thorns,  or  furnace  accretions,  or  re-melted  "  slags."  Two 
iron  blocks  are  placed  under  each  cake,  in  order  that,  by  raising  it  up,  the  fire 
may  bring  more  force  to  bear  upon  it ;  the  one  is  put  on  the  right  bed-plate, 


BOOK    XI. 


A  —  FURNACE    IN    WHICH    THE    OPERATION   OF    LIQUATION    is    BEING    PERFORMED. 
B — FURNACE  IN  WHICH  IT  is  NOT  BEING  PERFORMED.    C — RECEIVING-PIT.    D — MOULDS. 

E — CAKES.     F — LIQUATION  THORNS. 


520  BOOK    XI. 

the  other  on  the  left.  Finally,  outside  the  hearth  is  the  receiving-pit,  which 
is  a  foot  wide  and  three  palms  deep ;  when  this  is  worn  away  it  is  restored 
with  lute  alone,  which  easily  retains  the  lead  alloy. 

If  four  liquation  cakes  are  placed  on  the  plates  of  each  furnace,  then  the 
iron  blocks  are  laid  under  them  ;  but  if  the  cakes  are  made  from  copper 
"  bottoms,"  or  from  liquation  thorns,  or  from  the  accretions  or  "  slags,"  of 
which  I  have  partly  written  above  and  will  further  describe  a  little  later, 
there  are  five  of  them,  and  because  they  are  not  so  large  and  heavy,  no  blocks 
are  placed  under  them.  Pieces  of  charcoal  six  digits  long  are  laid  between  the 
cakes,  lest  they  should  fall  one  against  the  other,  or  lest  the  last  one  should 
fall  against  the  wall  which  protects  the  third  long  wall  from  injury  by  fire.  In 
the  middle  empty  spaces,  long  and  large  pieces  of  charcoal  are  likewise  laid. 
Then  when  the  panels  have  been  set  up,  and  the  bar  has  been  closed,  the 
furnace  is  filled  with  small  charcoal,  and  a  wicker  basket  full  of  charcoal  is 
thrown  into  the  receiving-pit,  and  over  that  are  thrown  live  coals  ;  soon 
afterward  the  burning  coal,  lifted  up  in  a  shovel,  is  spread  over  all  parts  of 
the  furnace,  so  that  the  charcoal  in  it  may  be  kindled  ;  any  charcoal  which 
remains  in  the  receiving-pit  is  thrown  into  the  passage,  so  that  it  may  likewise 
be  heated.  If  this  has  not  been  done,  the  silver-lead  alloy  liquated  from  the 
cakes  is  frozen  by  the  coldness  of  the  passage,  and  does  not  run  down  into  the 
receiving-pit. 

After  a  quarter  of  an  hour  the  cakes  begin  to  drip  silver-lead  alloy,18 
which  runs  down  through  the  openings  between  the  copper  plates  into  the 
passage.  When  the  long  pieces  of  charcoal  have  burned  up,  if  the  cakes 
lean  toward  the  wall,  they  are  placed  upright  again  with  a  hooked  bar,  but 
if  they  lean  toward  the  front  bar  they  are  propped  up  by  charcoal ;  more- 
over, if  some  cakes  shrink  more  than  the  rest,  charcoal  is  added  to  the  former 
and  not  to  the  others.  The  silver  drips  together  with  the  lead,  for  both  melt 
more  rapidly  than  copper.  The  liquation  thorns  do  not  flow  away,  but  remain 
in  the  passage,  and  should  be  turned  over  frequently  with  a  hooked  bar,  in 
order  that  the  silver-lead  may  liquate  away  from  them  and  flow  down  into 
the  receiving  pit ;  that  which  remains  is  again  melted  in  the  blast  furnace, 
while  that  which  flows  into  the  receiving  pit  is  at  once  carried  with  the  remain- 

18For  the  liquation  it  was  necessary  to  maintain  a  reducing  atmosphere,  otherwise  the 
lead  would  oxidize  ;  this  was  secured  by  keeping  the  cakes  well  covered  with  charcoal  and 
by  preventing  the  entrance  of  air  as  much  as  possible.  Moreover,  it  was  necessary  to  preserve 
a  fairly  even  temperature.  The  proportions  of  copper  and  lead  in  the  three  liquation  products 
vary  considerably,  depending  upon  the  method  of  conducting  the  process  and  the  original 
proportions.  From  the  authors  consulted  (see  note  p.  492)  an  average  would  be  about  as 
follows  : — The  residual  copper — exhausted  liquation  cakes — ran  from  25  to  33%  lead  ;  the 
liquated  lead  from  2  to  3  %  copper ;  and  the  liquation  thorns,  which  were  largely  oxidized, 
contained  about  15%  copper  oxides,  80%  lead  oxides,  together  with  impurities,  such  as 
antimony,  arsenic,  etc.  The  proportions  of  the  various  products  would  obviously  depend  upon 
the  care  in  conducting  the  operation  ;  too  high  temperature  and  the  admission  of  air  would 
increase  the  copper  melted  and  oxidize  more  lead,  and  thus  increase  the  liquation  thorns. 
There  are  insufficient  data  in  Agricola  to  adduce  conclusions  as  to  the  actual  ratios  produced. 
The  results  given  for  the  6th  charge  (note  17,  p.  512)  would  indicate  about  30%  lead  in  the 
residual  copper,  and  would  indicate  that  the  original  charge  was  divided  into  about  24%  of 
residual  copper,  18%  of  liquation  thorns,  and  57%  of  liquated  lead.  This,  however,  was 
an  unusually  large  proportion  of  liquation  thorns,  some  of  the  authors  giving  instances  of  as 
low  as  5%. 


BOOK    XL  521 

ing  products  to  the  cupellation  furnace,  where  the  lead  is  separated  from  the 
silver.  The  hooked  bar  has  an  iron  handle  two  feet  long,  in  which  is  set  a 
wooden  one  four  feet  long.  The  silver-lead  which  runs  out  into  the  receiving- 
pit  is  poured  out  by  the  refiner  with  a  bronze  ladle  into  eight  copper  moulds, 
which  are  two  palms  and  three  digits  in  diameter ;  these  are  first  smeared 
with  a  lute  wash  so  that  the  cakes  of  silver-lead  may  more  easily  fall  out 
when  they  are  turned  over.  If  the  supply  of  moulds  fails  because  the  silver- 
lead  flows  down  too  rapidly  into  the  receiving-pit,  then  water  is  poured  on  them, 
in  order  that  the  cakes  may  cool  and  be  taken  out  of  them  more  rapidly ; 
thus  the  same  moulds  may  be  used  again  immediately  ;  if  no  such  necessity 
urges  the  refiner,  he  washes  over  the  empty  moulds  with  a  lute  wash.  The 
ladle  is  exactly  similar  to  that  which  is  used  in  pouring  out  the  metals  that 
are  melted  in  the  blast  furnace.  When  all  the  silver-lead  has  run  down  from 
the  passage  into  the  receiving-pit,  and  has  been  poured  out  into  copper 
moulds,  the  thorns  are  drawn  out  of  the  passage  into  the  receiving-pit 
with  a  rabble  ;  afterward  they  are  raked  on  to  the  ground  from  the  receiving- 
pit,  thrown  with  a  shovel  into  a  wheelbarrow,  and,  having  been  conveyed 
away  to  a  heap,  are  melted  once  again.  The  blade  of  the  rabble  is  two  palms 
and  as  many  digits  long,  two  palms  and  a  digit  wide,  and  joined  to  its 
back  is  an  iron  handle  three  feet  long  ;  into  the  iron  handle  is  inserted  a 
wooden  one  as  many  feet  in  length. 

The  residue  cakes,  after  the  silver-lead  has  been  liquated  from  the 
copper,  are  called  "  exhausted  liquation  cakes  "  (fathiscentes),  because  when 
thus  smelted  they  appear  to  be  dried  up.  By  placing  a  crowbar  under  the 
cakes  they  are  raised  up,  seized  with  tongs,  and  placed  in  the  wheelbarrow ; 
they  are  then  conveyed  away  to  the  furnace  in  which  they  are  "  dried." 
The  crowbar  is  somewhat  similar  to  those  generally  used  to  chip  off  the 
accretions  that  adhere  to  the  walls  of  the  blast  furnace.  The  tongs  are  two 
and  a  half  feet  long.  With  the  same  crowbar  the  stalactites  are  chipped  off 
from  the  copper  plates  from  which  they  hang,  and  with  the  same  instrument 
the  iron  blocks  are  struck  off  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  to  which  they 
adhere.  The  refiner  has  performed  his  day's  task  when  he  has  liquated  the 
silver-lead  from  sixteen  of  the  large  cakes  and  twenty  of  the  smaller  ones  ; 
if  he  liquates  more  than  this,  he  is  paid  separately  for  it  at  the  price  for 
extraordinary  work. 

Silver,  or  lead  mixed  with  silver,  which  we  call  stannum,  is  separated  by 
the  above  method  from  copper.  This  silver-lead  is  carried  to  the  cupellation 
furnace,  in  which  lead  is  separated  from  silver ;  of  these  methods  I  will 
mention  only  one,  because  in  the  previous  book  I  have  explained  them  in 
detail.  Amongst  us  some  years  ago  only  forty-four  centumpondia  of  silver- 
lead  and  one  of  copper  were  melted  together  in  the  cupellation  furnaces, 
but  now  they  melt  forty-six  centumpondia  of  silver-lead  and  one  and  a  half 
centumpondia  of  copper ;  in  other  places,  usually  a  hundred  and  twenty 
centumpondia  of  silver-lead  alloy  and  six  of  copper  are  melted,  in  which 
manner  they  make  about  one  hundred  and  ten  centumpondia  more  or  less  of 
litharge  and  thirty  of  hearth-lead.  But  in  all  these  methods  the  silver  which 


522 


BOOK    XL 


is  in  the  copper  is  mixed  with  the  remainder  of  silver  ;  the  copper  itself, 
equally  with  the  lead,  will  be  changed  partly  into  litharge  and  partly  into 
hearth-lead.19  The  silver-lead  alloy  which  does  not  melt  is  taken  from  the 
margin  of  the  crucible  with  a  hooked  bar. 

The  work  of  "  drying  "  is  distributed  into  four  operations,  which  are 
performed  in  four  days.  On  the  first — as  likewise  on  the  other  three  days — the 
master  begins  at  the  fourth  hour  of  the  morning,  and  with  his  assistant  chips 


A — CAKES.     B — HAMMER. 

off  the  stalactites  from  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes.  They  then  carry  the 
cakes  to  the  furnace,  and  put  the  stalactites  upon  the  heap  of  liquation 
thorns.  The  head  of  the  chipping  hammer  is  three  palms  and  as  many  digits 


19The  first  instance  given,  of  44  centumpondia  (3,109  Ibs.)  lead  and  one  centumpondium 
(70.6  Ibs.)  copper,  would  indicate  that  the  liquated  lead  contained  2.2%  copper.  The  second, 
of  46  centumpondia  (3,250  Ibs.)  lead  and  i£  centumpondia  copper  (106  Ibs.),  would  indicate  3% 
copper  ;  and  in  the  third,  120  centumpondia  (8,478  Ibs.)  lead  and  six  copper  (424  Ibs.)  would  show 
4.76%  copper.  This  charge  of  120  centumpondia  in  the  cupellation  furnace  would  normally 
make  more  than  no  centumpondia  of  litharge  and  30  of  hearth-lead,  i.e.,  saturated  furnace 
bottoms.  The  copper  would  be  largely  found  in  the  silver-lead  "  which  does  not  melt,"  at  the 
margin  of  the  crucible.  These  skimmings  are  afterward  referred  to  as  "  thorns."  It  is  difficult 
to  understand  what  is  meant  by  the  expression  that  the  silver  which  is  in  the  copper  is  mixed 
with  the  remaining  (reliquo)  silver.  The  coppery  skimmings  from  the  cupellation  furnace  are 
referred  to  again  in  Note  28,  p.  539. 


BOOK    XI.  523 

long  ;   its  sharp  edge  is  a  palm  wide  ;   the  round  end  is  three  digits  thick  ;  the 
wooden  handle  is  four  feet  long. 

The  master  throws  pulverised  earth  into  a  small  vessel,  sprinkles  water 
over  it,  and  mixes  it ;  this  he  pours  over  the  whole  hearth,  and  sprinkles 
charcoal  dust  over  it  to  the  thickness  of  a  digit.  If  he  should  neglect  this, 
the  copper,  settling  in  the  passages,  would  adhere  to  the  copper  bed-plates, 
from  which  it  can  be  chipped  off  only  with  difficulty ;  or  else  it  would  adhere 
to  the  bricks,  if  the  hearth  was  covered  with  them,  and  when  the  copper  is 
chipped  off  these  they  are  easily  broken.  On  the  second  day,  at  the  same 
time,  the  master  arranges  bricks  in  ten  rows ;  in  this  manner  twelve 
passages  are  made.  The  first  two  rows  of  bricks  are  between  the  first  and 
the  second  openings  on  the  right  of  the  furnace ;  the  next  three  rows  are 
between  the  second  and  third  openings,  the  following  three  rows  are 
between  the  third  and  the  fourth  openings,  and  the  last  two  rows  between 
the  fourth  and  fifth  openings.  These  bricks  are  a  foot  and  a  palm  long,  two 
palms  and  a  digit  wide,  and  a  palm  and  two  digits  thick ;  there  are  seven  of 
these  thick  bricks  in  a  row,  so  there  are  seventy  all  together.  Then  on  the 
first  three  rows  of  bricks  they  lay  exhausted  liquation  cakes  and  a  layer  five 
digits  thick  of  large  charcoal;  then  in  a  similar  way  more  exhausted 
liquation  cakes  are  laid  upon  the  other  bricks,  and  charcoal  is  thrown  upon 
them  ;  in  this  manner  seventy  centumpondia  of  cakes  are  put  on  the 
hearth  of  the  furnace.  But  if  half  of  this  weight,  or  a  little  more,  is  to  be 
"  dried,"  then  four  rows  of  bricks  will  suffice.  Those  who  dry  exhausted 
liquation  cakes20  made  from  copper  "  bottoms  "  place  ninety  or  a  hundred 
centumpondia21  into  the  furnace  at  the  same  time.  A  place  is  left  in  the  front 
part  of  the  furnace  for  the  topmost  cakes  removed  from  the  forehearth  in 
which  copper  is  made,  these  being  more  suitable  for  supporting  the  exhausted 
liquation  cakes  than  are  iron  plates ;  indeed,  if  the  former  cakes  drip  copper 
from  the  heat,  this  can  be  taken  back  with  the  liquation  thorns  to  the  first 
furnace,  but  melted  iron  is  of  no  use  to  us  in  these  matters.  When  the  cakes 
of  this  kind  have  been  placed  in  front  of  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes,  the 
workman  inserts  the  iron  bar  into  the  holes  on  the  inside  of  the  wall,  which 
are  at  a  height  of  three  palms  and  two  digits  above  the  hearth ;  the  hole  to 
the  left  penetrates  through  into  the  wall,  so  that  the  bar  may  be  pushed  back 

a°A  further  amount  of  lead  could  be  obtained  in  the  first  liquation,  but  a  higher  tem- 

?;rature  is  necessary,  which  was  more  economical  to  secure  in  the  "  drying  "  furnace, 
herefore,  the  "  drying  "  was  really  an  extension  of  liquation  ;  but  as  air  was  admitted  the 
lead  and  copper  melted  out  were  oxidized.  The  products  were  the  final  residual  copper, 
called  by  Agricola  the  "  dried  "  copper,  together  with  lead  and  copper  oxides,  called  by  him 
the  "  slags,  "  and  the  scale  of  copper  and  lead  oxides  termed  by  him  the  "  ash-coloured 
copper."  The  German  metallurgists  distinguished  two  kinds  of  slag  :  the  first  and  principal 
one,  the  darrost,  and  the  second  the  darrsohle,  this  latter  differing  only  in  that  it  contained 
more  impurities  from  the  floor  of  the  furnace,  and  remained  behind  until  the  furnace  cooled. 
Agricola  possibly  refers  to  these  as  "  more  liquation  thorns,"  because  in  describing  the 
treatment  of  the  bye-products  he  refers  to  thorns  from  the  process,  whereas  in  the  description 
of  "  drying  "  he  usually  refers  to  "  slags."  A  number  of  analyses  of  these  products,  given 
by  Karsten,  show  the  "  dried  "  copper  to  contain  from  82.7  to  90.6%  copper,  and  from  9.4 
to  17.3%  lead  ;  the  "  slag  "  to  contain  76.5  to  85.1%  lead  oxide,  and  from  4.1  to  7.8% 
cuprous  oxide,  with  9  to  13%  silica  from  the  furnace  bottoms,  together  with  some  other 

"If  Roman  weights,  this  would  equal  from  6,360  Ibs.  to  7,066  Ibs. 


524  BOOK    XI. 

and  forth.  This  bar  is  round,  eight  feet  long  and  two  digits  in  diameter ; 
on  the  right  side  it  has  a  haft  made  of  iron,  which  is  about  a  foot  from  the 
right  end ;  the  aperture  in  this  haft  is  a  palm  wide,  two  digits  high,  and  a 
digit  thick.  The  bar  holds  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  opposite,  lest  they 
should  fall  down.  When  the  operation  of  "  drying  "  is  completed,  a  work- 
man draws  out  this  bar  with  a  crook  which  he  inserts  into  the  haft,  as  I  will 
explain  hereafter. 

In  order  that  one  should  understand  those  things  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
and  concerning  which  I  am  about  to  speak,  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  give  some 
information  beforehand  about  the  furnace  and  how  it  is  to  be  made.  It  stands 
nine  feet  from  the  fourth  long  wall,  and  as  far  from  the  wall  which  is  between 
the  second  and  fourth  transverse  walls.  It  consists  of  walls,  an  arch,  a  chimney, 
an  interior  wall,  and  a  hearth  ;  the  two  walls  are  at  the  sides  ;  and  they  are 
eleven  feet  three  palms  and  two  digits  long,  and  where  they  support  the 
chimney  they  are  eight  feet  and  a  palm  high.  At  the  front  of  the  arch  they 
are  only  seven  feet  high ;  they  are  two  feet  three  palms  and  two  digits 
thick,  and  are  made  either  of  rock  or  of  bricks  ;  the  distance  between  them 
is  eight  feet,  a  palm  and  two  digits.  There  are  two  of  the  arches,  for  the 
space  at  the  rear  between  the  walls  is  also  arched  from  the  ground,  in  order 
that  it  may  be  able  to  support  the  chimney;  the  foundations  of  these 
arches  are  the  walls  of  the  furnace ;  the  span  of  the  arch  has  the  same 
length  as  the  space  between  the  walls  ;  the  top  of  the  arch  is  five  feet,  a  palm 
and  two  digits  high.  In  the  rear  arch  there  is  a  wall  made  of  bricks  joined 
with  lime  ;  this  wall  at  a  height  of  a  foot  and  three  palms  from  the  ground 
has  five  vent-holes,  which  are  two  palms  and  a  digit  high,  a  palm  and  a  digit 
wide,  of  which  the  first  is  near  the  right  interior  wall,  and  the  last  near  the 
left  interior  wall,  the  remaining  three  in  the  intervening  space ;  these  vent- 
holes  penetrate  through  the  interior  of  the  wall  which  is  in  the  arch. 
Half-bricks  can  be  placed  over  the  vent-holes,  lest  too  much  air  should  be 
drawn  into  the  furnace,  and  they  can  be  taken  out  at  times,  in  order  that  he 
who  is  "  drying  "  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  may  inspect  the  passages, 
as  they  are  called,  to  see  whether  the  cakes  are  being  properly  "  dried." 
The  front  arch  is  three  feet  two  palms  distant  from  the  rear  one ;  this  arch 
is  the  same  thickness  as  that  of  the  rear  arch,  but  the  span  is  six  feet  wide  ; 

impurities  ;  the  "  ash-coloured  copper  "  to  contain  about  60%  cuprous  oxide  and  30%  lead 
oxide,  with  some  metallic  copper  and  minor  impurities.  An  average  of  proportions  given  by 
various  authors  shows,  roughly,  that  out  of  100  centners  of  "  exhausted  "  liquation  cakes, 
containing  about  70%  copper  and  30%  lead,  there  were  about  63  centners  of  "  dried  "  copper, 
38  centners  of  "  slag,"  and  6£  centners  of  ''  ash-coloured  copper."  According  to  Karsten,  the 
process  fell  into  stages  ;  first,  at  low  temperature  some  metallic  lead  appeared;  second,  during 
an  increasing  temperature  for  over  14  to  15  hours  the  slags  ran  out ;  third,  there  was  a  period  of 
four  hours  of  lower  temperature  to  allow  time  for  the  lead  to  diffuse  from  the  interior  of  the 
cakes  ;  and  fourth,  during  a  period  of  eight  hours  the  temperature  was  again  increased.  In  fact, 
the  latter  portion  of  the  process  ended  with  the  economic  limit  between  leaving  some  lead  in 
the  copper  and  driving  too  much  copper  into  the  "  slags."  Agricola  gives  the  silver 
contents  of  the  "  dried  "  copper  as  3  drachmae  to  i  centumpondium,  or  equal  to  about  9  ozs. 
per  ton  ;  and  assuming  that  the  copper  finally  recovered  from  the  bye-products  ran  no  higher, 
then  the  first  four  charges  (see  note  on  p.  506)  would  show  a  reduction  in  the  silver  values 
of  from  95  to  97%  ;  the  7th  and  8th  charges  (note  on  p.  512)  of  about  90%. 


BOOK    XI. 


525 


DaraHB 


A — SIDE  WALLS.  B — FRONT  ARCH.  C — REAR  ARCH.  D — WALL  IN  THE  REAR  ARCH. 
E — INNER  WALL.  F — VENT  HOLES.  G — CHIMNEY.  H — HEARTH.  I — TANK.  K — PIPE. 
L — PLUG.  M — IRON  DOOR.  N — TRANSVERSE  BARS.  0 — UPRIGHT  BARS.  P — PLATES. 
Q — RINGS  OF  THE  BARS.  R — CHAINS.  S — Rows  OF  BRICKS.  T — BAR.  V — ITS  HAFT. 

X — COPPER    BED-PLATES. 

36 


526  BOOK    XL 

the  interior  of  the  ,uch  itself  is  of  the  same  height  as  the  walls.  A  chimney 
is  built  upon  the  arches  and  the  walls,  and  is  made  of  bricks  joined 
together  with  lime ;  it  is  thirty-six  feet  high  and  penetrates  through  the 
roof.  The  interior  wall  is  built  against  the  rear  arch  and  both  the  side 
walls,  from  which  it  juts  out  a  foot ;  it  is  three  feet  and  the  same  number 
of  palms  high,  three  palms  thick,  and  is  made  of  bricks  joined  together 
with  lute  and  smeared  thickly  with  lute,  sloping  up  to  the  height  of 
a  foot  above  it.  This  wall  is  a  kind  of  shield,  for  it  protects  the  exterior 
walls  from  the  heat  of  the  fire,  which  is  apt  to  injure  them ;  the  latter  can- 
not be  easily  re-made,  while  the  former  can  be  repaired  with  little  work. 
The  hearth  is  made  of  lute,  and  is  covered  either  with  copper  plates, 
such  as  those  of  the  furnaces  in  which  silver  is  liquated  from  copper,  although 
they  have  no  protuberances,  or  it  may  be  covered  with  bricks,  if  the  owners 
are  unwilling  to  incur  the  expense  of  copper  plates.  The  wider  part  of  the 
hearth  is  made  sloping  in  such  a  manner  that  the  rear  end  reaches  as  high  as 
the  five  vent-holes,  and  the  front  end  of  the  hearth  is  so  low  that  the  back 
of  the  front  arch  is  four  feet,  three  palms  and  as  many  digits  above  it, 
and  the  front  five  feet,  three  palms  and  as  many  digits.  The  hearth  beyond 
the  furnaces  is  paved  with  bricks  for  a  distance  of  six  feet.  Near  the 
furnace,  against  the  fourth  long  wall,  is  a  tank  thirteen  feet  and  a  palm 
long,  four  feet  wide,  and  a  foot  and  three  palms  deep.  It  is  lined  on  all  sides 
with  planks,  lest  the  earth  should  fall  into  it ;  on  one  s;de  the  water  flows 
in  through  pipes,  and  on  the  other,  if  the  plug  be  pulled  out,  it  soaks  into  the 
earth ;  into  this  tank  of  water  are  thrown  the  cakes  of  copper  from  which 
the  silver  and  lead  have  been  separated.  The  fore  part  of  the  front  furnace 
arch  should  be  partly  closed  with  an  iron  door ;  the  bottom  of  this  door  is 
six  feet  and  two  digits  wide ;  the  upper  part  is  somewhat  rounded,  and  at 
the  highest  point,  which  is  in  the  middle,  it  is  three  feet  and  two  palms  high. 
It  is  made  of  iron  bars,  with  plates  fastened  to  them  with  iron  wire,  there 
being  seven  bars — three  transverse  and  four  upright — each  of  which  is  two 
digits  wide  and  half  a  digit  thick.  The  lowest  transverse  bar  is  six  feet  and 
two  palms  long ;  the  middle  one  has  the  same  length  ;  the  upper  one  is 
curved  and  higher  at  the  centre,  and  thus  longer  than  the  other  two.  The 
upright  bars  are  two  feet  distant  from  one  another  ;  both  the  outer  ones  are 
two  feet  and  as  many  palms  high  ;  but  the  centre  ones  are  three  feet  and  two 
palms.  They  project  from  the  upper  curved  transverse  bar  and  have  holes, 
in  which  are  inserted  the  hooks  of  small  chains  two  feet  long ;  the  topmost 
links  of  these  chains  are  engaged  in  the  ring  of  a  third  chain,  which,  when 
extended,  reaches  to  one  end  of  a  beam  which  is  somewhat  cut  out.  The  chain 
then  turns  around  the  beam,  and  again  hanging  down,  the  hook  in  the  other  end 
is  fastened  in  one  of  the  links.  This  beam  is  eleven  feet  long,  a  palm  and  two 
digits  wide,  a  palm  thick,  and  turns  on  an  iron  axle  fixed  in  a  near-by  timber ; 
the  rear  end  of  the  beam  has  an  iron  pin,  which  is  three  palms  and  a  digit  long, 
and  which  penetrates  through  it  where  it  lies  under  a  timber,  and  projects 
from  it  a  palm  and  two  digits  on  one  side,  and  three  digits  on  the  other  side. 
At  this  point  the  pin  is  perforated,  in  order  that  a  ring  may  be  fixed  in  it 


BOOK    XI. 


527 


and  hold  it,  lest  it  should  fall  out  of  the  beam ;  that  end  is  hardly  a  digit 
thick,  while  the  other  round  end  is  thicker  than  a  digit.  When  the  door  is 
to  be  shut,  this  pin  lies  under  the  timber  and  holds  the  door  so  that  it  cannot 
fall ;  the  pin  likewise  prevents  the  rectangular  iron  band  which  encircles  the 
end  of  the  beam,  and  into  which  is  inserted  the  ring  of  a  long  hook,  from 
falling  from  the  end.  The  lowest  link  of  an  iron  chain,  which  is  six  feet  long, 
is  inserted  in  the  ring  of  a  staple  driven  into  the  right  wall  of  the  furnace, 
and  fixed  firmly  by  filling  in  with  molten  lead.  The  hook  suspended  at  the 
top  from  the  ring  should  be  inserted  in  one  of  these  lower  links,  when  the 
door  is  to  be  raised ;  when  the  door  is  to  be  let  down,  the  hook  is  taken  out 
of  that  link  and  put  into  one  of  the  upper  links. 

On  the  third  day  the  master  sets  about  the  principal  operation.  First 
he  throws  a  basketful  of  charcoals  on  to  the  ground  in  front  of  the  hearth, 
and  kindles  them  by  adding  live  coals,  and  having  thrown  live  coals  on  to  the 
cakes  placed  within,  he  spreads  them  equally  all  over  with  an  iron  shovel. 
The  blade  of  the  shovel  is  three  palms  and  a  digit  long,  and  three  palms  wide  ; 
its  iron  handle  is  two  palms  long,  and  the  wooden  one  ten  feet  long,  so  that 
it  can  reach  to  the  rear  wall  of  the  furnace.  The  exhausted  liquation  cakes 
become  incandescent  in  an  hour  and  a  half,  if  the  copper  was  good  and  hard, 


A — THE  DOOR  LET  DOWN.    B — BAR. 


C — EXHAUSTED  LIQUATION  CAKES. 
E — TONGS. 


D — BRICKS. 


528 


BOOK    XL 


or  after  two  hours,  if  it  was  soft  and  fragile.  The  workman  adds  charcoal  to 
them  where  he  sees  it  is  needed,  throwing  it  into  the  furnace  through  the 
openings  on  both  sides  between  the  side  walls  and  the  closed  door.  This  open- 
ing is  a  foot  and  a  palm  wide.  He  lets  down  the  door,  and  when  the  "  slags  " 
begin  to  flow  he  opens  the  passages  with  a  bar ;  this  should  take  place  after 
five  hours  ;  the  door  is  let  down  over  the  upper  open  part  of  the  arch  for 
two  feet  and  as  many  digits,  so  that  the  master  can  bear  the  violence  of  the 
heat.  When  the  cakes  shrink,  charcoal  should  not  be  added  to  them  lest 
they  should  melt.  If  the  cakes  made  from  poor  and  fragile  copper  are 
"  dried  "  with  cakes  made  from  good  hard  copper,  very  often  the  copper 
so  settles  into  the  passages  that  a  bar  thrust  into  them  cannot  penetrate 
them.  This  bar  is  of  iron,  six  feet  and  two  palms  long,  into  which  a  wooden 
handle  five  feet  long  is  inserted.  The  refiner  draws  off  the  "  slags  "  with  a 
rabble  from  the  right  side  of  the  hearth.  The  blade  of  the  rabble  is  made 
of  an  iron  plate  a  foot  and  a  palm  wide,  gradually  narrowing  toward  the 
handle ;  the  blade  is  two  palms  high,  its  iron  handle  is  two  feet  long,  and 
the  wooden  handle  set  into  it  is  ten  feet  long. 

When  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  have  been   "  dried,"  the  master 


A — THE  DOOR  RAISED.     B — HOOKED  BAR.     C — TWO-PRONGED  RAKE.     D — TONGS. 

E— TANK. 


BOOK     XL  529 

raises  the  door  in  the  manner  I  have  described,  and  with  a  long  iron  hook 
inserted  into  the  haft  of  the  bar  he  draws  it  through  the  hole  in  the  left  wall 
from  the  hole  in  the  right  wall ;  afterward  he  pushes  it  back  and  replaces  it. 
The  master  then  takes  out  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  nearest  to  him  with 
the  iron  hook  ;  then  he  pulls  out  the  cakes  from  the  bricks.  This  hook  is 
two  palms  high,  as  many  digits  wide,  and  one  thick ;  its  iron  handle  is  two 
feet  long,  and  the  wooden  handle  eleven  feet  long.  There  is  also  a  two- 
pronged  rake  with  which  the  "  dried  "  cakes  are  drawn  over  to  the  left  side  so 
that  they  may  be  seized  with  tongs;  the  prongs  of  the  rake  are  pointed, 
and  are  two  palms  long,  as  many  digits  wide,  and  one  digit  thick ;  the  iron 
part  of  the  handle  is  a  foot  long,  the  wooden  part  nine  feet  long.  The 
"  dried  "  cakes,  taken  out  of  the  hearth  by  the  master  and  his  assistants, 
are  seized  with  other  tongs  and  thrown  into  the  rectangular  tank,  which  is 
almost  filled  with  water.  These  tongs  are  two  feet  and  three  palms  long, 
both  the  handles  are  round  and  more  than  a  digit  thick,  and  the  ends  are 
bent  for  a  pahn  and  two  digits ;  both  the  jaws  are  a  digit  and  a  half  wide 
in  front  and  sharpened ;  at  the  back  they  are  a  digit  thick,  and  then  gradually 
taper,  and  when  closed,  the  interior  is  two  palms  and  as  many  digits  wide. 

The  "  dried  "  cakes  which  are  dripping  copper  are  not  immediately  dipped 
into  the  tank,  because,  if  so,  they  burst  in  fragments  and  give  out  a  sound 
like  thunder.  The  cakes  are  afterward  taken  out  of  the  tank  with  the 
tongs,  and  laid  upon  the  two  transverse  planks  on  which  the  workmen  stand ; 
the  sooner  they  are  taken  out  the  easier  it  is  to  chip  off  the  copper  that 
has  become  ash-coloured.  Finally,  the  master,  with  a  spade,  raises  up  the 
bricks  a  little  from  the  hearth,  while  they  are  still  warm.  The  blade  of  the 
spade  is  a  palm  and  two  digits  long,  the  lower  edge  is  sharp,  and  is  a  palm 
and  a  digit  wide,  the  upper  end  a  palm  wide ;  its  handle  is  round,  the  iron 
part  being  two  feet  long,  and  the  wooden  part  seven  and  a  half  feet  long. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  master  draws  out  the  liquation  thorns  which 
have  settled  in  the  passages;  they  are  much  richer  in  silver  than  those 
that  are  made  when  the  silver-lead  is  liquated  from  copper  in  the  liquation 
furnace.  The  "  dried  "  cakes  drip  but  little  copper,  but  nearly  all  their 
remaining  silver-lead  and  the  thorns  consist  of  it,  for,  indeed,  in  one 
centumpondium  of  "  dried  "  copper  there  should  remain  only  half  an  undo, 
of  silver,  and  there  sometimes  remain  only  three  drachmae.™  Some  smelters 
chip  off  the  metal  adhering  to  the  bricks  with  a  hammer,  in  order  that  it 
may  be  melted  again ;  others,  however,  crush  the  bricks  under  the  stamps 
and  wash  them,  and  the  copper  and  lead  thus  collected  is  melted  again.  The 
master,  when  he  has  taken  these  things  away  and  put  them  in  their  places, 
has  finished  his  day's  work. 

The  assistants  take  the  "  dried "  cakes  out  of  the  tank  on  the 
next  day,  place  them  on  an  oak  block,  and  first  pound  them  with  rounded 
hammers  in  order  that  the  ash-coloured  copper  may  fall  away  from  them, 

220ne  half  undo,  or  three  drachmae  of  silver  would  equal  either  12  ozs.  or  9  ozs.  per 
ton.  If  we  assume  the  values  given  for  residual  copper  in  the  first  four  charges  (note  p.  506)  of 
34  ozs.,  this  would  mean  an  extraction  of,  roughly,  65%  of  the  silver  from  the  exhausted 
liquation  cakes. 


530 


BOOK    XI. 


and  then  they  dig  out  with  pointed  picks  the  holes  hi  the  cakes,  which  contain 
the  same  kind  of  copper.  The  head  of  the  round  hammer  is  three  palms  and 
a  digit  long ;  one  end  of  the  head  is  round  and  two  digits  long  and  thick ; 
the  other  end  is  chisel-shaped,  and  is  two  digits  and  a  half  long.  The  sharp 
pointed  hammer  is  the  same  length  as  the  round  hammer,  but  one  end  is 
pointed,  the  other  end  is  square,  and  gradually  tapers  to  a  point. 


^  *y  ^ -\ A ...   jfVfr  ;V\f^  r>  \  *r^» 

C  ^  ^ M  A /CW¥M> K' »« 


A — TANK.     B — BOARD.     C — TONGS.     D — "  DRIED  "  CAKES  TAKEN  OUT  OF  THE  TANKS. 
E — BLOCK.     F — ROUNDED  HAMMER.     G — POINTED  HAMMER. 

The  nature  of  copper  is  such  that  when  it  is  "  dried  "  it  becomes  ash 
coloured,  and  since  this  copper  contains  silver,  it  is  smelted  again  in  the 
blast  furnaces.23 

I  have  described  sufficiently  the  method  by  which  exhausted  liquation 
cakes  are  "  dried  "  ;  now  I  will  speak  of  the  method  by  which  they  are  made 
into  copper  after  they  have  been  "  dried."  These  cakes,  in  order  that 
they  may  recover  the  appearance  of  copper  which  they  have  to  some  extent 
lost,  are  melted  in  four  furnaces,  which  are  placed  against  the  second  long 
wall  in  the  part  of  the  building  between  the  second  and  third  transverse 
walls.  This  space  is  sixty-three  feet  and  two  palms  long,  and  since  each  of 

23See  note  29,  p.  540. 


BOOK     XL  531 

these  furnaces  occupies  thirteen  feet,  the  space  which  is  on  the  right 
side  of  the  first  furnace,  and  on  the  left  of  the  fourth,  are  each  three  feet  and 
three  palms  wide,  and  the  distance  between  the  second  and  third  furnace  is 
six  feet.  In  the  middle  of  each  of  these  three  spaces  is  a  door,  a  foot  and 
a  half  wide  and  six  feet  high,  and  the  middle  one  is  common  to  the  master 
of  each  of  the  furnaces.  Each  furnace  has  its  own  chimney,  which  rises 
between  the  two  long  walls  mentioned  above,  and  is  supported  by  two  arches 
and  a  partition  wall.  The  partition  wall  is  between  the  two  furnaces,  and 
is  five  feet  long,  ten  feet  high,  and  two  feet  thick ;  in  front  of  it  is  a  pillar 
belonging  in  common  to  the  front  arches  of  the  furnace  on  either  side,  which 
is  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  thick,  three  feet  and  a  half  wide.  The  front 
arch  reaches  from  this  common  pillar  to  another  pillar  that  is  common  to  the 
side  arch  of  the  same  furnace ;  this  arch  on  the  right  spans  from  the  second 
long  wall  to  the  same  pillar,  which  is  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  wide  and 
thick  at  the  bottom.  The  interior  of  the  front  arch  is  nine  feet  and  a  palm 
wide,  and  eight  feet  high  at  its  highest  point ;  the  interior  of  the  arch  which 
is  on  the  right  side,  is  five  feet  and  a  palm  wide,  and  of  equal  height  to  the 
other,  and  both  the  arches  are  built  of  the  same  height  as  the  partition  wall. 
Imposed  upon  these  arches  and  the  partition  wall  are  the  walls  of  the  chimney ; 
these  slope  upward,  and  thus  contract,  so  that  at  the  upper  part,  where  the 
fumes  are  emitted,  the  opening  is  eight  feet  in  length,  one  foot  and  three 
palms  in  width.  The  fourth  wall  of  the  chimney  is  built  vertically  upon  the 
second  long  wall.  As  the  partition  wall  is  common  to  the  two  furnaces,  so  its 
superstructure  is  common  to  the  two  chimneys.  In  this  sensible  manner 
the  chimney  is  built.  At  the  front  each  furnace  is  six  feet  two  palms  long, 
and  three  feet  two  palms  wide,  and  a  cubit  high ;  the  back  of  each  furnace 
is  against  the  second  long  wall,  the  front  being  open.  The  first  furnace  is  open 
and  sloping  at  the  right  side,  so  that  the  slags  may  be  drawn  out ;  the  left 
side  is  against  the  partition  wall,  and  has  a  little  wall  built  of  bricks  cemented 
together  with  lute ;  this  little  wall  protects  the  partition  wall  from  injury  by 
the  fire.  On  the  contrary,  the  second  furnace  has  the  left  side  open  and 
the  right  side  is  against  the  partition  wall,  where  also  it  has  its  own  little  wall 
which  protects  the  partition  wall  from  the  fire.  The  front  of  each  furnace  is 
built  of  rectangular  rocks  ;  the  interior  of  it  is  filled  up  with  earth.  Then  in 
each  of  the  furnaces  at  the  rear,  against  the  second  long  wall,  is  an  aperture 
through  an  arch  at  the  back,  and  in  these  are  fixed  the  copper  pipes.  Each 
furnace  has  a  round  pit,  two  feet  and  as  many  palms  wide,  built  three  feet 
away  from  the  partition  wall.  Finally,  under  the  pit  of  the  furnace,  at  a 
depth  of  a  cubit,  is  the  hidden  receptacle  for  moisture,  similar  to  the  others, 
whose  vent  penetrates  through  the  second  long  wall  and  slopes  upward  to 
the  right  from  the  first  furnace,  and  to  the  left  from  the  second.  If  copper 
is  to  be  made  the  next  day,  then  the  master  cuts  out  the  crucible  with  a 
spatula,  the  blade  of  which  is  three  digits  wide  and  as  many  palms  long,  the 
iron  handle  being  two  feet  long  and  one  and  a  half  digits  in  diameter  ;  the 
wooden  handle  inserted  into  it  is  round,  five  feet  long  and  two  digits 
in  diameter.  Then,  with  another  cutting  spatula,  he  makes  the  crucible 


532 


BOOK    XL 


smooth  ;  the  blade  of  this  spatula  is  a  palm  wide  and  two  palms  long  ;  its 
handle,  partly  of  iron,  partly  of  wood,  is  similar  in  every  respect  to  the  first 
one.  Afterward  he  throws  pulverised  clay  and  charcoal  into  the  crucible,  pours 
water  over  it,  and  sweeps  it  over  with  a  broom  into  which  a  stick  is  fixed. 
Then  immediately  he  throws  into  the  crucible  a  powder,  made  of  two 
wheelbarrowsful  of  sifted  charcoal  dust,  as  many  wheelbarrowsful  of 


A — HEARTH  OF  THE  FURNACE.     B — CHIMNEY.     C  — COMMON  PILLAR.     D — OTHER  PILLARS. 

THE  PARTITION  WALL  IS  BEHIND  THE  COMMON  PILLAR   AND  NOT  TO  BE  SEEN.         E — ARCHES. 

F — LITTLE  WALLS  WHICH  PROTECT  THE  PARTITION  WALL  FROM  INJURY  BY  THE  FIRE. 

G — CRUCIBLES.     H — SECOND  LONG  WALL.     I — DOOR.     K — SPATULA.     L — THE  OTHER 

SPATULA.    M — THE  BROOM  IN  WHICH  is  INSERTED  A  STICK.    N — PESTLES.    O — WOODEN 

MALLET.     P — PLATE.     Q — STONES.     R — IRON  ROD. 

pulverised  clay  likewise  sifted,  and  six  basketsful  of  river  sand  which  has 
passed  through  a  very  fine  sieve.  This  powder,  like  that  used  by  smelters, 
is  sprinkled  with  water  and  moistened  before  it  is  put  into  the  crucible,  so 
that  it  may  be  fashioned  by  the  hands  into  shapes  similar  to  snowballs. 
When  it  has  been  put  in,  the  master  first  kneads  it  and  makes  it  smooth  with 
his  hands,  and  then  pounds  it  with  two  wooden  pestles,  each  of  which  is  a 
cubit  long  ;  each  pestle  has  a  round  head  at  each  end,  but  one  of  these  is 
a  palm  in  diameter,  the  other  three  digits  ;  both  are  thinner  in  the  middle, 
so  that  they  may  be  held  in  the  hand.  Then  he  again  throws  moistened 


BOOK     XI.  533 

powder  into  the  crucible,  and  again  makes  it  smooth  with  his  hands,  and 
kneads  it  with  his  fists  and  with  the  pestles  ;  then,  pushing  upward  and 
pressing  with  his  fingers,  he  makes  the  edge  of  the  crucible  smooth.  After  the 
crucible  has  been  made  smooth,  he  sprinkles  in  dry  charcoal  dust,  and  again 
pounds  it  with  the  same  pestles,  at  first  with  the  narrow  heads,  and  afterward 
with  the  wider  ones.  Then  he  pounds  the  crucible  with  a  wooden  mallet 
two  feet  long,  both  heads  of  which  are  round  and  three  digits  in  diameter ; 
its  wooden  handle  is  two  palms  long,  and  one  and  a  half  digits  in  diameter. 
Finally,  he  throws  into  the  crucible  as  much  pure  sifted  ashes  as  both  hands 
can  hold,  and  pours  water  into  it,  and,  taking  an  old  linen  rag,  he  smears 
the  crucible  over  with  the  wet  ashes.  The  crucible  is  round  and  sloping.  If 
copper  is  to  be  made  from  the  best  quality  of  "  dried  "  cakes,  it  is  made  two 
feet  wide  and  one  deep,  but  if  from  other  cakes,  it  is  made  a  cubit  wide  and 
two  palms  deep.  The  master  also  has  an  iron  band  curved  at  both  ends, 
two  palms  long  and  as  many  digits  wide,  and  with  this  he  cuts  off  the  edges 
of  the  crucible  if  they  are  higher  than  is  necessary.  The  copper  pipe  is 
inclined,  and  projects  three  digits  from  the  wall,  and  has  its  upper  end  and 
both  sides  smeared  thick  with  lute,  that  it  may  not  be  burned  ;  but  the  under- 
side of  the  pipe  is  smeared  thinly  with  lute,  for  this  side  reaches  almost  to  the 
edge  of  the  crucible,  and  when  the  crucible  is  full  the  molten  copper  touches 
it.  The  wall  above  the  pipe  is  smeared  over  with  lute,  lest  that  should  be 
damaged.  He  does  the  same  to  the  other  side  of  an  iron  plate,  which  is  a 
foot  and  three  palms  long  and  a  foot  high  ;  this  stands  on  stones  near  the 
crucible  at  the  side  where  the  hearth  slopes,  in  order  that  the  slag  may  run 
out  under  it.  Others  do  not  place  the  plates  upon  stones,  but  cut  out 
of  the  plate  underneath  a  small  piece,  three  digits  long  and  three  digits 
wide  ;  lest  the  plate  should  fall,  it  is  supported  by  an  iron  rod  fixed  in  the 
wall  at  a  height  of  two  palms  and  the  same  number  of  digits,  and  it  projects 
from  the  wall  three  palms. 

Then  with  an  iron  shovel,  whose  wooden  handle  is  six  feet  long,  he 
throws  live  charcoal  into  the  crucible  ;  or  else  charcoal,  kindled  by  means 
of  a  few  live  coals,  is  added  to  them.  Over  the  live  charcoal  he  lays  "  dried  " 
cakes,  which,  if  they  were  of  copper  of  the  first  quality,  weigh  all  together 
three  centumpondia,  or  three  and  a  half  centumpondia  ;  but  if  they  were 
of  copper  of  the  second  quality,  then  two  and  a  half  centumpondia  ;  if  they 
were  of  the  third  quality,  then  two  centumpondia  only  ;  but  if  they  were 
of  copper  of  very  superior  quality,  then  they  place  upon  it  six  centumpondia, 
and  in  this  case  they  make  the  crucible  wider  and  deeper.24  The  lowest 
"  dried  "  cake  is  placed  at  a  distance  of  two  palms  from  the  pipe,  the  rest  at 
a  greater  distance,  and  when  the  lower  ones  are  melted  the  upper  ones  fall 
down  and  get  nearer  to  the  pipe  ;  if  they  do  not  fall  down  they  must 
be  pushed  with  a  shovel.  The  blade  of  the  shovel  is  a  foot  long,  three  palms 
and  two  digits  wide,  the  iron  part  of  the  handle  is  two  palms  long,  the 

"Assuming  Roman  weights  :  2      centumpondia   =     141.3  Ibs. 

2j  „  =     176.6    „ 

3  211.9    „ 

34          ,.  =    248.2  „ 

6  423-9    .. 


534 


BOOK     XI. 


wooden  part  nire  feet.  Round  about  the  "  dried  "  cakes  are  placed  large 
long  pieces  of  charcoal,  and  in  the  pipe  are  placed  medium-sized  pieces. 
When  all  these  things  have  been  arranged  in  this  manner,  the  fire  must  be 
more  violently  excited  by  the  blast  from  the  bellows.  When  the  copper  is 
melting  and  the  coals  blaze,  the  master  pushes  an  iron  bar  into  the  middle 
of  them  in  order  that  they  may  receive  the  air,  and  that  the  flame  can  force 
its  way  out.  This  pointed  bar  is  two  and  a  half  feet  long,  and  its  wooden 
handle  four  feet  long.  When  the  cakes  are  partly  melted,  the  master,  passing 
out  through  the  door,  inspects  the  crucible  through  the  bronze  pipe,  and  if  he 
should  find  that  too  much  of  the  "  slag  "  is  adhering  to  the  mouth  of  the  pipe, 
and  thus  impeding  the  blast  of  the  bellows,  he  inserts  the  hooked  iron  bar 
into  the  pipe  through  the  nozzle  of  the  bellows,  and,  turning  this  about  the 
mouth  of  the  pipe,  he  removes  the  "  slags  "  from  it.  The  hook  on  this  bar 
is  two  digits  high  ;  the  iron  part  of  the  handle  is  three  feet  long  ;  the  wooden 
part  is  the  same  number  of  palms  long.  Now  it  is  time  to  insert  the  bar 
under  the  iron  plate,  in  order  that  the  "  slags  "  may  flow  out.  When  the 
cakes,  being  all  melted,  have  run  into  the  crucible,  he  takes  out  a  sample  of 
copper  with  the  third  round  bar,  which  is  made  wholly  of  iron,  and  is  three  feet 
long,  a  digit  thick,  and  has  a  steel  point  lest  its  pores  should  absorb  the  copper. 


A — POINTED  BAR.       B — THIN  COPPER  LAYER.       C — ANVIL.      D — HAMMER. 


BOOK    XI.  535 

When  he  has  compressed  the  bellows,  he  introduces  this  bar  as  quickly  as 
possible  into  the  crucible  through  the  pipe  between  the  two  nozzles,  and 
takes  out  samples  two,  three,  or  four  times,  until  he  finds  that  the  copper  is 
perfectly  refined.  If  the  copper  is  good  it  adheres  easily  to  the  bar,  and 
two  samples  suffice  ;  if  it  is  not  good,  then  many  are  required.  It  is 
necessary  to  smelt  it  in  the  crucible  until  the  copper  adhering  to  the  bar  is 
seen  to  be  of  a  brassy  colour,  and  if  the  upper  as  well  as  the  lower  part  of 
the  thin  layer  of  copper  may  be  easily  broken,  it  signifies  that  the  copper 
is  perfectly  melted  ;  he  places  the  point  of  the  bar  on  a  small  iron  anvil, 
and  chips  off  the  thin  layer  of  copper  from  it  with  a  hammer.25 

If  the  copper  is  not  good,  the  master  draws  off  the  "  slags  "  twice,  or 
three  times  if  necessary— the  first  time  when  some  of  the  cakes  have  been 
melted,  the  second  when  all  have  melted,  the  third  time  when  the  copper  has 
been  heated  for  some  time.  If  the  copper  was  of  good  quality,  the  "  slags  " 
are  not  drawn  off  before  the  operation  is  finished,  but  at  the  time  they  are  to  be 
drawn  off,  he  depresses  the  bar  over  both  bellows,  and  places  over  both  a 
stick,  a  cubit  long  and  a  palm  wide,  half  cut  away  at  the  upper  part,  so  that  it 
may  pass  under  the  iron  pin  fixed  at  the  back  in  the  perforated  wood.  This 
he  does  likewise  when  the  copper  has  been  completely  melted.  Then  the 
assistant  removes  the  iron  plate  with  the  tongs  ;  these  tongs  are  four  feet 
three  palms  long,  their  jaws  are  about  a  foot  in  length,  and  their  straight  part 
measures  two  palms  and  three  digits,  and  the  curved  a  palm  and  a  digit. 
The  same  assistant,  with  the  iron  shovel,  throws  and  heaps  up  the  larger 
pieces  of  charcoal  into  that  part  of  the  hearth  which  is  against  the  little  wall 
which  protects  the  other  wall  from  injury  by  fire,  and  partly  extinguishes 
them  by  pouring  water  over  them.  The  master,  with  a  hazel  stick  inserted 

"This  description  of  refining  copper  in  an  open  hearth  by  oxidation  with  a  blast  and 
"  poling  " — the  gaarmachen  of  the  Germans — is  so  accurate,  and  the  process  is  so  little  changed 
in  some  parts  of  Saxony,  that  it  might  have  been  written  in  the  20th  century  instead  of 
the  i6th.  The  best  account  of  the  old  practice  in  Saxony  after  Agricola  is  to  be  found  in 
Schliiter's  Hiitte  Werken  (Braunschweig,  1738,  Chap.  cxvm.).  The  process  has  largely  been 
displaced  by  electrolytic  methods,  but  is  still  in  use  in  most  refineries  as  a  step  in  electrolytic 
work.  It  may  be  unnecessary  to  repeat  that  the  process  is  one  of  subjecting  the  molten  mass 
of  impure  metal  to  a  strong  and  continuous  blast,  and  as  a  result,  not  only  are  the  impurities 
to  a  considerable  extent  directly  oxidized  and  taken  off  as  a  slag,  but  also  a  consider- 
able amount  of  copper  is  turned  into  cuprous  oxide.  This  cuprous  oxide  mostly  melts  and 
diffuses  through  the  metallic  copper,  and  readily  parting  with  its  oxygen  to  the  impurities 
further  facilitates  their  complete  oxidation.  The  blast  is  continued  until  the  impurities  are 
practically  eliminated,  and  at  this  stage  the  molten  metal  contains  a  great  deal  of  dissolved 
cuprous  oxide,  which  must  be  reduced.  This  is  done  by  introducing  a  billet  of  green  wood 
("  poling  "),  the  dry  distillation  of  which  generates  large  quantities  of  gases,  which  reduce  the 
oxide.  The  state  of  the  metal  is  even  to-day  in  some  localities  tested  by  dipping  into  it  the 
point  of  an  iron  rod ;  if  it  be  at  the  proper  state  the  adhering  copper  has  a  net-like  appearance, 
should  be  easily  loosened  from  the  rod  by  dipping  in  water,  is  of  a  reddish-copper  colour 
and  should  be  quite  pliable  ;  if  the  metal  is  not  yet  refined,  the  sample  is  thick,  smooth,  and 
detachable  with  difficulty  ;  if  over-refined,  it  is  thick  and  brittle.  By  allowing  water  to  run 
on  to  the  surface  of  the  molten  metal,  thin  cakes  are  successively  formed  and  taken  off.  These 
cakes  were  the  article  known  to  commerce  over  several  centuries  as  "  rosetta  copper."  The 
first  few  cakes  are  discarded  as  containing  impurities  or  slag,  and  if  the  metal  be  of  good 
quality  the  cakes  are  thin  and  of  a  red  colour.  Their  colour  and  thinness,  therefore,  become  a 
criterion  of  purity.  The  cover  of  charcoal  or  charcoal  dust  maintained  upon  the  surface  of 
the  metal  tended  to  retard  oxidation,  but  prevented  volatilization  and  helped  to  secure  the 
impurities  as  a  slag  instead.  Karsten  (Archiv.,  ist  series,  p.  46)  gives  several  analyses  of  the 


536  BOOK    XL 

into  the  crucible,  stirs  it  twice.  Afterward  he  draws  off  the  slags  with  a 
rabble,  which  consists  of  an  iron  blade,  wide  and  sharp,  and  of  alder-wood ; 
the  blade  is  a  digit  and  a  half  in  width  and  three  feet  long  ;  the  wooden  handle 
inserted  in  its  hollow  part  is  the  same  number  of  feet  long,  and  the  alder-wood 
in  which  the  blade  is  fixed  must  have  the  figure  of  a  rhombus  ;  it  must  be 
three  palms  and  a  digit  long,  a  palm  and  two  digits  wide,  and  a  palm  thick. 
Subsequently  he  takes  a  broom  and  sweeps  the  charcoal  dust  and  small  coal 
over  the  whole  of  the  crucible,  lest  the  copper  should  cool  before  it  flows 
together ;  then,  with  a  third  rabble,  he  cuts  off  the  slags  which  may  adhere 
to  the  edge  of  the  crucible.  The  blade  of  this  rabble  is  two  palms  long  and 
a  palm  and  one  digit  wide,  the  iron  part  of  the  handle  is  a  foot  and  three  palms 
long,  the  wooden  part  six  feet.  Afterward  he  again  draws  off  the  slags 
from  the  crucible,  which  the  assistant  does  not  quench  by  pouring  water 
upon  them,  as  the  other  slags  are  usually  quenched,  but  he  sprinkles  over 
them  a  little  water  and  allows  them  to  cool.  If  the  copper  should  bubble, 
he  presses  down  the  bubbles  with  the  rabble.  Then  he  pours  water  on  the  wall 
and  the  pipes,  that  it  may  flow  down  warm  into  the  crucible,  for,  the 
copper,  if  cold  water  were  to  be  poured  over  it  while  still  hot,  would  spatter 
about.  If  a  stone,  or  a  piece  of  lute  or  wood,  or  a  damp  coal  should  then  fall 
into  it,  the  crucible  would  vomit  out  all  the  copper  with  a  loud  noise  like 
thunder,  and  whatever  it  touches  it  injures  and  sets  on  fire.  Subsequently  he 
lays  a  curved  board  with  a  notch  in  it  over  the  front  part  of  the  crucible  ;  it 
is  two  feet  long,  a  palm  and  two  digits  wide,  and  a  digit  thick.  Then 
the  copper  in  the  crucible  should  be  divided  into  cakes  with  an  iron  wedge- 
shaped  bar  ;  this  is  three  feet  long,  two  digits  wide,  and  steeled  on  the  end 
for  the  distance  of  two  digits,  and  its  wooden  handle  is  three  feet  long.  He 
places  this  bar  on  the  notched  board,  and,  driving  it  into  the  copper,  moves 

slag  from  refining  "  dried  "  copper,  showing  it  to  contain  from  51.7  to  67.4%  lead  oxide,  6.2 
to  19.2%  cuprous  oxide,  and  21.4  to  23.9  silica  (from  the  furnace  bottoms),  with  minor  quantities 
of  iron,  antimony,  etc.  The  "  bubbles  "  referred  to  by  Agricola  were  apparently  the 
shower  of  copper  globules  which  takes  place  upon  the  evolution  of  sulphur  dioxide,  due  to  the 
reaction  of  the  cuprous  oxide  upon  any  remaining  sulphide  of  copper  when  the  mass  begins  to 
cool. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE. — It  is  impossible  to  say  how  the  Ancients  refined  copper,  beyond 

the  fact  that  they  often  re-smelted  it.      Such  notes  as  we  can  find  are  set  out  in  the  note  on 

copper  smelting  (note  42,  p.  402).     The  first  authentic  reference  to  poling  is  in  Theophilus 

(1150   to  1200  A.D.,  Hendrie's  translation,  p.  313),  which  shows  a  very  good  understanding 

of  this  method  of  refining  copper  : — "  Of  the  Purification  of  Copper.     Take  an  iron  dish  of 

'  the  size  you  wish,  and  line  it  inside  and  out  with  clay  strongly  beaten  and  mixed,  and  it  is 

'  carefully  dried.     Then  place  it  before  a  forge  upon  the  coals,  so  that  when  the  bellows  act 

'  upon  it  the  wind  may  issue  partly  within  and  partly  above  it,  and  not  below  it.     And  very 

'  small  coals  being  placed  round  it,  place  the  copper  in  it  equally,  and  add  over  it  a  heap  of 

'  coals.     When  by  blowing  a  long  time  this  has  become  melted,  uncover  it  and  cast  immedi- 

'  ately  fine  ashes  of  coals  over  it,  and  stir  it  with  a  thin  and  dry  piece  of  wood  as  if  mixing  it, 

'  and  you  will  directly  see  the  burnt  lead  adhere  to  these  ashes  like  a  glue,  which  being  cast 

'  out  again  superpose  coals,  and  blowing  for  a  long  time,  as  at  first,  again  uncover  it,  and 

'  then  do  as  you  did  before.       You  do  this  until  at  length  by  cooking  it  you  can  withdraw  the 

'  lead  entirely.     Then  pour  it  over  the  mould  which  you  have  prepared  for  this,  and  you  will 

'  thus  prove  if  it  be  pure.     Hold  it  with  the  pincers,  glowing  as  it  is,  before  it  has  become 

'  cold,  and  strike  it  with  a  large  hammer  strongly  over  the  anvil,  and  if  it  be  broken  or  split 

'  you  must  liquefy  it  anew  as  before.     If,  however,  it  should  remain  sound,  you  will  cool  it  in 

'  water,  and  you  cook  other  (copper)  in  the  same  manner."       Biringuccio  (in,  8)  in  1540 

describes  the  process  briefly,  but  omits  the  poling,  an  essential  in  the  production  of  malleable 

copper. 


BOOK    XI. 


537 


A— CRUCIBLE.     B— BOARD.     C— WEDGE-SHAPED  BAR.     D— CAKES  OF  COPPER  MADE  BY 

SEPARATING    THEM    WITH    THE    WEDGE-SHAPED    BAR.       E — TONGS.       F — TUB. 


538  BOOK    XI. 

it  forward  and  back,  and  by  this  means  the  water  flows  into  the  vacant 
space  in  the  copper,  and  he  separates  the  cake  from  the  rest  of  the  mass. 
If  the  copper  is  not  perfectly  smelted  the  cakes  will  be  too  thick,  and  can- 
not be  taken  out  of  the  crucible  easily.  Each  cake  is  afterward  seized  by 
the  assistant  with  the  tongs  and  plunged  into  the  water  in  the  tub ;  the  first 
one  is  placed  aside  so  that  the  master  may  re-melt  it  again  immediately,  for, 
since  some  "  slags  "  adhere  to  it,  it  is  not  as  perfect  as  the  subsequent  ones  ; 
indeed,  if  the  copper  is  not  of  good  quality,  he  places  the  first  two  cakes  aside. 
Then,  again  pouring  water  over  the  wall  and  the  pipes,  he  separates  out  the 
second  cake,  which  the  assistant  likewise  immerses  in  water  and  places  on 
the  ground  together  with  the  others  separated  out  in  the  same  way,  which 
he  piles  upon  them.  These,  if  the  copper  was  of  good  quality,  should  be 
thirteen  or  more  in  number ;  if  it  was  not  of  good  quality,  then  fewer.  If  the 
copper  was  of  good  quality,  this  part  of  the  operation,  which  indeed  is  dis- 
tributed into  four  parts,  is  accomplished  by  the  master  in  two  hours  ;  if  of 
mediocre  quality,  in  two  and  a  half  hours  ;  if  of  bad  quality,  in  three.  The 
"  dried "  cakes  are  re-melted,  first  in  the  first  crucible  and  then  in  the 
second.  The  assistant  must,  as  quickly  as  possible,  quench  all  the  cakes 
with  water,  after  they  have  been  cut  out  of  the  second  crucible.  Afterward 
with  the  tongs  he  replaces  in  its  proper  place  the  iron  plate  which  was  in  front 
of  the  furnace,  and  throws  the  charcoal  back  into  the  crucible  with  a  shovel. 
Meanwhile  the  master,  continuing  his  work,  removes  the  wooden  stick  from 
the  bars  of  the  bellows,  so  that  in  re-melting  the  other  cakes  he  may  accom- 
plish the  third  part  of  his  process  ;  this  must  be  carefully  done,  for  if  a  particle 
from  any  iron  implement  should  by  chance  fall  into  the  crucible,  or  should 
be  thrown  in  by  any  malevolent  person,  the  copper  could  not  be  made  until 
the  iron  had  been  consumed,  and  therefore  double  labour  would  have  to  be 
expended  upon  it.  Finally,  the  assistant  extinguishes  all  the  glowing-  coals, 
and  chips  off  the  dry  lute  from  the  mouth  of  the  copper  pipe  with  a  hammer ; 
one  end  of  this  hammer  is  pointed,  the  other  round,  and  it  has  a  wooden  handle 
five  feet  long.  Because  there  is  danger  that  the  copper  would  be  scattered  if 
the  pompholyx  and  spodos,  which  adhere  to  the  walls  and  the  hood  erected 
upon  them,  should  fall  into  the  crucible,  he  cleans  them  off  in  the  meantime. 
Every  week  he  takes  the  copper  flowers  out  of  the  tub,  after  having  poured  off 
the  water,  for  these  fall  into  it  from  the  cakes  when  they  are  quenched.28 

z*Pompholyx  and  spodos  were  impure  zinc  oxides  (see  note  26,  p.  394). 

The  copper  flowers  were  no  doubt  cupric  oxide.  They  were  used  by  the  Ancients  for 
medicinal  purposes.  Dioscorides  (v,  48)  says  :  "  Of  flowers  of  copper,  which  some  call  the 
'  scrapings  of  old  nails,  the  best  is  friable  ;  it  is  gold-coloured  when  rubbed,  is  like  millet  in 
'  shape  and  size,  is  moderately  bright,  and  somewhat  astringent.  It  should  not  be  mixed 
'  with  copper  filings,  with  which  it  is  often  adulterated.  But  this  deception  is  easily  detected, 
'  for  when  bitten  in  the  teeth  the  filings  are  malleable.  It  (the  flowers)  is  made  when  the 
'  copper  fused  in  a  furnace  has  run  into  the  receptacle  through  the  spout  pertaining  to  it, 
'  for  then  the  workmen  engaged  in  this  trade  cleanse  it  from  dirt  and  pour  clear  water  over  it 
'  in  order  to  cool  it ;  from  this  sudden  condensation  the  copper  spits  and  throws  out  the 
'  aforesaid  flowers."  Pliny  (xxxiv,  24)  says  :  "  The  flower,  too,  of  copper  (eeris  ftos)  is 
'  used  in  medicine.  This  is  made  by  fusing  copper,  and  then  removing  it  to  another  furnace, 
'  where  the  repeated  blast  makes  the  metal  separate  into  small  scales  like  millet,  known  as 
'  flowers.  These  scales  also  fall  off  when  the  cakes  of  metal  are  cooled  in  water  ;  they  become 
'  red,  too,  like  the  scales  of  copper  known  as  '  lepis,'  by  use  of  which  the  flowers  of  copper  are 
'  adulterated,  it  being  also  sold  for  it.  These  are  made  when  hammering  the  nails  that  are 


BOOK    XL  539 

The  bellows  which  this  master  uses  differ  in  size  from  the  others,  for  the 
boards  are  seven  and  a  half  feet  long  ;  the  back  part  is  three  feet  wide  ; 
the  front,  where  the  head  is  joined  on  is  a  foot,  two  palms  and  as  many  digits. 
The  head  is  a  cubit  and  a  digit  long  ;  the  back  part  of  it  is  a  cubit  and  a 
palm  wide,  and  then  becomes  gradually  narrower.  The  nozzles  of  the  bellows 
are  bound  together  by  means  of  an  iron  chain,  controlled  by  a  thick 
bar,  one  end  of  which  penetrates  into  the  ground  against  the  back  of  the  long 
wall,  and  the  other  end  passes  under  the  beam  which  is  laid  upon  the 
foremost  perforated  beams.  These  nozzles  are  so  placed  in  a  copper  pipe 
that  they  are  at  a  distance  of  a  palm  from  the  mouth  ;  the  mouth  should  be 
made  three  digits  in  diameter,  that  the  air  may  be  violently  expelled  through 
this  narrow  aperture. 

There  now  remain  the  liquation  thorns,  the  ash-coloured  copper,  the 
"  slags,"  and  the  cadmia?1  Liquation  cakes  are  made  from  thorns  in  the 
following  manner.28  There  are  taken  three-quarters  of  a  centumpondium  of 
thorns,  which  have  their  origin  from  the  cakes  of  copper-lead  alloy  when 
lead-silver  is  liquated,  and  as  many  parts  of  a  centumpondium  of  the  thorns 
derived  from  cakes  made  from  once  re-melted  thorns  by  the  same  method, 
and  to  them  are  added  a  centumpondium  of  de-silverized  lead  and  half  a 
centumpondium  of  hearth-lead.  If  there  is  in  the  works  plenty  of  litharge,  it 
is  substituted  for  the  de-silverized  lead.  One  and  a  half  centumpondia  of 
litharge  and  hearth-lead  is  added  to  the  same  weight  of  primary  thorns, 
and  half  a  centumpondium  of  thorns  which  have  their  origin  from  liquation 
cakes  composed  of  thorns  twice  re-melted  by  the  same  method  (tertiary 
thorns),  and  a  fourth  part  of  a  centumpondium  of  thorns  which  are  pro- 

"  made  from  the  cakes  of  copper.  All  these  methods  are  carried  on  in  the  works  of  Cyprus  ; 
"  the  difference  between  these  substances  is  that  the  squamae  (copper  scales)  are  detached  from 
"  hammering  the  cakes,  while  the  flower  falls  off  spontaneously."  Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos., 
p.  352)  notes  that  "  flowers  of  copper  (flos  ceris)  have  the  same  properties  as  '  roasted 
"  copper.'  " 

27It  seems  scarcely  necessary  to  discuss  in  detail  the  complicated  "  flow  scheme  "  of  the 
various  minor  bye-products.  They  are  all  re-introduced  into  the  liquation  circuit,  and  thereby 
are  created  other  bye-pioducts  of  the  same  kind  ad  infinitum.  Further  notes  are  given  on: — 
Liquation  thorns  . .  Note  28. 


Slags 

Ash-coloured  copper 

Concentrates 

Cadmia 


30. 
29. 
33- 
32- 


There  are  no  data  given,  either  by  Agricola  or  the  later  authors,  which  allow  satis- 
factory calculation  of  the  relative  quantities  of  these  products.  A  rough  estimate  from  the 
data  given  in  previous  notes  would  indicate  that  in  one  liquation  only  about  70%  of  the 
original  copper  came  out  as  refined  copper,  and  that  about  70%  of  the  original  lead  would  go 
to  the  cupellation  furnace,  i.e.,  about  30%  of  the  original  metal  sent  to  the  blast  furnace 
would  go  into  the  "  thorns,"  "  slags,"  and  "  ash-coloured  copper."  The  ultimate  losses 
were  very  great,  as  given  before  (p.  491),  they  probably  amounted  to  25%  of  the  silver,  9% 
copper,  and  16%  of  the  lead. 

"There  were  the  following  classes  of  thorns  : — 

ist.      From  liquation. 
2nd.     From  drying. 
3rd.     From  cupellation. 

In  a  general  way,  according  to  the  later  authors,  they  were  largely  lead  oxide,  and 
contained  from  5%  to  20%  cuprous  oxide.  If  a  calculation  be  made  backward  from  the 
products  given  as  the  result  of  the  charge  described,  it  would  appear  that  in  this  case  they  must 
have  contained  at  least  one-fifth  copper.  The  silver  in  these  liquation  cakes  would  run  about 
24  ozs.  per  ton,  in  the  liquated  lead  about  36  ozs.  per  ton,  and  in  the  liquation  thorns  24  ozs. 
per  ton.  The  extraction  into  the  liquated  lead  would  be  about  80%  of  the  silver. 


540  BOOK    XI. 

duced  when  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are  "  dried."  By  both  methods 
one  single  liquation  cake  is  made  from  three  centumpondia.  In  this  manner 
the  smelter  makes  every  day  fifteen  liquation  cakes,  more  or  less  ;  he  takes 
great  care  that  the  metallic  substances,  from  which  the  first  liquation  cake  is 
made,  flow  down  properly  and  in  due  order  into  the  fore-hearth,  before  the 
material  of  which  the  subsequent  cake  is  to  be  made.  Five  of  these  liquation 
cakes  are  put  simultaneously  into  the  furnace  in  which  silver-lead  is  liquated 
from  copper,  they  weigh  almost  fourteen  centumpondia,  and  the  "  slags " 
made  therefrom  usually  weigh  quite  a  centumpondium.  In  all  the  liquation 
cakes  together  there  is  usually  one  libra  and  nearly  two  unciae  of  silver,  and 
in  the  silver-lead  which  drips  from  those  cakes,  and  weighs  seven  and  a  half 
centumpondia,  there  is  in  each  an  uncia  and  a  half  of  silver.  In  each  of  the 
three  centumpondia  of  liquation  thorns  there  is  almost  an  uncia  of  silver,  and 
in  the  two  centumpondia  and  a  quarter  of  exhausted  liquation  cakes  there 
is  altogether  one  and  a  half  unciae  ;  yet  this  varies  greatly  for  each  variety  of 
thorns,  for  in  the  thorns  produced  from  primary  liquation  cakes  made  of 
copper  and  lead  when  silver-lead  is  liquated  from  the  copper,  and  those 
produced  in  "  drying  "  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes,  there  are  almost  two 
unciae  of  silver  ;  in  the  others  not  quite  an  uncia.  There  are  other  thorns 
besides,  of  which  I  will  speak  a  little  further  on. 

Those  in  the  Carpathian  Mountains  who  make  liquation  cakes  from  the 
copper  "  bottoms "  which  remain  after  the  upper  part  of  the  copper  is 
divided  from  the  lower,  in  the  furnace  similar  to  an  oven,  produce  thorns  when 
the  poor  or  mediocre  silver-lead  is  liquated  from  the  copper.  These,  together 
with  those  made  of  cakes  of  re-melted  thorns,  or  made  with  re-melted  litharge, 
are  placed  in  a  heap  by  themselves  ;  but  those  that  are  made  from  cakes 
melted  from  hearth-lead  are  placed  in  a  heap  separate  from  the  first,  and 
likewise  those  produced  from  "  drying  "  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are 
placed  separately  ;  from  these  thorns  liquation  cakes  are  made.  From  the 
first  heap  they  take  the  fourth  part  of  a  centumpondium,  from  the  second 
the  same  amount,  from  the  third  a  centumpondium, — to  which  thorns  are 
added  one  and  a  half  centumpondia  of  litharge  and  half  a  centumpondium  of 
hearth-lead,  and  from  these,  melted  in  the  blast  furnace,  a  liquation  cake  is 
made  ;  each  workman  makes  twenty  such  cakes  every  day.  But  of  theirs 
enough  has  been  said  for  the  present ;  I  will  return  to  ours. 

The  ash-coloured  copper  29  which  is  chipped  off,  as  I  have  stated,  from 
the  "  dried  "  cakes,  used  some  years  ago  to  be  mixed  with  the  thorns  produced 
from  liquation  of  the  copper-lead  alloy,  and  contained  in  themselves,  equally 
with  the  first,  two  unciae  of  silver  ;  but  now  it  is  mixed  with  the  concentrates 
washed  from  the  accretions  and  the  other  material.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
Carpathian  Mountains  melt  this  kind  of  copper  in  furnaces  in  which  are  re- 
melted  the  "  slags  "  which  flow  out  when  the  copper  is  refined  ;  but  as  this 
soon  melts  and  flows  down  out  of  the  furnace,  two  workmen  are  required  for 

29The  "  ash-coloured  copper  "  is  a  cuprous  oxide,  containing  some  3%  lead  oxide ; 
and  if  Agricola  means  they  contained  two  unciae  of  silver  to  the  centumpondium,  then  they 
ran  about  48  ozs.  per  ton,  and  would  contain  much  more  silver  than  the  mass. 


BOOK     XL  541 

the  work  of  smelting,  one  of  whom  smelts,  while  the  other  takes  out  the 
thick  cakes  from  the  forehearth.  These  cakes  are  only  "  dried,"  and  from 
the  "  dried  "  cakes  copper  is  again  made. 

The  "  slags  "30  are  melted  continually  day  and  night,  whether  they  have 
been  drawn  off  from  the  alloyed  metals  with  a  rabble,  or  whether  they  adhered 
to  the  forehearth  to  the  thickness  of  a  digit  and  made  it  smaller  and 
were  taken  off  with  spatulas.  In  this  manner  two  or  three  liquation  cakes 
are  made,  and  afterward  much  or  little  of  the  "  slag,"  skimmed  from  the 
molten  alloy  of  copper  and  lead,  is  re-melted.  Such  liquation  cakes  should 
weigh  up  to  three  centumpondia ,  in  each  of  which  there  is  half  an  uncia  of 
silver.  Five  cakes  are  placed  at  the  same  time  in  the  furnace  in  which 
argentiferous  lead  is  liquated  from  copper,  and  from  these  are  made  lead 
which  contains  half  an  uncia  of  silver  to  the  centumpondium.  The  exhausted 
liquation  cakes  are  laid  upon  the  other  baser  exhausted  liquation  cakes,  from 
both  of  which  yellow  copper  is  made.  The  base  thorns  thus  obtained  are 
re-melted  with  a  few  baser  "  slags,"  after  having  been  sprinkled  with  con- 
centrates from  furnace  accretions  and  other  material,  and  in  this  manner  six 
or  seven  liquation  cakes  are  made,  each  of  which  weighs  some  two  centum- 
pondia. Five  of  these  are  placed  at  the  same  time  in  the  furnace  in  which 
silver-lead  is  liquated  from  copper ;  these  drip  three  centumpondia  of 
lead,  each  of  which  contains  half  an  uncia  of  silver.  The  basest  thorns 
thus  produced  should  be  re-melted  with  only  a  little  "  slag."  The  copper 
alloyed  with  lead,  which  flows  down  from  the  furnace  into  the  fore- 
hearth,  is  poured  out  with  a  ladle  into  oblong  copper  moulds  ;  these  cakes 
are  "  dried  "  with  base  exhausted  liquation  cakes.  The  thorns  they  produce 
are  added  to  the  base  thorns,  and  they  are  made  into  cakes  according  to  the 
method  I  have  described.  From  the  "  dried  "  cakes  they  make  copper,  of 
which  some  add  a  small  portion  to  the  best  "  dried  "  cakes  when  copper  is 
made  from  them,  in  order  that  by  mixing  the  base  copper  with  the  good  it 
may  be  sold  without  loss.  The  "  slags,"  if  they  are  utilisable,  are  re-melted 
a  second  and  a  third  time,  the  cakes  made  from  them  are  "  dried,"  and  from 
the  "  dried  "  cakes  is  made  copper,  which  is  mixed  with  the  good  copper.  The 
"slags,"  drawn  off  by  the  master  who  makes  copper  out  of  "dried"  cakes, 
are  sifted,  and  those  which  fall  through  the  sieve  into  a  vessel  placed  under- 
neath are  washed  ;  those  which  remain  in  it  are  emptied  into  a  wheelbarrow 
and  wheeled  away  to  the  blast  furnaces,  and  they  are  re-melted  together 
with  other  "  slags,"  over  which  are  sprinkled  the  concentrates  from  washing 
the  slags  or  furnace  accretions  made  at  this  time.  The  copper  which  flows  out 

"There  are  three  principal   "  slags  "    mentioned — 

ist.      Slag  from    "  leading." 

2nd.     Slag  from    "  drying." 

3rd.      Slag  from  refining  the  copper. 

From  the  analyses  quoted  by  various  authors  these  ran  from  52%  to  85%  lead  oxide, 
5%  to  20%  cuprous  oxide,  and  considerable  silica  from  the  furnace  bottoms.  They  were 
reduced  in  the  main  into  liquation  cakes,  although  Agricola  mentions  instances  of  the 
metal  reduced  from  "  slags  "  being  taken  directly  to  the  "  drying  "  furnace.  Such  liquation 
cakes  would  run  very  low  in  silver,  and  at  the  values  given  only  averaged  12  ozs.  per  ton  ; 
therefore  the  liquated  lead  running  the  same  value  as  the  cakes,  or  less  than  half  that  of  the 
"  poor  "  lead  mentioned  in  Note  17,  p.  512,  could  not  have  been  cupelled  directly. 

37 


542  BOOK     XI. 

of  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth,  is  likewise  dipped  out  with  a  ladle  into 
oblong  copper  moulds  ;  in  this  way  nine  or  ten  cakes  are  made,  which  are 
"  dried,"  together  with  bad  exhausted  liquation  cakes,  and  from  these 
"  dried  "  cakes  yellow31  copper  is  made. 

The  cadmia,32  as  it  is  called  by  us,  is  made  from  the  "  slags  "  which  the 
master,  who  makes  copper  from  "  dried  "  cakes,  draws  off  together  with  other 
re-melted  base  "  slags  "  ;  for,  indeed,  if  the  copper  cakes  made  from  such 
"  slags  "  are  broken,  the  fragments  are  called  cadmia  ;  from  this  and  yellow 
copper  is  made  caldarium  copper  in  two  ways.  For  either  two  parts  of  cadmia 
are  mixed  with  one  of  yellow  copper  in  the  blast  furnaces,  and  melted  ;  or,  on 
the  contrary,  two  parts  of  yellow  copper  with  one  of  cadmia,  so  that  the 
cadmia  and  yellow  copper  may  be  well  mixed ;  and  the  copper  which  flows  down 
from  the  furnace  into  the  forehearth  is  poured  out  with  a  ladle  into  oblong 
copper  moulds  heated  beforehand.  These  moulds  are  sprinkled  over  with  char- 
coal dust  before  the  caldarium  copper  is  to  be  poured  into  them,  and  the  same 
dust  is  sprinkled  over  the  copper  when  it  is  poured  in,  lest  the  cadmia  and 
yellow  copper  should  freeze  before  they  have  become  well  mixed.  With  a 
piece  of  wood  the  assistant  cleanses  each  cake  from  the  dust,  when  it  is 
turned  out  of  the  mould.  Then  he  throws  it  into  the  tub  containing  hot  water, 
for  the  caldarium  copper  is  finer  if  quenched  in  hot  water.  But  as  I  have 
so  often  made  mention  of  the  oblong  copper  moulds,  I  must  now  speak  of 
them  a  little  ;  they  are  a  foot  and  a  palm  long,  the  inside  is  three  palms  and  a 
digit  wide  at  the  top,  and  they  are  rounded  at  the  bottom. 

The  concentrates  are  of  two  kinds — precious  and  base.33  The  first  are 
obtained  from  the  accretions  of  the  blast  furnace,  when  liquation  cakes  are 
made  from  copper  and  lead,  or  from  precious  liquation  thorns,  or  from  the 
better  quality  "  slags,"  or  from  the  best  grade  of  concentrates,  or  from  the 
sweepings  and  bricks  of  the  furnaces  in  which  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are 
"  dried  ";  all  of  these  things  are  crushed  and  washed,  as  I  explained  in  Book 
VIII.  The  base  concentrates  are  made  from  accretions  formed  when  cakes 
are  cast  from  base  thorns  or  from  the  worst  quality  of  slags.  The  smelter 
who  makes  liquation  cakes  from  the  precious  concentrates,  adds  to  them 
three  wheelbarrowsful  of  litharge  and  four  barrowsful  of  hearth-lead  and 
one  of  ash-coloured  copper,  from  all  of  which  nine  or  ten  liquation  cakes 
are  melted  out,  of  which  five  at  a  time  are  placed  in  the  furnace  in  which 
silver-lead  is  liquated  from  copper  ;  a  centumpondium  of  the  lead  which  drips 
from  these  cakes  contains  one  uncia  of  silver.  The  liquation  thorns  are 

MSee  Note  16,  p.  511,  for  discussion  of  yellow  and  caldarium  copper. 

32This  cadmia  is  given  in  the  Glossary  and  the  German  translation  as  kobelt.  A  dis- 
cussion of  this  substance  is  given  in  the  note  on  p.  112  ;  and  it  is  sufficient  to  state  here  that  in 
Agricola's  time  the  metal  cobalt  was  unknown,  and  the  substances  designated  cadmia  and 
cobaltum  were  arsenical-cobalt-zinc  minerals.  A  metal  made  from  "  slag  "  from  refining, 
together  with  "  base  "  thorns,  would  be  very  impure  ;  for  the  latter,  according  to  the  paragraph 
on  concentrates  a  little  later  on,  would  contain  the  furnace  accretions,  and  would  thus  be 
undoubtedly  zincky.  It  is  just  possible  that  the  term  kobelt  was  used  by  the  German  smelters 
at  this  time  in  the  sense  of  an  epithet — "  black  devil  "  (see  Note  21,  p.  214). 

33It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  see  exactly  the  meaning  of  base  (vile)  and  precious 
(preciosum)  in  this  connection.  While  "  base  "  could  mean  impure,  "  precious"  could  hardly 
mean  pure,  and  while  "  precious"  could  mean  high  value  in  silver,  the  reverse  does  not  seem 
entirely  apropos.  It  is  possible  that  "  bad  "  and  "  good  "  would  be  more  appropriate  terms. 


BOOK    XI. 


543 


A — FURNACE.     B — FOREHEARTH.     C — OBLONG  MOULDS. 

placed  apart  by  themselves,  of  which  one  basketful  is  mixed  with  the  precious 
thorns  to  be  re-melted.  The  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are  "  dried  "  at  the 
same  time  as  other  good  exhausted  liquation  cakes. 

The  thorns  which  are  drawn  off  from  the  lead,  when  it  is  separated  from 
silver  in  the  cupellation  furnace34,  and  the  hearth-lead  which  remains  in  the 
crucible  in  the  middle  part  of  the  furnaces,  together  with  the  hearth  material 
which  has  become  defective  and  has  absorbed  silver-lead,  are  all  melted 
together  with  a  little  slag  in  the  blast  furnaces.  The  lead,  or  rather  the 
silver-lead,  which  flows  from  the  furnace  into  the  fore-hearth,  is  poured  out 
into  copper  moulds  such  as  are  used  by  the  refiners  ;  a  centumpondium  of 
such  lead  contains  four  unciae  of  silver,  or,  if  the  hearth  was  defective,  it 
contains  more.  A  small  portion  of  this  material  is  added  to  the  copper  and 
lead  when  liquation  cakes  are  made  from  them,  if  more  were  to  be  added 
the  alloy  would  be  much  richer  than  it  should  be,  for  which  reason  the  wise 

84The  skimmings  from  the  molten  lead  in  the  early  stages  of  cupellation  have  been 
discussed  in  Note  28,  p.  539.  They  are  probably  called  thorns  here  because  of  the  large  amount 
of  copper  in  them.  The  lead  from  liquation  would  contain  2%  to  3%  of  copper,  and  this 
would  be  largely  recovered  in  these  skimmings,  although  there  would  be  some  copper  in  the 
furnace  bottoms — hearth-lead — and  the  litharge.  These  "  thorns  "  are  apparently  fairly 
rich,  four  unciae  to  the  centumpondium  being  equivalent  to  about  97  ozs.  per  ton,  and  they 
are  only  added  to  low-grade  liquation  material. 


544  BOOK     XI. 

foreman  of  the  works  mixes  these  thorns  with  other  precious  thorns.  The 
hearth-lead  which  remains  in  the  middle  of  the  crucible,  and  the  hearth 
material  which  absorbs  silver-lead,  is  mixed  with  other  hearth-lead  which 
remains  in  the  cupellation  furnace  crucible  ;  and  yet  some  cakes,  made  rich 
in  this  manner,  may  be  placed  again  in  the  cupellation  furnaces,  together 
with  the  rest  of  the  silver-lead  cakes  which  the  refiner  has  made. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Carpathian  Mountains,  if  they  have  an  abundance 
of  finely  crushed  copper35  or  lead  either  made  from  "  slags,"  or  collected 
from  the  furnace  in  which  the  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are  dried,  or 
litharge,  alloy  them  in  various  ways.  The  "  first "  alloy  consists  of  two 
centumpondia  of  lead  melted  out  of  thorns,  litharge,  and  thorns  made 
from  hearth-lead,  and  of  half  a  centumpondium  each  of  lead  collected  in 
the  furnace  in  which  exhausted  liquation  cakes  are  "  dried,"  and  of  copper 
minutum,  and  from  these  are  made  liquation  cakes ;  the  task  of  the  smelter  is 
finished  when  he  has  made  forty  liquation  cakes  of  this  kind.  The 
"  second "  alloy  consists  of  two  centumpondia  of  litharge,  of  one  and  a 
quarter  centumpondia  of  de-silverized  lead  or  lead  from  "  slags,"  and  of  half 
a  centumpondium  of  lead  made  from  thorns,  and  of  as  much  copper  minutum. 
The  "  third  "  alloy  consists  of  three  centumpondia  of  litharge  and  of  half  a 
centumpondium  each  of  de-silverized  lead,  of  lead  made  from  thorns,  and  of 
copper  minutum  contusum.  Liquation  cakes  are  made  from  all  these  alloys  ;  the 
task  of  the  smelters  is  finished  when  they  have  made  thirty  cakes. 

The  process  by  which  cakes  are  made  among  the  Tyrolese,  from  which 
they  separate  the  silver-lead,  I  have  explained  in  Book  IX. 

Silver  is  separated  from  iron  in  the  following  manner.  Equal  portions  of 
iron  scales  and  filings  and  of  stibium  are  thrown  into  an  earthenware  crucible 
which,  when  covered  with  a  lid  and  sealed,  is  placed  in  a  furnace,  into 
which  air  is  blown.  When  this  has  melted  and  again  cooled,  the  crucible 
is  broken  ;  the  button  that  settles  in  the  bottom  of  it,  when  taken  out, 
is  pounded  to  powder,  and  the  same  weight  of  lead  being  added,  is  mixed 
and  melted  in  a  second  crucible  ;  at  last  this  button  is  placed  in  a  cupel 
and  the  lead  is  separated  from  the  silver.36 

There  are  a  great  variety  of  methods  by  which  one  metal  is  separated 
from  other  metals,  and  the  manner  in  which  the  same  are  alloyed  I  have 
explained  partly  in  the  eighth  book  of  De  Natura  Fossilium,  and  partly  I  will 
explain  elsewhere.  Now  I  will  proceed  to  the  remainder  of  my  subject. 

t&Particulis  aeris  tusi.     Unless  this  be  the  fine  concentrates  from  crushing  the  material 
mentioned,  we  are  unable  to  explain  the  expression. 

36This  operation  would  bring  down  a  button  of  antimony  under  an  iron  matte,  by 
de-sulphurizing  the  antimony.     It  would  seem  scarcely  necessary  to  add  lead  before  cupel- 
lation.    This  process  is  given  in  an  assay  method,  in  the  Probierbuchlein  (folio  31)  50  years 
before    De   Re   Metallica  :    "  How  to  separate  silver  from  iron  :    Take  that  silver  which  is 
'  in  iron  plechen  (plachmal),  pulverize  it  finely,  take  the  same  iron  or  plec  one  part,  spiesglasz 
'  (antimony  sulphide)  one  part,  leave  them  to  melt  in  a  crucible  placed  in  a  closed  windtofen. 
'  When  it  is  melted,  let  it  cool,  break  the  crucible,  chip  off  the  button  that  is  in  the  bottom, 
'  and  melt  it  in  a  crucible  with  as  much  lead.     Then  break  the  crucible,  and  seek  from  the 
'  button  in  the  cupel,  and  you  will  find  what  silver  it  contains." 

END  OF  BOOK  XL 


BOOK   XII 


REVIOUSLY  I  have  dealt  with  the  methods  of 
separating  silver  from  copper.  There  now  remains 
the  portion  which  treats  of  solidified  juices  ;  and 
whereas  they  might  be  considered  as  alien  to  things 
metallic,  nevertheless,  the  reasons  why  they  should 
not  be  separated  from  it  I  have  explained  in  the 
second  book. 

Solidified  juices  are  either  prepared  from  waters 
in  which  nature  or  art  has  infused  them,  or  they  are 
produced  from  the  liquid  juices  themselves,  or  from  stony  minerals.  Sagacious 
people,  at  first  observing  the  waters  of  some  lakes  to  be  naturally  full  of  juices 
which  thickened  on  being  dried  up  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  thus  became 
solidified  juices,  drew  such  waters  into  other  places,  or  diverted  them 
into  low-lying  places  adjoining  hills,  so  that  the  heat  of  the  sun  should 
likewise  cause  them  to  condense.  Subsequently,  because  they  observed  that 
in  this  wise  the  solidified  juices  could  be  made  only  in  summer,  and  then 
not  in  all  countries,  but  only  in  hot  and  temperate  regions  in  which  it  seldom 
rains  in  summer,  they  boiled  them  in  vessels  over  a  fire  until  they  began  to 
thicken.  In  this  manner,  at  all  times  of  the  year,  in  all  regions,  even  the 
coldest,  solidified  juices  could  be  obtained  from  solutions  of  such  juices, 
whether  made  by  nature  or  by  art.  Afterward,  when  they  saw  juices 
drip  from  some  roasted  stones,  they  cooked  these  in  pots  in  order  to  obtain 
solidified  juices  in  this  wise  also.  It  is  worth  the  trouble  to  learn  the  pro- 
portions and  the  methods  by  which  these  are  made. 

I  will  therefore  begin  with  salt,  which  is  made  from  water  either  salty 
by  nature,  or  by  the  labour  of  man,  or  else  from  a  solution  of  salt,  or 
from  lye,  likewise  salty.  Water  which  is  salty  by  nature,  is  condensed  and 
converted  into  salt  in  salt-pits  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  or  else  by  the  heat 
of  a  fire  in  pans  or  pots  or  trenches.  That  which  is  made  salty  by 
art,  is  also  condensed  by  fire  and  changed  into  salt.  There  should  be  as 
many  salt-pits  dug  as  the  circumstance  of  the  place  permits,  but  there  should 
not  be  more  made  than  can  be  used,  although  we  ought  to  make  as  much 
salt  as  we  can  sell.  The  depth  of  salt-pits  should  be  moderate,  and  the 
bottom  should  be  level,  so  that  all  the  water  is  evaporated  from  the  salt  by 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  The  salt-pits  should  first  be  encrusted  with  salt,  so 
that  they  may  not  suck  up  the  water.  The  method  of  pouring  or  leading 
sea-water  into  salt-pits  is  very  old,  and  is  still  in  use  in  many  places.  The 
method  is  not  less  old,  but  less  common,  to  pour  well-water  into  salt-pits,  as 
was  done  in  Babylon,  for  which  Pliny  is  the  authority,  and  in  Cappadocia, 
where  they  used  not  only  well-water,  but  also  spring-water.  In  all  hot 
countries  salt-water  and  lake-water  are  conducted,  poured  or  carried  into 
salt-pits,  and,  being  dried  by  the  heat  of  the  sun,  are  converted  into 


546  BOOK    XII. 

salt.1  While  the  salt-water  contained  in  the  salt-pits  is  being  heated  by  the  sun, 
if  they  be  flooded  with  great  and  frequent  showers  of  rain  the  evaporation  is 
hindered.  If  this  happens  rarely,  the  salt  acquires  a  disagreeable2  flavour,  and 
in  this  case  the  salt-pits  have  to  be  filled  with  other  sweet  water. 

Salt  from  sea-water  is  made  in  the  following  manner.  Near  that  part 
of  the  seashore  where  there  is  a  quiet  pool,  and  there  are  wide,  level  plains 
which  the  inundations  of  the  sea  do  not  overflow,  three,  four,  five,  or  six 
trenches  are  dug  six  feet  wide,  twelve  feet  deep,  and  six  hundred  feet  long, 
or  longer  if  the  level  place  extends  for  a  longer  distance  ;  they  are  two  hundred 
feet  distant  from  one  another  ;  between  these  are  three  transverse  trenches. 
Then  are  dug  the  principal  pits,  so  that  when  the  water  has  been  raised  from 
the  pool  it  can  flow  into  the  trenches,  and  from  thence  into  the  salt-pits, 
of  which  there  are  numbers  on  the  level  ground  between  the  trenches.  The 
salt-pits  are  basins  dug  to  a  moderate  depth  ;  these  are  banked  round  with 
the  earth  which  was  dug  in  sinking  them  or  in  cleansing  them,  so  that  between 
the  basins,  earth  walls  are  made  a  foot  high,  which  retain  the  water  let  into 
them.  The  trenches  have  openings,  through  which  the  first  basins  receive 
the  water  ;  these  basins  also  have  openings,  through  which  the  water  flows 
again  from  one  into  the  other.  There  should  be  a  slight  fall,  so  that  the 
water  may  flow  from  one  basin  into  the  other,  and  can  thus  be  replenished. 
All  these  things  having  been  done  rightly  and  in  order,  the  gate  is  raised  that 
opens  the  mouth  of  the  pool  which  contains  sea-water  mixed  with  rain-water 
or  river-water  ;  and  thus  all  of  the  trenches  are  filled.  Then  the  gates  of  the 
first  basins  are  opened,  and  thus  the  remaining  basins  are  filled  with  the 
water  from  the  first  ;  when  this  salt-water  condenses,  all  these  basins  are 
incrusted,  and  thus  made  clean  from  earthy  matter.  Then  again  the  first 
basins  are  filled  up  from  the  nearest  trench  with  the  same  kind  of  water, 
and  left  until  much  of  the  thin  liquid  is  converted  into  vapour  by  the"  heat 
of  the  sun  and  dissipated,  and  the  remainder  is  considerably  thickened.  Then 
their  gates  being  opened,  the  water  passes  into  the  second  basins  ;  and 
when  it  has  remained  there  for  a  certain  space  of  time  the  gates  are  opened, 
so  that  it  flows  into  the  third  basins,  where  it  is  all  condensed  into  salt. 
After  the  salt  has  been  taken  out,  the  basins  are  filled  again  and  again  with 
sea-water.  The  salt  is  raked  up  with  wooden  rakes  and  thrown  out  with 
shovels. 

Salt-water  is  also  boiled  in  pans,  placed  in  sheds  near  the  wells  from 
which  it  is  drawn.  Each  shed  is  usually  named  from  some  animal  or  other 
thing  which  is  pictured  on  a  tablet  nailed  to  it.  The  walls  of  these  sheds 
are  made  either  from  baked  earth  or  from  wicker  work  covered  with  thick 


history  of  salt-making  in  salt-pans,  from  sea-water  or  salt  springs,  goes  further 
back  than  human  records.  From  an  historical  point  of  view  the  real  interest  attached  to 
salt  lies  in  the  bearing  which  localities  rich  in  either  natural  salt  or  salt  springs,  have  had 
upon  the  movements  of  the  human  race.  Many  ancient  trade  routes  have  been  due  to 
them,  and  innumerable  battles  have  been  fought  for  their  possession.  Salt  has  at  times 
served  for  currency,  and  during  many  centuries  in  nearly  every  country  has  served  as  a 
basis  of  taxation.  These  subjects  do  not,  however,  come  within  the  scope  of  this  text. 
For  the  quotation  from  Pliny  referred  to,  see  Note  14  below,  on  bitumen. 

^he  first  edition  gives  graviorem,  the  latter  editions  gratiorem,  which  latter  would 
have  quite  the  reverse  meaning  from  the  above. 


BOOK     XII. 


547 


A— SEA.    B— POOL.    C— GATE.     D— TRENCHES.    E— SALT  BASINS.    F— RAKE. 

G — SHOVEL. 


548  BOOK    XII. 

mud,  although  some  may  be  made  of  stones  or  bricks.  When  of  brick  they 
are  often  sixteen  feet  high,  and  if  the  roof  rises  twenty-four  feet  high,  then 
the  walls  which  are  at  the  ends  must  be  made  forty  feet  high,  as  likewise 
the  interior  partition  walls.  The  roof  consists  of  large  shingles  four  feet  long, 
one  foot  wide,  and  two  digits  thick ;  these  are  fixed  on  long  narrow  planks 
placed  on  the  rafters,  which  are  joined  at  the  upper  end  and  slope  in  opposite 
directions.  The  whole  of  the  under  side  is  plastered  one  digit  thick  with 
straw  mixed  with  lute  ;  likewise  the  roof  on  the  outside  is  plastered  one 
and  a  half  feet  thick  with  straw  mixed  with  lute,  in  order  that  the  shed 
should  not  run  any  risk  of  fire,  and  that  it  should  be  proof  against  rain,  and 
be  able  to  retain  the  heat  necessary  for  drying  the  lumps  of  salt.  Each  shed 
is  divided  into  three  parts,  in  the  first  of  which  the  firewood  and  straw  are 
placed  ;  in  the  middle  room,  separated  from  the  first  room  by  a  partition,  is 
the  fireplace  on  which  is  placed  the  caldron.  To  the  right  of  the  caldron  is 
a  tub,  into  which  is  emptied  the  brine  brought  into  the  shed  by  the  porters  ; 
to  the  left  is  a  bench,  on  which  there  is  room  to  lay  thirty  pieces  of  salt. 
In  the  third  room,  which  is  in  the  back  part  of  the  house,  there  is  made  a  pile 
of  clay  or  ashes  eight  feet  higher  than  the  floor,  being  the  same  height  as  the 
bench.  The  master  and  his  assistants,  when  they  carry  away  the  lumps  of 
salt  from  the  caldrons,  go  from  the  former  to  the  latter.  They  ascend  from 
the  right  side  of  the  caldron,  not  by  steps,  but  by  a  slope  of  earth.  At  the 
top  of  the  end  wall  are  two  small  windows,  and  a  third  is  in  the  roof,  through 
which  the  smoke  escapes.  This  smoke,  emitted  from  both  the  back  and  the 
front  of  the  furnace,  finds  outlet  through  a  hood  through  which  it  makes 
its  way  up  to  the  windows ;  this  hood  consists  of  boards  projecting  one 
beyond  the  other,  which  are  supported  by  two  small  beams  of  the  roof. 
Opposite  the  fireplace  the  middle  partition  has  an  open  door  eight  feet  high 
and  four  feet  wide,  through  which  there  is  a  gentle  draught  which  drives  the 
smoke  into  the  last  room ;  the  front  wall  also  has  a  door  of  the  same  height 
and  width.  Both  of  these  doors  are  large  enough  to  permit  the  firewood  or 
straw  or  the  brine  to  be  carried  in,  and  the  lumps  of  salt  to  be  carried  out ; 
these  doors  must  be  closed  when  the  wind  blows,  so  that  the  boiling  will 
not  be  hindered.  Indeed,  glass  panes  which  exclude  the  wind  but  transmit  the 
light,  should  be  inserted  in  the  windows  in  the  walls. 

They  construct  the  greater  part  of  the  fireplace  of  rock-salt  and  of  clay 
mixed  with  salt  and  moistened  with  brine,  for  such  walls  are  greatly 
hardened  by  the  fire.  These  fireplaces  are  made  eight  and  a  half  feet  long, 
seven  and  three  quarters  feet  wide,  and,  if  wood  is  burned  in  them,  nearly 
four  feet  high  ;  but  if  straw  is  burned  in  them,  they  are  six  feet  high.  An 
iron  rod,  about  four  feet  long,  is  engaged  in  a  hole  in  an  iron  foot,  which 
stands  on  the  base  of  the  middle  of  the  furnace  mouth.  This  mouth  is  three 
feet  in  width,  and  has  a  door  which  opens  inward  ;  through  it  they  throw 
in  the  straw. 

The  caldrons  are  rectangular,  eight  feet  long,  seven  feet  wide,  and  half  a 
foot  high,  and  are  made  of  sheets  of  iron  or  lead,  three  feet  long  and  of  the 
same  width,  all  but  two  digits.  These  plates  are  not  very  thick,  so  that  the 


BOOK    XII. 


549 


A — SHED.      B — PAINTED   SIGNS.      C — FIRST    ROOM.      D — MIDDLE    ROOM.      E — THIRD 

ROOM.       F — TWO  LITTLE  WINDOWS  IN  THE  END  WALL.       G — THIRD  LITTLE  WINDOW  IN  THE 

ROOF.  H — WELL.  I — WELL  OF  ANOTHER  KIND.   K — CASK.  L — POLE.  M — FORKED 

STICKS   IN   WHICH  THE   PORTERS  REST  THE   POLE  WHEN  THEY  ARE  TIRED. 


550  BOOK    XII. 

water  is  heated  more  quickly  by  the  fire,  and  is  boiled  away  rapidly.  The 
more  salty  the  water  is,  the  sooner  it  is  condensed  into  salt.  To  prevent 
the  brine  from  leaking  out  at  the  points  where  the  metal  plates  are  fastened 
with  rivets,  the  caldrons  are  smeared  over  with  a  cement  made  of  ox-liver 
and  ox-blood  mixed  with  ashes.  On  each  side  of  the  middle  of  the  furnace 
two  rectangular  posts,  three  feet  long,  and  half  a  foot  thick  and  wide  are 
set  into  the  ground,  so  that  they  are  distant  from  each  other  only  one  and 
a  half  feet.  Each  of  them  rises  one  and  a  half  feet  above  the  caldron.  After 
the  caldron  has  been  placed  on  the  walls  of  the  furnace,  two  beams  of  the 
same  width  and  thickness  as  the  posts,  but  four  feet  long,  are  laid  on  these 
posts,  and  are  mortised  in  so  that  they  shall  not  fall.  There  rest  trans- 
versely upon  these  beams  three  bars,  three  feet  long,  three  digits  wide,  and 
two  digits  thick,  distant  from  one  another  one  foot.  On  each  of  these  hang 
three  iron  hooks,  two  beyond  the  beams  and  one  in  the  middle  ;  these  are  a 
foot  long,  and  are  hooked  at  both  ends,  one  hook  turning  to  the  right,  the  other 
to  the  left.  The  bottom  hook  catches  in  the  eye  of  a  staple,  whose  ends  are 
fixed  in  the  bottom  of  the  caldron,  and  the  eye  projects  from  it.  There  are 
besides,  two  longer  bars  six  feet  long,  one  palm  wide,  and  three  digits  thick, 
which  pass  under  the  front  beam  and  rest  upon  the  rear  beam.  At  the  rear  end 
of  each  of  the  bars  there  is  an  iron  hook  two  feet  and  three  digits  long,  the 
lower  end  of  which  is  bent  so  as  to  support  the  caldron.  The  rear  end  of  the 
caldron  does  not  rest  on  the  two  rear  corners  of  the  fireplace,  but  is  distant 
from  the  fireplace  two  thirds  of  a  foot,  so  that  the  flame  and  smoke  can  escape  ; 
this  rear  end  of  the  fireplace  is  half  a  foot  thick  and  half  a  foot  higher  than 
the  caldron.  This  is  also  the  thickness  and  height  of  the  wall  between  the 
caldron  and  the  third  room  of  the  shed,  to  which  it  is  adjacent.  This  back 
wall  is  made  of  clay  and  ashes,  unlike  the  others  which  are  made  of  rock-salt. 
The  caldron  rests  on  the  two  front  corners  and  sides  of  the  fireplace,  and  is 
cemented  with  ashes,  so  that  the  flames  shall  not  escape.  If  a  dipperful 
of  brine  poured  into  the  caldron  should  flow  into  all  the  corners,  the  caldron 
is  rightly  set  upon  the  fireplace. 

The  wooden  dipper  holds  ten  Roman  sextarii,  and  the  cask  holds  eight 
dippers  full3.  The  brine  drawn  up  from  the  well  is  poured  into  such  casks 
and  carried  by  porters,  as  I  have  said  before,  into  the  shed  and  poured  into  a 
tub,  and  in  those  places  where  the  brine  is  very  strong  it  is  at  once  trans- 
ferred with  the  dippers  into  the  caldron.  That  brine  which  is  less  strong  is 
thrown  into  a  small  tub  with  a  deep  ladle,  the  spoon  and  handle  of  which 
are  hewn  out  of  one  piece  of  wood.  In  this  tub  rock-salt  is  placed  in  order 

3The  following  are  approximately  the  English  equivalents  : — 

Pints.         Quarts.  Gallons, 

i  Cyathus  . .  . .         . .         . .          .08 

3  Cyathi  =   i  Quartarius  . ,          .24 

4  Quartarii         =  i  Sextarius . .          . .          .99 

6  Sextarii  —  i  Congius    . .         . .        5.94     . .        2.97 

16  Sextarii  =  i  Modius    ..         ..      15.85     ..        7.93     ..      1.98 

8  Congii  =   i  Amphora . .          . .      47.57     . .      23.78     . .      5.94 

The  dipper  mentioned  would  thus  hold  about  one  and  one  quarter  gallons,  and  the  cask 
ten  gallons. 


BOOK    XII. 


551 


A— FIREPLACE.     B — MOUTH  OF  FIREPLACE.    C — CALDRON.    D — POSTS  SUNK  INTO  THE 
GROUND.       E — CROSS-BEAMS.      F — SHORTER    BARS.     G — IRON    HOOKS.     H — STAPLES. 
I — LONGER  BARS.     K — IRON  ROD  BENT  TO  SUPPORT  THE  CALDRON. 


552  BOOK    XII. 

that  the  water  should  be  made  more  salty,  and  it  is  then  run  off  through  a 
launder  which  leads  into  the  caldron.  From  thirty-seven  dippersful  of  brine 
the  master  or  his  deputy,  at  Halle  in  Saxony,4  makes  two  cone-shaped  pieces 
of  salt.  Each  master  has  a  helper,  or  in  the  place  of  a  helper  his  wife  assists 
him  in  his  work,  and,  in  addition,  a  youth  who  throws  wood  or  straw  under 
the  caldron.  He,  on  account  of  the  great  heat  of  the  workshop,  wears 
a  straw  cap  on  his  head  and  a  breech  cloth,  being  otherwise  quite  naked. 
As  soon  as  the  master  has  poured  the  first  dipperful  of  brine  into  the  caldron 
the  youth  sets  fire  to  the  wood  and  straw  laid  under  it.  If  the  firewood  is 
bundles  of  faggots  or  brushwood,  the  salt  will  be  white,  but  if  straw  is  burned, 
then  it  is  not  infrequently  blackish,  for  the  sparks,  which  are  drawn  up  with 
the  smoke  into  the  hood,  fall  down  again  into  the  water  and  colour  it  black. 

In  order  to  accelerate  the  condensation  of  the  brine,  when  the  master 
has  poured  in  two  casks  and  as  many  dippersful  of  brine,  he  adds  about  a 
Roman  cyathus  and  a  half  of  bullock's  blood,  or  of  calf's  blood,  or  buck's 
blood,  or  else  he  mixes  it  into  the  nineteenth  dipperful  of  brine,  in  order  that 
it  may  be  dissolved  and  distributed  into  all  the  corners  of  the  caldron  ;  in  other 
places  the  blood  is  dissolved  in  beer.  When  the  boiling  water  seems  to  be 
mixed  with  scum,  he  skims  it  with  a  ladle  ;  this  scum,  if  he  be  working  with 
rock-salt,  he  throws  into  the  opening  in  the  furnace  through  which  the  smoke 
escapes,  and  it  is  dried  into  rock-salt ;  if  it  be  not  from  rock-salt,  he  pours 
it  on  to  the  floor  of  the  workshop.  From  the  beginning  to  the  boiling  and 
skimming  is  the  work  of  half-an-hour  ;  after  this  it  boils  down  for  another 
quarter-of-an-hour,  after  which  time  it  begins  to  condense  into  salt.  When 
it  begins  to  thicken  with  the  heat,  he  and  his  helper  stir  it  assiduously  with  a 
wooden  spatula,  and  then  he  allows  it  to  boil  for  an  hour.  After  this  he  pours 
in  a  cyathus  and  a  half  of  beer.  In  order  that  the  wind  should  not  blow 
into  the  caldron,  the  helper  covers  the  front  with  a  board  seven  and 'a  half 
feet  long  and  one  foot  high,  and  covers  each  of  the  sides  with  boards  three  and 
three  quarters  feet  long.  In  order  that  the  front  board  may  hold  more 
firmly,  it  is  fitted  into  the  caldron  itself,  and  the  sideboards  are  fixed  on  the 
front  board  and  upon  the  transverse  beam.  Afterward,  when  the  boards 
have  been  lifted  off,  the  helper  places  two  baskets,  two  feet  high  and  as  many 
wide  at  the  top,  and  a  palm  wide  at  the  bottom,  on  the  transverse  beams, 
and  into  them  the  master  throws  the  salt  with  a  shovel,  taking  half-an-hour 
to  fill  them.  Then,  replacing  the  boards  on  the  caldron,  he  allows  the  brine 
to  boil  for  three  quarters  of  an  hour.  Afterward  the  salt  has  again  to  be 
removed  with  a  shovel,  and  when  the  baskets  are  full,  they  pile  up  the  salt  in 
heaps. 

In  different  localities  the  salt  is  moulded  into  different  shapes.  In  the 
baskets  the  salt  assumes  the  form  of  a  cone  ;  it  is  not  moulded  in  baskets 
alone,  but  also  in  moulds  into  which  they  throw  the  salt,  which  are  made  in 

*The  salt  industry,  founded  upon  salt  springs,  is  still  of  importance  to  this  city.  It 
was  a  salt  centre  of  importance  to  the  Germanic  tribes  before  Charles,  the  son  of  Charlemagne, 
erected  a  fortress  here  in  806.  Mention  of  the  salt  works  is  made  in  the  charter  by  Otto  I., 
conveying  the  place  to  the  Diocese  of  Magdeburg,  in  968. 


BOOK    XII. 


553 


A— WOODEN  DIPPER.  B — CASK.  C— TUB.  D— MASTER.  E— YOUTH.  F— WIFE. 
G— WOODEN  SPADE.  H— BOARDS.  I— BASKETS.  K— HOE.  L— RAKE.  M— STRAW. 
N — BOWL.  O— BUCKET  CONTAINING  THE  BLOOD.  P — TANKARD  WHICH  CONTAINS  BEER. 


554 


BOOK     XII. 


the  likeness  of  many  objects,  as  for  instance  tablets.  These  tablets  and 
cones  are  kept  in  the  higher  part  of  the  third  room  of  the  house,  or  else  on 
the  flat  bench  of  the  same  height,  in  order  that  they  may  dry  better  in  the 
warm  air.  In  the  manner  I  have  described,  a  master  and  his  helper  continue 
one  after  the  other,  alternately  boiling  the  brine  and  moulding  the  salt, 
day  and  night,  with  the  exception  only  of  the  annual  feast  days.  No  caldron 
is  able  to  stand  the  fire  for  more  than  half  a  year.  The  master  pours  in  water 
and  washes  it  out  every  week  ;  when  it  is  washed  out  he  puts  straw  under 
it  and  pounds  it  ;  new  caldrons  he  washes  three  times  in  the  first  two 
weeks,  and  afterward  twice.  In  this  manner  the  incrustations  fall  from 
the  bottom  ;  if  they  are  not  cleared  off,  the  salt  would  have  to  be  made 
more  slowly  over  a  fiercer  fire,  which  requires  more  brine  and  burns  the 
plates  of  the  caldron.  If  any  cracks  make  their  appearance  in  the  caldron 
they  are  filled  up  with  cement.  The  salt  made  during  the  first  two  weeks  is 
not  so  good,  being  usually  stained  by  the  rust  at  the  bottom  where  incrusta- 
tions have  not  yet  adhered. 

Although  salt  made  in  this  manner  is  prepared  only  from  the  brine  of 


A— POOL.     B— POTS.    C— LADLE.     D— PANS.     E— TONGS. 


BOOK     XII. 


555 


springs  and  wells,  yet  it  is  also  possible  to  use  this  method  in  the  case  of 
river-,  lake-,  and  sea- water,  and  also  of  those  waters  which  are  artificially 
salted.  For  in  places  where  rock-salt  is  dug,  the  impure  and  the  broken  pieces 
are  thrown  into  fresh  water,  which,  when  boiled,  condenses  into  salt.  Some, 
indeed,  boil  sea-salt  in  fresh  water  again,  and  mould  the  salt  into  the  little 
cones  and  other  shapes. 

Some  people  make  salt  by  another  method,  from  salt  water  which 
flows  from  hot  springs  that  issue  boiling  from  the  earth.  They  set  earthen- 
ware pots  in  a  pool  of  the  spring-water,  and  into  them  they  pour  water  scooped 
up  with  ladles  from  the  hot  spring  until  they  are  half  full.  The  perpetual 
heat  of  the  waters  of  the  pool  evaporates  the  salt  water  just  as  the  heat  of 
the  fire  does  in  the  caldrons.  As  soon  as  it  begins  to  thicken,  which  happens 
when  it  has  been  reduced  by  boiling  to  a  third  or  more,  they  seize  the  pots 
with  tongs  and  pour  the  contents  into  small  rectangular  iron  pans,  which  have 
also  been  placed  in  the  pool.  The  interior  of  these  pans  is  usually  three  feet 
long,  two  feet  wide,  and  three  digits  deep,  and  they  stand  on  four  heavy  legs, 
so  that  the  water  flows  freely  all  round,  but  not  into  them.  Since  the  water 
flows  continuously  from  the  pool  through  the  little  canals,  and  the  spring 


A — POTS.    B — TRIPOD.    C — DEEP  LADLE. 


556 


BOOK    XII. 


always  provides  a  new  and  copious  supply,  always  boiling  hot,  it  condenses 
the  thickened  water  poured  into  the  pans  into  salt ;  this  is  at  once  taken 
out  with  shovels,  and  then  the  work  begins  all  over  again.  If  the  salty  water 
contains  other  juices,  as  is  usually  the  case  with  hot  springs,  no  salt  should 
be  made  from  them. 

Others  boil  salt  water,  and  especially  sea-water,  in  large  iron  pots  ; 
this  salt  is  blackish,  for  in  most  cases  they  burn  straw  under  them.  Some 
people  boil  in  these  pots  the  brine  in  which  fish  is  pickled.  The  salt  which 
they  make  tastes  and  smells  of  fish. 


A — TRENCH.     B — VAT  INTO  WHICH  THE  SALT  WATER  FLOWS.    C— LADLE.     D — SMALL 

BUCKET   WITH    POLE    FASTENED   INTO    IT. 


Those  who  make  salt  by  pouring  brine  over  firewood,  lay  the  wood  in 
trenches  which  are  twelve  feet  long,  seven  feet  wide,  and  two  and  one  half 
feet  deep,  so  that  the  water  poured  in  should  not  flow  out.  These  trenches 
are  constructed  of  rock-salt  wherever  it  is  to  be  had,  in  order  that  they  should 
not  soak  up  the  water,  and  so  that  the  earth  should  not  fall  in  on  the  front, 
back  and  sides.  As  the  charcoal  is  turned  into  salt  at  the  same  time  as  the 


BOOK     XII. 


557 


A — LARGE  VAT.     B — PLUG.    C — SMALL  TUB.    D — DEEP  LADLE.    E — SMALL  VAT. 

F — CALDRON. 


558  BOOK     XII. 

salt  liquor,  the  Spaniards  think,  as  Pliny  writes5,  that  the  wood  itself  turns 
into  salt.  Oak  is  the  best  wood,  as  its  pure  ash  yields  salt  ;  elsewhere  hazel- 
wood  is  lauded.  But  with  whatever  wood  it  be  made,  this  salt  is  not 
greatly  appreciated,  being  black  and  not  quite  pure  ;  on  that  account  this 
method  of  salt-making  is  disdained  by  the  Germans  and  Spaniards. 

The  solutions  from  which  salt  is  made  are  prepared  from  salty  earth  or 
from  earth  rich  in  salt  and  saltpetre.  Lye  is  made  from  the  ashes  of  reeds 
and  rushes.  The  solution  obtained  from  salty  earth  by  boiling,  makes  salt 
only  ;  from  the  other,  of  which  I  will  speak  more  a  little  later,  salt  and  salt- 
petre are  made  ;  and  from  ashes  is  derived  lye,  from  which  its  own  salt  is 
obtained.  The  ashes,  as  well  as  the  earth,  should  first  be  put  into  a  large 
vat ;  then  fresh  water  should  be  poured  over  the  ashes  or  earth,  and  it  should 
be  stirred  for  about  twelve  hours  with  a  stick,  so  that  it  may  dissolve  the 
salt.  Then  the  plug  is  pulled  out  of  the  large  vat  ;  the  solution  of  salt  or  the 
lye  is  drained  into  a  small  tub  and  emptied  with  ladles  into  small  vats  ; 
finally,  such  a  solution  is  transferred  into  iron  or  lead  caldrons  and  boiled, 
until  the  water  having  evaporated,  the  juices  are  condensed  into  salt.  The 
above  are  the  various  methods  for  making  salt.  (Illustration  p.  557.) 

Nitrum6  is  usually  made  from  nitrous  waters,  or  from  solutions  or  from 
lye.  In  the  same  manner  as  sea-water  or  salt-water  is  poured  into  salt-pits 
and  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  changed  into  salt,  so  the  nitrous 
Nile  is  led  into  nitrunt  pits  and  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  con- 

8Pliny  xxxi.,  39-40.  "  In  the  Gallic  provinces  in  Germany  they  pour  salt  water 
'  upon  burning  wood.  The  Spaniards  in  a  certain  place  draw  the  brine  from  wells,  which 
'  they  call  Muria.  They  indeed  think  that  the  wood  turns  to  salt,  and  that  the  oak  is  the 
'  best,  being  the  kind  which  is  itself  salty.  Elsewhere  the  hazel  is  praised.  Thus  the  char- 
'  coal  even  is  turned  into  salt  when  it  is  steeped  in  brine.  Whenever  salt  is  made  with  wood  it 
'  is  black." 

*We  have  elsewhere  in  this  book  used  the  word  "  soda  "  for  the  Latin  term  nitrum, 
because  we  believe  as  used  by  Agricola  it  was  always  soda,  and  because  some  confusion 
of  this  term  with  its  modern  adaptation  for  saltpetre  (nitre)  might  arise  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader.  Fortunately,  Agricola  usually  carefully  mentions  other  alkalis,  such  as  the  product 
from  lixiviation  of  ashes,  separately  from  his  nitrum.  In  these  paragraphs,  however,  he  has 
soda  and  potash  hopelessly  mixed,  wherefore  we  have  here  introduced  the  Latin  term. 
The  actual  difference  between  potash  and  soda — the  nitrum  of  the  Ancients,  and  the  alkali 
of  Geber  (and  the  glossary  of  Agricola),  was  not  understood  for  two  hundred  years  after 
Agricola,  when  Duhamel  made  his  well-known  determinations ;  and  the  isolation  of  sodium 
and  potassium  was,  of  course,  still  later  by  fifty  years.  If  the  reeds  and  rushes  described 
in  this  paragraph  grew  near  the  sea,  the  salt  from  lixiviation  would  be  soda,  and  likewise 
the  Egyptian  product  was  soda,  but  the  lixiviation  of  wood-ash  produces  only  potash  ;  as 
seen  above,  all  are  termed  nitrum  except  the  first. 

HISTORICAL  NOTES. — The  word  nitrum,  nitron,  nitri,  neter,  nether,  or  similar 
forms,  occurs  in  innumerable  ancient  writings.  Among  such  references  are  Jeremiah  (n.,  22) 
Proverbs  (xxv.,  20),  Herodotus  (n.,  86,  87),  Aristotle  (Prob.  i.,  39,  De  Mirab.  54),  Theo- 
phrastus  (De  Igne  435  ed.  Heinsii,  Hist.  Plants  in.,  9),  Dioscorides  (v.,  89),  Pliny  (xiv.,  26, 
and  xxxi.,  46).  A  review  of  disputations  on  what  salts  this  term  comprised  among  the 
Ancients  would  itself  fill  a  volume,  but  from  the  properties  named  it  was  no  doubt  mostly 
soda,  more  rarely  potash,  and  sometimes  both  mixed  with  common  salt.  There  is  every 
reason  to  believe  from  the  properties  and  uses  mentioned,  that  it  did  not  generally  com- 

frise  nitre  (saltpetre) — into  which  superficial  error  the  nomenclature  has  led  many  translators, 
he  preparation  by  way  of  burning,  and  the  use  of  nitrum  for  purposes  for  which  we  now 
use  soap,  for  making  glass,  for  medicines,  cosmetics,  salves,  painting,  in  baking  powder, 
for  preserving  food,  embalming,  etc.,  and  the  descriptions  of  its  taste  in  "  nitrous  "  waters, — 
all  answer  for  soda  and  potash,  but  not  for  saltpetre.  It  is  possible  that  the  common  occur- 
rence of  saltpetre  as  an  efflorescence  on  walls  might  naturally  lead  to  its  use,  but  in  any 
event  its  distinguishing  characteristics  are  nowhere  mentioned.  As  sal-ammoniac  occurred 


BOOK     XII. 


559 


A — NILE.     B — NITRUM-PITS,  SUCH  AS  I  CONJECTURE  THEM  TO  BE.7 

verted  into  nitrum.  Just  as  the  sea,  in  flowing  of  its  own  will  over  the  soil 
of  this  same  Egypt,  is  changed  into  salt,  so  also  the  Nile,  when  it  overflows 
in  the  dog  days,  is  converted  into  nitrum  when  it  flows  into  the  nitrum  pits. 
The  solution  from  which  nitrum  is  produced  is  obtained  from  fresh  water 
percolating  through  nitrous  earth,  in  the  same  manner  as  lye  is  made  from 
fresh  water  percolating  through  ashes  of  oak  or  hard  oak.  Both  solutions 
are  taken  out  of  vats  and  poured  into  rectangular  copper  caldrons,  and  are 
boiled  until  at  last  they  condense  into  nitrum. 

in  the  volcanoes  in  Italy,  it  also  may  have  been  included  in  the  nitrum  mentioned.  Nitrum 
was  in  the  main  exported  from  Egypt,  but  Theophrastus  mentions  its  production  from 
wood-ash,  and  Pliny  very  rightly  states  that  burned  lees  of  wine  (argol)  had  the  nature 
of  nitrum.  Many  of  the  ancient  writers  understood  that  it  was  rendered  more  caustic  by 
burning,  and  still  more  so  by  treatment  with  lime.  According  to  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inven- 
tions II.,  p.  488),  the  form  of  the  word  natron  was  first  introduced  into  Europe  by  two 
travellers  in  Egypt,  Peter  Ballon  and  Prosper  Alpinus,  about  1550.  The  word  was  intro- 
duced into  mineralogy  by  Linnaeus  in  1736.  In  the  first  instance  natron  was  applied  to 

'This  wondrous  illustration  of  soda-making  from  Nile  water  is  no  doubt  founded  upon 
Pliny  (xxxi.,  46).  "  It  is  made  in  almost  the  same  manner  as  salt,  except  that  sea-water 
"  is  put  into  salt  pans,  whereas  in  the  nitrous  pans  it  is  water  of  the  Nile  ;  these,  with  the 
"  subsidence  of  the  Nile  during  the  forty  days,  are  impregnated  with  nitrum." 


560  BOOK     XII. 

Native  as  well  as  manufactured  nitrum  is  mixed  in  vats  with  urine 
and  boiled  in  the  same  caldrons  ;  the  decoction  is  poured  into  vats  in  which 
are  copper  wires,  and,  adhering  to  them,  it  hardens  and  becomes  chrysocolla, 
which  the  Moors  call  borax.  Formerly  nitrum  was  compounded  with 
Cyprian  verdigris,  and  ground  with  Cyprian  copper  in  Cyprian  mortars,  as 
Pliny  writes.  Some  chrysocolla  is  made  of  rock-alum  and  sal-ammoniac.8 

soda  and  potash  in  distinction  to  nitre  for  saltpetre,  and  later  natron  was  applied  solely  to  soda. 
It  is  desirable  to  mention  here  two  other  forms  of  soda  and  potash  which  are  frequently 
mentioned  by  Agricola.  "Ashes  which  wool  dyers  use"  (cineres  quo  infectores  lanarum  utuntur). — 
There  is  no  indication  in  any  of  Agricola's  works  as  to  whether  this  was  some  special  wood- 
ash  or  whether  it  was  the  calcined  residues  from  wool  washing.  The  "  yolk  "  or  "  suint  "  of 
wool,  originating  from  the  perspiration  of  the  animal,  has  long  been  a  source  of  crude  potash. 
The  water,  after  washing  the  wool,  is  evaporated,  and  the  residue  calcined.  It  contains 
about  85%  K.2COs,  the  remainder  being  sodium  and  potassium  sulphates.  Another  reason 
for  assuming  that  it  was  not  a  wood-ash  product,  is  that  these  products  are  separately 
mentioned.  In  either  event,  whether  obtained  from  wool  residues  or  from  lixiviation  of 
wood-ash,  it  would  be  an  impure  potash.  In  some  methods  of  wool  dyeing,  a  wash  of  soda 
was  first  given,  so  that  it  is  barely  possible  that  this  substance  was  sodium  carbonate. 

"  Salt  made  from  the  ashes  of  musk  ivy"  (sal  ex  anthyllidis  cinere  factus, — Glossary. 
salalkali).  This  would  be  largely  potash. 

8This  paragraph  displays  hopeless  ignorance.  Borax  was  known  to  Agricola  and 
greatly  used  in  his  time  ;  it  certainly  was  not  made  from  these  compounds,  but  was  imported 
from  Central  Asia.  Sal-ammoniac  was  also  known  in  his  time,  and  was  used  like  borax  as 
a  soldering  agent.  The  reaction  given  by  Agricola  would  yield  free  ammonia.  The  follow- 
ing historical  notes  on  borax  and  sal-ammoniac  may  be  of  service. 

BORAX. — The  uncertainties  of  the  ancient  distinctions  in  salts  involve  borax  deeply. 

The  word  Baurach  occurs  in  Geber  and  the  other  early  Alchemistic  writings,  but  there  is 

nothing  to  prove  that  it  was  modern  borax.     There  cannot  be  the  slightest  doubt,  however, 

that  the  material  referred  to  by  Agricola  as  borax  was  our  borax,  because  of  the  characteristic 

qualities  incidentally  mentioned  in  Book  VII.     That  he  believed  it  was  an  artificial  product 

from  nitrum  is  evident  enough  from  his  usual  expression  "chrysocolla  made  from  nitrum, 

which  the   Moors  call  borax."     Agricola,   in    De  Natura   Fossilium  (p.  206-7),  makes  the 

following  statements,  which  could  leave  no  doubt  on  the  subject : — "  Native  nitrum  is  found 

'  in  the  earth  or  on  the  surface.     .     .     .     It  is  from  this  variety  that  the  Venetians  make 

'  chrysocolla,    which    I    call  borax.     .     .     .    The  second  variety  of  artificial  nitrum  is  made 

'  at  the  present  day  from  the  native  nitrum,  called  by  the  Arabs  tincar,  but  I  call  it  usually 

'  by  the  Greek  name  chrysocolla  ;  it  is  really  the  Arabic  borax.    .    .    .    This  nitrum  does  not 

'  decrepitate  nor  fly  out  of  the  fire  ;  however,  the  native  variety  swells  up  from  within."     The 

application  of  the  word  chrysocolla  (chrysos,  gold  ;  colla,  solder)  to  soldering  materials,  and 

at  the  same  time  to  the  copper  mineral,  is  of  Greek  origin.     If  any  further  proof  were  needed 

as  to  the  substance  meant  by  Agricola,  it  lies  in  the  word  tincar.     For  a  long  time  the  borax 

of  Europe  was  imported  from  Central  Asia,  through  Constantinople  and  Venice,  under  the 

name   of  tincal  or  tincar.     When  this  trade  began,   we   do  not   know  ;  evidently  before 

Agricola's  time.     The  statement  here  of  making   borax  from  alum    and    sal-ammoniac    is 

identical  with  the  assertion  of  Biringuccio  (n.,  9). 

SAL-AMMONIAC. — The  early  history  of  this— ammonium  chloride — is  also  under  a 
cloud.  Pliny  (xxxi.,  39)  speaks  of  a  sal-hammoniacum,  and  Dioscorides  (v.,  85)  uses  much 
the  same  word.  Pliny  describes  it  as  from  near  the  temple  of  Ammon  in  Egypt.  None 
of  the  distinctive  characteristics  of  sal-ammoniac  are  mentioned,  and  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe  it  was  either  common  salt  or  soda.  Herodotus,  Strabo,  and  others  mention 
common  salt  sent  from  about  the  same  locality.  The  first  authentic  mention  is  in  Geber, 
who  calls  it  sal-ammoniacum,  and  describes  a  method  of  making,  and  several  characteristic 
reactions.  It  was  known  in  the  Middle  Ages  under  various  names,  among  them  sal-aremonicum. 
Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  in.,  p.  206)  notes  its  characteristic  quality  of  volatilization.  "  Sal- 
"  ammoniac  .  .  in  the  fire  neither  crackles  nor  flies  out,  but  is  totally  consumed."  He 
also  says  (p.  208)  :  "  Borax  is  used  by  goldsmiths  to  solder  gold,  likewise  silver.  The 
"  artificers  who  make  iron  needles  (tacks  ?)  similarly  use  sal-ammoniac  when  they  cover  the 
"  heads  with  tin."  The  statement  from  Pliny  mentioned  in  this  paragraph  is  fromxxxm., 
29,  where  he  describes  the  chrysocolla  used  as  gold  solder  as  made  from  verdigris,  nitrum, 
and  urine  in  the  way  quoted.  It  is  quite  possible  that  this  solder  was  sal-ammoniac, 
though  not  made  in  quite  this  manner.  Pliny  refers  in  several  places  (xxxin.,  26,  27,  28, 
and  29,  xxxv.,  28,  etc.)  to  chrysocolla,  about  which  he  is  greatly  confused  as  between  gold- 
solder,  the  copper  mineral,  and  a  green  pigment,  the  latter  being  of  either  mineral  origin. 


BOOK     XII. 


A — VAT  IN  WHICH  THE  SODA  is  MIXED.     B — CALDRON.    C— TUB  IN  WHICH  chrysocolla  is 

CONDENSED.       D — COPPER   WIRES.       E— MORTAR. 

Saltpetre9  is  made  from  a  dry,  slightly  fatty  earth,  which,  if  it  be  re- 
tained for  a  while  in  the  mouth,  has  an  acrid  and  salty  taste.  This  earth, 
together  with  a  powder,  are  alternately  put  into  a  vat  in  layers  a  palm  deep. 
The  powder  consists  of  two  parts  of  unslaked  lime  and  three  parts  of  ashes  of 
oak,  or  holmoak,  or  Italian  oak,  or  Turkey  oak,  or  of  some  similar  kind.  Each 
vat  is  filled  with  alternate  layers  of  these  to  within  three-quarters  of  a  foot 
of  the  top,  and  then  water  is  poured  hi  until  it  is  full.  As  the  water  percolates 
through  the  material  it  dissolves  the  saltpetre  ;  then,  the  plug  being  pulled 
out  from  the  vat,  the  solution  is  drained  into  a  tub  and  ladled  out  into  small 


•Saltpetre  was  secured  in  the  Middle  Ages  in  two  ways,  but  mostly  from  the  treatment 
of  calcium  nitrate  efflorescence  on  cellar  and  similar  walls,  and  from  so-called  saltpetre 
plantations.  In  this  description  of  the  latter,  one  of  the  most  essential  factors  is  omitted 
until  the  last  sentence,  i.e.,  that  the  nitrous  earth  was  the  result  of  the  decay  of  organic  or 
animal  matter  over  a  long  period.  Such  decomposition,  in  the  presence  of  potassium  and 
calcium  carbonates — the  lye  and  lime — form  potassium  and  calcium  nitrates,  together  with 
some  magnesium  and  sodium  nitrates.  After  lixiviation,  the  addition  of  lye  converts  the 
calcium  and  magnesium  nitrates  into  saltpetre,  i.e.,  Ca  (NO3)2  +  K2CO3  =  Ca  CO3  +  zKNOs. 
The  carbonates  precipitate  out,  leaving  the  saltpetre  in  solution,  from  which  it  was  evaporated 
and  crystallised  out.  The  addition  of  alum  as  mentioned  would  scarcely  improve  the 
situation. 

The  purification  by  repeated  re-solution  and  addition  of  lye,  and  nitration,  would 
eliminate  the  remaining  other  salts.  The  purification  with  sulphur,  however,  is  more  difficult 


562  BOOK    XII. 

vats.  If  when  tested  it  tastes  very  salty,  and  at  the  same  time  acrid,  it  is 
good  ;  but,  if  not,  then  it  is  condemned,  and  it  must  be  made  to  percolate 
again  through  the  same  material  or  through  a  fresh  lot.  Even  two  or  three 
waters  may  be  made  to  percolate  through  the  same  earth  and  become  full 
of  saltpetre,  but  the  solutions  thus  obtained  must  not  be  mixed  together 
unless  all  have  the  same  taste,  which  rarely  or  never  happens.  The  first  of 
these  solutions  is  poured  into  the  first  vat,  the  next  into  the  second,  the  third 
into  the  third  vat ;  the  second  and  third  solutions  are  used  instead  of  plain 
water  to  percolate  through  fresh  material  ;  the  first  solution  is  made  in 
this  manner  from  both  the  second  and  third.  As  soon  as  there  is  an  abun- 
dance of  this  solution  it  is  poured  into  the  rectangular  copper  caldron  and 
evaporated  to  one  half  by  boiling ;  then  it  is  transferred  into  a  vat  covered 
with  a  lid,  in  which  the  earthy  matter  settles  to  the  bottom.  When  the 
solution  is  clear  it  is  poured  back  into  the  same  pan,  or  into  another,  and 
re-boiled.  When  it  bubbles  and  forms  a  scum,  in  order  that  it  should 
not  run  over  and  that  it  may  be  greatly  purified,  there  is  poured  into  it  three 
or  four  pounds  of  lye,  made  from  three  parts  of  oak  or  similar  ash  and  one  of 
unslaked  lime.  But  in  the  water,  prior  to  its  being  poured  in,  is  dissolved  rock- 
alum,  in  the  proportion  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  librae  of  the  former  to  five 

to  understand.  In  this  case  the  saltpetre  is  melted  and  the  sulphur  added  and  set  alight. 
Such  an  addition  to  saltpetre  would  no  doubt  burn  brilliantly.  The  potassium  sulphate 
formed  would  possibly  settle  to  the  bottom,  and  if  the  "  greasy  matter  "  were  simply 
organic  impurities,  they  might  be  burned  off.  This  method  of  refining  appears  to  have 
been  copied  from  Biringuccio  (x.,  i),  who  states  it  in  almost  identical  terms. 

HISTORICAL  NOTE. — As  mentioned  in  Note  6  above,  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  Ancients  did  include  efflorescence  of  walls  under  nitrum ;  but,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 
no  specific  mention  of  such  an  occurrence  of  nitrum  is  given,  and,  as  stated  before,  there 
is  every  reason  to  believe  that  all  the  substances  under  that  term  were  soda  and  potash. 
Especially  the  frequent  mention  of  the  preparation  of  nitrum  by  way  of  burning,  argues 
strongly  against  saltpetre  being  included,  as  they  would  hardly  have  failed  to  notice  the 
decrepitation.  Argument  has  been  put  forward  that  Greek  fire  contained  saltpetre, 'but  it 
amounts  to  nothing  more  than  argument,  for  in  those  receipts  preserved,  no  salt  of  any  kind 
is  mentioned.  It  is  most  likely  that  the  leprosy  of  house-walls  of  the  Mosaic  code  (Leviticus 
xiv.,  34  to  53)  was  saltpetre  efflorescence.  The  drastic  treatment  by  way  of  destruction  of 
such  "  unclean  "  walls  and  houses,  however,  is  sufficient  evidence  that  this  salt  was  not  used. 
The  first  certain  mention  of  saltpetre  (sal  petrae)  is  in  Geber.  As  stated  before,  the  date 
of  this  work  is  uncertain  ;  in  any  event  it  was  probably  as  early  as  the  I3th  Century.  He 
describes  the  making  of  "  solvative  water  "  with  alum  and  saltpetre,  so  there  can  be  no 
doubt  as  to  the  substance  (see  Note  on  p.  460,  on  nitric  acid).  There  is  also  a  work  by  a 
nebulous  Marcus  Graecus,  where  the  word  sal  petrosum  is  used.  And  it  appears  that  Roger 
Bacon  (died  1294)  and  Albertus  Magnus  (died  1280)  both  had  access  to  that  work.  Bacon 
uses  the  term  sal  petrae  frequently  enough,  and  was  the  first  to  describe  gunpowder  (De 
Mirabili  Potestate  Artis  et  Naturae  1242).  He  gives  no  mention  of  the  method  of  making  his 
sal  petrae.  Agricola  uses  throughout  the  Latin  text  the  term  halinitrum,  a  word  he  appears 
to  have  coined  himself.  However,  he  gives  its  German  equivalent  in  the  Interpretatio  as 
salpeter.  The  only  previous  description  of  the  method  of  making  saltpetre,  of  which  we  are 
aware,  is  that  of  Biringuccio  (1540),  who  mentions  the  boiling  of  the  excrescences  from  walls, 
and  also  says  a  good  deal  about  boiling  solutions  from  "  nitrous  "  earth,  which  may  or  may  not 
be  of  "  plantation  "  origin.  He  also  gives  this  same  method  of  refining  with  sulphur.  In 
any  event,  this  statement  by  Agricola  is  the  first  clear  and  complete  description  of  the  salt- 
petre "  plantations."  Saltpetre  was  in  great  demand  in  the  Middle  Ages  for  the  manufacture 
of  gunpowder,  and  the  first  record  of  that  substance  and  of  explosive  weapons  necessarily 
involves  the  knowledge  of  saltpetre.  However,  authentic  mention  of  such  weapons  only 
begins  early  in  the  I4th  Century.  Among  the  earliest  is  an  authority  to  the  Council  of  Twelve 
at  Florence  to  appoint  persons  to  make  cannon,  etc.,  (1326),  references  to  cannon  in  the 
stores  of  the  Tower  of  London,  1388,  &c. 


BOOK     XII. 


563 


librae  of  the  latter.  Shortly  afterward  the  solution  will  be  found  to  be  clear 
and  blue.  It  is  boiled  until  the  waters,  which  are  easily  volatile  (subtiles),  are 
evaporated,  and  then  the  greater  part  of  the  salt,  after  it  has  settled  at  the 
bottom  of  the  pan,  is  taken  out  with  iron  ladles.  Then  the  concentrated 
solution  is  transferred  to  the  vat  in  which  rods  are  placed  horizontally  and 
vertically,  to  which  it  adheres  when  cold,  and  if  there  be  much,  it  is  condensed 
in  three  or  four  days  into  saltpetre.  Then  the  solution  which  has  not  con- 
gealed, is  poured  out  and  put  on  one  side  or  re-boiled.  The  saltpetre  being 
cut  out  and  washed  with  its  own  solution,  is  thrown  on  to  boards  that  it  may 
drain  and  dry.  The  yield  of  saltpetre  will  be  much  or  little  in  proportion 
to  whether  the  solution  has  absorbed  much  or  little  ;  when  the  saltpetre 
has  been  obtained  from  lye,  which  purifies  itself,  it  is  somewhat  clear  and 
pure. 

The  purest  and  most  transparent,  because  free  from  salt,  is  made  if  it  is 
drawn  off  at  the  thickening  stage,  according  to  the  following  method.     There 


A — CALDRON.      B — LARGE  VAT  INTO  WHICH  SAND  is  THROWN.    C— PLUG.     D — TUB. 

E — VAT    CONTAINING    THE    RODS. 


564  BOOK     XII. 

are  poured  into  the  caldron  the  same  number  of  amphorae  of  the  solution  as  of 
congii  of  the  lye  of  which  I  have  already  spoken,  and  into  the  same  caldron 
is  thrown  as  much  of  the  already  made  saltpetre  as  the  solution  and  lye  will 
dissolve.  As  soon  as  the  mixture  effervesces  and  forms  scum,  it  is  trans- 
ferred to  a  vat,  into  which  on  a  cloth  has  been  thrown  washed  sand  obtained 
from  a  river.  Soon  afterward  the  plug  is  drawn  out  of  the  hole  at  the 
bottom,  and  the  mixture,  having  percolated  through  the  sand,  escapes  into 
a  tub.  It  is  then  reduced  by  boiling  in  one  or  another  of  the  caldrons,  until 
the  greater  part  of  the  solution  has  evaporated ;  but  as  soon  as  it  is  well 
boiled  and  forms  scum,  a  little  lye  is  poured  into  it.  Then  it  is  transferred  to 
another  vat  in  which  there  are  small  rods,  to  which  it  adheres  and  congeals  in 
two  days  if  there  is  but  little  of  it,  or  if  there  is  much  in  three  days,  or 
at  the  most  in  four  days  ;  if  it  does  not  condense,  it  is  poured  back  into  the 
caldron  and  re-boiled  down  to  half ;  then  it  is  transferred  to  the  vat  to  cool. 
The  process  must  be  repeated  as  often  as  is  necessary. 

Others  refine  saltpetre  by  another  method,  for  with  it  they  fill  a  pot 
made  of  copper,  and,  covering  it  with  a  copper  lid,  set  it  over  live  coals,  where 
it  is  heated  until  it  melts.  They  do  not  cement  down  the  lid,  but  it  has 
a  handle,  and  can  be  lifted  for  them  to  see  whether  or  not  the  melting  has  taken 
place.  When  it  has  melted,  powdered  sulphur  is  sprinkled  in,  and  if  the  pot 
set  on  the  fire  does  not  light  it,  the  sulphur  kindles,  whereby  the  thick,  greasy 
matter  floating  on  the  saltpetre  burns  up,  and  when  it  is  consumed  the  salt- 
petre is  pure.  Soon  afterward  the  pot  is  removed  from  the  fire,  and  later,  when 
cold,  the  purest  saltpetre  is  taken  out,  which  has  the  appearance  of  white 
marble,  the  earthy  residue  then  remains  at  the  bottom.  The  earths  from 
which  the  solution  was  made,  together  with  branches  of  oak  or  similar  trees, 
are  exposed  under  the  open  sky  and  sprinkled  with  water  containing  saltpetre. 
After  remaining  thus  for  five  or  six  years,  they  are  again  ready  to  be  made 
into  a  solution. 

Pure  saltpetre  which  has  rested  many  years  in  the  earth,  and  that  which 
exudes  from  the  stone  walls  of  wine  cellars  and  dark  places,  is  mixed  with  the 
first  solution  and  evaporated  by  boiling. 

Thus  far  I  have  described  the  methods  of  making  nitrum,  which  are  not 
less  varied  or  multifarious  than  those  for  making  salt.  Now  I  propose  to 
describe  the  methods  of  making  alum,10  which  are  likewise  neither  all  alike, 
nor  simple,  because  it  is  made  from  boiling  aluminous  water  until  it  con- 
denses to  alum,  or  else  from  boiling  a  solution  of  alum  which  is  obtained 
from  a  kind  of  earth,  or  from  rocks,  or  from  pyrites,  or  other  minerals. 

10There  are  three  methods  of  manufacturing  alum  described  by  Agricola,  the  first 
and  third  apparently  from  shales,  and  the  second  from  alum  rock  or  "  alunite."  The  reasons 
for  assuming  that  the  first  process  was  from  shales,  are  the  reference  to  the  "  aluminous 
earth  "  as  ore  (venae)  coming  from  "  veins,"  and  also  the  mixture  of  vitriol.  In  this  process 
the  free  sulphuric  acid  formed  by  the  oxidation  of  pyrites  reacts  upon  the  argillaceous  material 
to  form  aluminium  sulphate.  The  decomposed  ore  is  then  placed  in  tanks  and  lixiviated. 
The  solution  would  contain  aluminium  sulphate,  vitriol,  and  other  impurities.  By  the 
addition  of  urine,  the  aluminium  sulphate  would  be  converted  into  ammonia  alum.  Agricola 
is,  of  course,  mistaken  as  to  the  effect  of  the  addition,  being  under  the  belief  that  it  separated 
the  vitriol  from  the  alum  ;  in  fact,  this  belief  was  general  until  the  latter  part  of  the  i8th 
Century,  when  Lavoisier  determined  that  alum  must  have  an  alkali  base.  Nor  is  it  clear 


BOOK     XII.  565 

This  kind  of  earth  having  first  been  dug  up  in  such  quantity  as  would 
make  three  hundred  wheelbarrow  loads,  is  thrown  into  two  tanks  ;  then  the 
water  is  turned  into  them,  and  if  it  (the  earth)  contains  vitriol  it  must  be 
diluted  with  urine.  The  workmen  must  many  times  a  day  stir  the 
ore  with  long,  thick  sticks  in  order  that  the  water  and  urine  may  be 
mixed  with  it  ;  then  the  plugs  having  been  taken  out  of  both  tanks,  the 
solution  is  drawn  off  into  a  trough,  which  is  carved  out  of  one  or  two  trees. 
If  the  locality  is  supplied  with  an  abundance  of  such  ore,  it  should  not 
immediately  be  thrown  into  the  tanks,  but  first  conveyed  into  open  spaces 
and  heaped  up,  for  the  longer  it  is  exposed  to  the  air  and  the  rain,  the  better  it 
is  ;  after  some  months,  during  which  the  ore  has  been  heaped  up  in  open 
spaces  into  mounds,  there  are  generated  veinlets  of  far  better  quality  than 
the  ore.  Then  it  is  conveyed  into  six  or  more  tanks,  nine  feet  in  length 
and  breadth  and  five  in  depth,  and  afterward  water  is  drawn  into  them 
of  similar  solution.  After  this,  when  the  water  has  absorbed  the  alum,  the 
plugs  are  pulled  out,  and  the  solution  escapes  into  a  round  reservoir  forty 
feet  wide  and  three  feet  deep.  Then  the  ore  is  thrown  out  of  the  tanks 
into  other  tanks,  and  water  again  being  run  into  the  latter  and  the  urine 
added  and  stirred  by  means  of  poles,  the  plugs  are  withdrawn  and 
the  solution  is  run  off  into  the  same  reservoir.  A  few  days  afterward, 
the  reservoirs  containing  the  solution  are  emptied  through  a  small  launder, 
and  run  into  rectangular  lead  caldrons ;  it  is  boiled  in  them  until  the 

from  this  description  exactly  how  they  were  separated.  In  a  condensed  solution  allowed  to 
cool,  the  alum  would  precipitate  out  as  "alum  meal,"  and  the  vitriol  would  "  float  on  top  " — 
in  solution.  The  reference  to  "  meal "  may  represent  this  phenomenon,  and  the  re-boiling 
referred  to  would  be  the  normal  method  of  purification  by  crystallization.  The  "  asbestos  " 
and  gypsum  deposited  in  the  caldrons  were  no  doubt  feathery  and  mealy  calcium  sulphate. 
The  alum  produced  would,  in  any  event,  be  mostly  ammonia  alum. 

The  second  process  is  certainly  the  manufacture  from  "  alum  rock  "  or  "  alunite  " 
(the  hydros  sulphate  of  aluminium  and  potassium),  such  as  that  mined  at  La  Tolfa  in  the 
Papal  States,  where  the  process  has  been  for  centuries  identical  with  that  here  described.  The 
alum  there  produced  is  the  double  basic  potassium  alum,  and  crystallizes  into  cubes  instead  of 
octrahedra,  i.e.,  the  Roman  alum  of  commerce.  The  presence  of  much  ferric  oxide  gives  the 
rose  colour  referred  to  by  Agricola.  This  account  is  almost  identical  with  that  of  Biringuccio 
(n.,  4),  and  it  appears  from  similarity  of  details  that  Agricola,  as  stated  in  his  preface,  must 
have  "  refreshed  his  mind  "  from  this  description  ;  it  would  also  appear  from  the  preface  that 
he  had  himself  visited  the  locality. 

The  third  process  is  essentially  the  same  as  the  first,  except  that  the  decomposition 
of  the  pyrites  was  hastened  by  roasting.  The  following  obscure  statement  of  some  interest 
occurs  in  Agricola's  De  Natura  Fossilium,  p.  209  : — ".  .  .  .  alum  is  made  from  vitriol, 
"  for  when  oil  is  made  from  the  latter,  alum  is  distilled  out  (expirat).  This  absorbs  the  clay 
"  which  is  used  in  cementing  glass,  and  when  the  operation  is  complete  the  clay  is  macerated 
"with  pure  water,  and  the  alum  is  soon  afterward  deposited  in  the  shape  of  small  cubes." 
Assuming  the  oil  of  vitriol  to  be  sulphuric  acid  and  the  clay  "  used  in  cementing  glass  "  to 
be  kaolin,  we  have  here  the  first  suggestion  of  a  method  for  producing  alum  which  came  into 
use  long  after. 

"  Burnt  alum  "  (alumen  coctum). — Agricola  frequently  uses  this  expression,  and  on  p. 
568,  describes  the  operation,  and  the  substance  is  apparently  the  same  as  modern  dehydrated 
alum,  often  referred  to  as  "burnt  alum." 

HISTORICAL  NOTES. — Whether  the  Ancients  knew  of  alum  in  the  modern  sense  is  a 
most  vexed  question.  The  Greeks  refer  to  a  certain  substance  as  stypteria,  and  the  Romans 
refer  to  this  same  substance  as  alumen.  There  can  be  no  question  as  to  their  knowledge  and 
common  use  of  vitriol,  nor  that  substances  which  they  believed  were  entirely  different  from 
vitriol  were  comprised  under  the  above  names.  Beckmann  (Hist,  of  Inventions,  Vol.  i., 
p.  181)  seems  to  have  been  the  founder  of  the  doctrine  that  the  ancient  alumen  was  vitriol, 
and  scores  of  authorities  seem  to  have  adopted  his  arguments  without  inquiry,  until  that  belief 


566  BOOK     XII. 

greater  part  of  the  water  has  evaporated.  The  earthy  sediment  deposited 
at  the  bottom  of  the  caldron  is  composed  of  fatty  and  aluminous  matter,  which 
usually  consists  of  small  incrustations,  in  which  there  is  not  infrequently  found 
a  very  white  and  very  light  powder  of  asbestos  or  gypsum.  The  solution  now 
seems  to  be  full  of  meal.  Some  people  instead  pour  the  partly  evaporated 
solution  into  a  vat,  so  that  it  may  become  pure  and  clear ;  then  pouring  it 
back  into  the  caldron,  they  boil  it  again  until  it  becomes  mealy.  By  which- 
ever process  it  has  been  condensed,  it  is  then  poured  into  a  wooden  tub 
sunk  into  the  earth  in  order  to  cool  it.  When  it  becomes  cold  it  is  poured 
into  vats,  in  which  are  arranged  horizontal  and  vertical  twigs,  to  which  the 
alum  clings  when  it  condenses  ;  and  thus  are  made  the  small  white  trans- 
parent cubes,  which  are  laid  to  dry  in  hot  rooms. 

If  vitriol  forms  part  of  the  aluminous  ore,  the  material  is  dissolved  in 
water  without  being  mixed  with  urine,  but  it  is  necessary  to  pour  that  into 
the  clear  and  pure  solution  when  it  is  to  be  re-boiled.  This  separates  the 
vitriol  from  the  alum,  for  by  this  method  the  latter  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the 
caldron,  while  the  former  floats  on  the  top  ;  both  must  be  poured  separately 
into  smaller  vessels,  and  from  these  into  vats  to  condense.  If,  however,  when 
the  solution  was  re-boiled  they  did  not  separate,  then  they  must  be  poured 
from  the  smaller  vessels  into  larger  vessels  and  covered  over  ;  then  the  vitriol 
separating  from  the  alum,  it  condenses.  Both  are  cut  out  and  put  to  dry  in 
the  hot  room,  and  are  ready  to  be  sold  ;  the  solution  which  did  not  congeal  in 

is  now  general.  One  of  the  strongest  reasons  put  forward  was  that  alum  does  not  occur 
native  in  appreciable  quantities.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  the  weight  of  this  argument  has 
been  lost  by  the  discovery  that  alum  does  occur  in  nature  to  some  extent  as  an  aftermath  of 
volcanic  action,  and  as  an  efflorescence  from  argillaceous  rocks,  we  see  no  reason  why  the 
Ancients  may  not  have  prepared  it  artificially.  One  of  the  earliest  mentions  of  such  a  sub- 
stance is  by  Herodotus  (n.,  180)  of  a  thousand  talents  of  stypteria,  sent  by  Amasis  from 
Egypt  as  a  contribution  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  of  Delphi.  Diodorus  (v.,  i)  mentions 
the  abundance  which  was  secured  from  the  Lipari  Islands  (Stromboli,  etc.),  and  a  small 
quantity  from  the  Isle  of  Melos.  Dioscorides  (v.,  82)  mentions  Egypt,  Lipari  Islands,  Melos, 
Sardinia,  Armenia,  etc.,  "  and  generally  in  any  other  places  where  one  finds  red  ochre 
(rubrica)."  Pliny  (xxxv.,  52)  gives  these  same  localities,  and  is  more  explicit  as  to  how  it 
originates — "  from  an  earthy  water  which  exudes  from  the  earth."  Of  these  localities, 
the  Lipari  Islands  (Stromboli,  etc.),  and  Melos  are  volcanic  enough,  and  both  Lipari  and 
Melos  are  now  known  to  produce  natural  alum  (Dana.  Syst.  Min.,  p.  95 ;  and  Tournefort, 
"  Relation  d'un  voyage  du  Levant,"  London,  1717,  Lettre  iv.,  Vol.  I.).  Further,  the  hair- 
like  alum  of  Dioscorides,  repeated  by  Pliny  below,  was  quite  conceivably  fibrous  kalinite, 
native  potash  alum,  which  occurs  commonly  as  an  efflorescence.  Be  the  question  of  native 
alum  as  it  may — and  vitriol  is  not  much  more  common — our  own  view  that  the  ancient 
alumen  was  alum,  is  equally  based  upon  the  artificial  product.  Before  entering  upon  the 
subject,  we  consider  it  desirable  to  set  out  the  properties  of  the  ancient  substance,  a  complete 
review  of  which  is  given  by  Pliny  (xxxv.,  52),  he  obviously  quoting  also  from  Dioscorides, 
which,  therefore,  we  do  not  need  to  reproduce.  Pliny  says  :— 

"  Not  less  important,  or  indeed  dissimilar,  are  the  uses  made  of  alumen  ;  by  which 
'  name  is  understood  a  sort  of  salty  earth.  Of  this,  there  are  several  kinds.  In  Cyprus  there 
'  is  a  white  alumen,  and  a  darker  kind.  There  is  not  a  great  difference  in  their  colour, 
'  though  the  uses  made  of  them  are  very  dissimilar, — the  white  alumen  being  employed  in  a 
'  liquid  state  for  dyeing  wool  bright  colours,  and  the  dark-coloured  alumen,  on  the  other 
'  hand,  for  giving  wool  a  sombre  tint.  Gold  is  purified  with  black  alumen.  Every  kind  of 
'  alumen  is  from  a  limus  water  which  exudes  from  the  earth.  The  collection  of  it  commences 
'  in  winter,  and  it  is  dried  by  the  summer  sun.  That  portion  of  it  which  first  matures  is  the 
'  whitest.  It  is  obtained  in  Spain,  Egypt,  Armenia,  Macedonia,  Pontus,  Africa,  and  the 
'  islands  of  Sardinia,  Melos,  Lipari,  and  Strongyle  ;  the  most  esteemed,  however,  is  that  of 
'  Egypt,  the  next  best  from  Melos.  Of  this  last  there  are  two  kinds,  the  liquid  alumen,  and 
'  the  solid.  Liquid  alumen,  to  be  good,  should  be  of  a  limpid  and  milky  appearance  ;  when 


BOOK    XII. 


567 


A — TANKS.    B — STIRRING  POLES.   C — PLUG.    D — TROUGH.   E — RESERVOIR.    F — LAUNDER. 
G — LEAD  CALDRON.        H — WOODEN  TUBS  SUNK  INTO  THE  EARTH.       I — VATS  IN  WHICH 

TWIGS    ARE    FIXED. 


568  BOOK     XII. 

the  vessels  and  vats  is  again  poured  back  into  the  caldron  to  be  re-boiled. 
The  earth  which  settled  at  the  bottom  of  the  caldron  is  carried  back  to  the 
tanks,  and,  together  with  the  ore,  is  again  dissolved  with  water  and  urine. 
The  earth  which  remains  in  the  tanks  after  the  solution  has  been  drawn  off 
is  emptied  in  a  heap,  and  daily  becomes  more  and  more  aluminous  in  the 
same  way  as  the  earth  from  which  saltpetre  was  made,  but  fuller  of  its  juices, 
wherefore  it  is  again  thrown  into  the  tanks  and  percolated  by  water. 

Aluminous  rock  is  first  roasted  in  a  furnace  similar  to  a  lime  kiln.  At 
the  bottom  of  the  kiln  a  vaulted  fireplace  is  made  of  the  same  kind  of  rock ; 
the  remainder  of  the  empty  part  of  the  kiln  is  then  entirely  filled  with  the 
same  aluminous  rocks.  Then  they  are  heated  with  fire  until  they  are  red 
hot  and  have  exhaled  their  sulphurous  fumes,  which  occurs,  according  to  their 
divers  nature,  within  the  space  of  ten,  eleven,  twelve,  or  more  hours.  One 
thing  the  master  must  guard  against  most  of  all  is  not  to  roast  the  rock 
either  too  much  or  too  little,  for  on  the  one  hand  they  would  not  soften  when 
sprinkled  with  water,  and  on  the  other  they  either  would  be  too  hard  or 
would  crumble  into  ashes  ;  from  neither  would  much  alum  be  obtained,  for 
the  strength  which  they  have  would  be  decreased.  When  the  rocks  are  cooled 
they  are  drawn  out  and  conveyed  into  an  open  space,  where  they  are  piled  one 
upon  the  other  in  heaps  fifty  feet  long,  eight  feet  wide,  and  four  feet  high, 
which  are  sprinkled  for  forty  days  with  water  carried  in  deep  ladles.  In 
spring  the  sprinkling  is  done  both  morning  and  evening,  and  in  summer  at 

'  rubbed,  it  should  be  without  roughness,  and  should  give  a  little  heat.  This  is  called 
'  phorimon.  The  mode  of  detecting  whether  it  has  been  adulterated  is  by  pomegranate 
'  juice,  for,  if  genuine,  the  mixture  turns  black.  The  other,  or  solid,  is  pale  and  rough 
'  and  turns  dark  with  nut-galls  ;  for  which  reason  it  is  called  paraphoron.  Liquid  alumen  is 
'  naturally  astringent,  indurative,  and  corrosive  ;  used  in  combination  with  honey,  it  heals 
'  ulcerations.  .  .  .  There  is  one  kind  of  solid  alumen,  called  by  the  Greeks  schistos. 
'  which  splits  into  filaments  of  a  whitish  colour  ;  for  which  reason  some  prefer  calling  it 
'  trichitis  (hair  like).  Alumen  is  produced  from  the  stone  chalcitis,  from  which  copper  is  also 
1  made,  being  a  sort  of  coagulated  scum  from  that  stone.  This  kind  of  alumen  is  less 
'  astringent  than  the  others,  and  is  less  useful  as  a  check  upon  bad  humours  of  the  body.  . 
'  The  mode  of  preparing  it  is  to  cook  it  in  a  pan  until  it  has  ceased  being  a  liquid.  There 
'  is  another  variety  of  alumen  also,  of  a  less  active  nature,  called  strongyle.  It  is  of  two  kinds. 
'  The  fungous,  which  easily  dissolves,  is  utterly  condemned.  The  better  kind  is  the  pumice- 
'  like  kind,  full  of  small  holes  like  a  sponge,  and  is  in  round  pieces,  more  nearly  white  in  colour, 
'  somewhat  greasy,  free  from  grit,  friable,  and  does  not  stain  black.  This  last  kind  is  cooked 
'  by  itself  upon  charcoal  until  it  is  reduced  to  pure  ashes.  The  best  kind  of  all  is  that  called 
'  melinum,  from  the  Isle  of  Melos,  as  I  have  said,  none  being  more  effectual  as  an  astringent, 
'  for  staining  black,  and  for  indurating,  and  none  becomes  more  dry.  .  .  .  Above  all  other 
'  properties  of  alumen  is  its  remarkable  astringency,  whence  its  Greek  name.  .  .  .  It  is 
'  injected  for  dysentry  and  employed  as  a  gargle."  The  lines  omitted  refer  entirely  to  , 
medical  matters  which  have  no  bearing  here.  The  following  paragraph  (often  overlooked) 
from  Pliny  (xxxv.,  42)  also  has  an  important  bearing  upon  the  subject : — "  In  Egypt  they 
'  employ  a  wonderful  method  of  dyeing.  The  white  cloth,  after  it  is  pressed,  is  stained 
'  in  various  places,  not  with  dye  stuffs,  but  with  substances  which  absorb  colours.  These 
'  applications  are  not  apparent  on  the  cloth,  but  when  it  is  immersed  in  a  caldron  of  hot 
'  dye  it  is  removed  the  next  moment  brightly  coloured.  The  remarkable  circumstance 
'  is  that  although  there  be  only  one  dye  in  the  caldron  yet  different  colours  appear  in  the 
•  cloth." 

It  is  obvious  from  Pliny's  description  above,  and  also  from  the  making  of  vitriol  (see 
Note  n,  p.  572),  that  this  substance  was  obtained  from  liquor  resulting  from  natural  or 
artificial  lixiviation  of  rocks— in  the  case  of  vitriols  undoubtedly  the  result  of  decomposition 
of  pyritiferous  rocks  (such  as  chalcitis).  Such  liquors  are  bound  to  contain  aluminum 
sulphate  if  there  is  any  earth  or  clay  about,  and  whether  they  contained  alum  would  be  a 
question  of  an  alkali  being  present.  If  no  alkali  were  present  in  this  liquor,  vitriol  would 


BOOK     XII.  569 

noon  besides.  After  being  moistened  for  this  length  of  time  the  rocks  begin 
to  fall  to  pieces  like  slaked  lime,  and  there  originates  a  certain  new  material 
of  the  future  alum,  which  is  soft  and  similar  to  the  liquidae  medullae  found 
in  the  rocks.  It  is  white  if  the  stone  was  white  before  it  was  roasted,  and 
rose-coloured  if  red  was  mixed  with  the  white ;  from  the  former,  white 
alum  is  obtained,  and  from  the  latter,  rose-coloured.  A  round  furnace  is 
made,  the  lower  part  of  which,  in  order  to  be  able  to  endure  the  force  of 
the  heat,  is  made  of  rock  that  neither  melts  nor  crumbles  to  powder  by  the 
fire.  It  is  constructed  in  the  form  of  a  basket,  the  walls  of  which  are  two 
feet  high,  made  of  the  same  rock.  On  these  walls  rests  a  large  round  caldron 
made  of  copper  plates,  which  is  concave  at  the  bottom,  where  it  is  eight  feet 
in  diameter.  In  the  empty  space  under  the  bottom  they  place  the  wood  to  be 
kindled  with  fire.  Around  the  edge  of  the  bottom  of  the  caldron,  rock 
is  built  in  cone-shaped,  and  the  diameter  of  the  bottom  of  the  rock  structure 
is  seven  feet,  and  of  the  top  ten  feet ;  it  is  eight  feet  deep.  The  inside, 
after  being  rubbed  over  with  oil,  is  covered  with  cement,  so  that  it  may  be 
able  to  hold  boiling  water ;  the  cement  is  composed  of  fresh  lime,  of 
which  the  lumps  are  slaked  with  wine,  of  iron-scales,  and  of  sea-snails, 
ground  and  mixed  with  the  white  of  eggs  and  oil.  The  edges  of  the  caldron 
are  surmounted  with  a  circle  of  wood  a  foot  thick  and  half  a  foot  high, 
on  which  the  workmen  rest  the  wooden  shovels  with  which  they  cleanse 
the  water  of  earth  and  of  the  undissolved  lumps  of  rock  that  remain  at 

crystallize  out  first,  and  subsequent  condensation  would  yield  aluminum  sulphate.  If 
alkali  were  present,  the  alum  would  crystallize  out  either  before  or  with  the  vitriol.  Pliny's 
remark,  "that  portion  of  it  which  first  matures  is  whitest",  agrees  well  enough  with  this 
hypothesis.  No  one  will  doubt  that  some  of  the  properties  mentioned  above  belong  peculiarly 
to  vitriol,  but  equally  convincing  are  properties  and  uses  that  belong  to  alum  alone.  The 
strongly  astringent  taste,  white  colour,  and  injection  fordysentry,  are  more  peculiar  to  alum  than 
to  vitriol.  But  above  all  other  properties  is  that  displayed  in  dyeing,  for  certainly  if  we  read 
this  last  quotation  from  Pliny  in  conjunction  with  the  statement  that  white  alumen  produces 
bright  colours  and  the  dark  kind,  sombre  colours,  we  have  the  exact  reactions  of  alum  and 
vitriol  when  used  as  mordants.  Therefore,  our  view  is  that  the  ancient  salt  of  this  character 
was  a  more  or  less  impure  mixture  ranging  from  alum  to  vitriol — "  the  whiter  the  better." 
Further,  considering  the  ancient  knowledge  of  soda  (nitrum),  and  the  habit  of  mixing  it 
into  almost  everything,  it  does  not  require  much  flight  of  imagination  to  conceive  its  admix- 
ture to  the  "  water,"  and  the  absolute  production  of  alum. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  confusion  between  alum  and  vitriol  among  the  Ancients, 
it  appears  that  by  the  time  of  the  works  attributed  to  Geber  (izth  or  I3th  Century),  the 
difference  was  well  known.  His  work  (Invesiigationes  perfectiones,  IV.)  refers  to  alumen 
glaciate  and  alumen  jameni  as  distinguished  from  vitriol,  and  gives  characteristic  reactions 
which  can  leave  no  doubt  as  to  the  distinction.  We  may  remark  here  that  the  repeated  state- 
ment apparently  arising  from  Meyer  (History  of  Chemistry,  p.  51)  that  Geber  used  the  term 
alum  de  rocca  is  untrue,  this  term  not  appearing  in  the  early  Latin  translations.  During 
the  I5th  Century  alum  did  come  to  be  known  in  Europe  as  alum  de  rocca.  Various  attempts  have 
been  made  to  explain  the  origin  of  this  term,  ranging  from  the  Italian  root,  a  "  rock,  "  to  the 
town  of  Rocca  in  Syria,  where  alum  was  supposed  to  have  been  produced.  In  any  event, 
the  supply  for  a  long  period  prior  to  the  middle  of  the  I5th  Century  came  from  Turkey,  and 
the  origin  'of  the  methods  of  manufacture  described  by  Agricola,  and  used  down  to  the 
present  day,  must  have  come  from  the  Orient. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  i5th  Century,  a  large  trade  in  alum  was  done  between  Italy 
and  Asia  Minor,  and  eventually  various  Italians  established  themselves  near  Constantinople 
and  Smyrna  for  its  manufacture  (Dudae,  Historia  Byzantina  Venelia,  1729,  p.  71). 
The  alum  was  secured  by  burning  the  rock,  and  lixiviation.  With  the  capture  of  Constan- 
tinople by  the  Turks  (1453),  great  feeling  grew  up  in  Italy  over  the  necessity  of  buying  this 
requisite  for  their  dyeing  establishments  from  the  infidel,  and  considerable  exertion  was 
made  to  find  other  sources  of  supply.  Some  minor  works  were  attempted,  but  nothing  much 


570  BOOK     XII. 

the  bottom  of  the  caldron.  The  caldron,  being  thus  prepared,  is  entirely 
filled  through  a  launder  with  water,  and  this  is  boiled  with  a  fierce  fire 
until  it  bubbles.  Then  little  by  little  eight  wheelbarrow  loads  of  the 
material,  composed  of  roasted  rock  moistened  with  water,  are  gradually 
emptied  into  the  caldron  by  four  workmen,  who,  with  their  shovels  which 
reach  to  the  bottom,  keep  the  material  stirred  and  mixed  with  water,  and 
by  the  same  means  they  lift  the  lumps  of  undissolved  rock  out  of  the 
caldron.  In  this  manner  the  material  is  thrown  in,  in  three  or  four  lots,  at 
intervals  of  two  or  three  hours  more  or  less  ;  during  these  intervals,  the 
water,  which  has  been  cooled  by  the  rock  and  material,  again  begins  to  boil. 
The  water,  when  sufficiently  purified  and  ready  to  congeal,  is  ladled  out  and 
run  off  with  launders  into  thirty  troughs.  These  troughs  are  made  of  oak, 
holm  oak,  or  Turkey  oak  ;  their  interior  is  six  feet  long,  five  feet  deep,  and 
four  feet  wide.  In  these  the  water  congeals  and  condenses  into  alum,  in  the 
spring  in  the  space  of  four  days,  and  in  summer  in  six  days.  Afterward  the 
holes  at  the  bottom  of  the  oak  troughs  being  opened,  the  water  which  has 
not  congealed  is  drawn  off  into  buckets  and  poured  back  into  the  caldron  ; 
or  it  may  be  preserved  in  empty  troughs,  so  that  the  master  of  the  workmen, 
having  seen  it,  may  order  his  helpers  to  pour  it  into  the  caldron,  for  the  water 
which  is  not  altogether  wanting  in  alum,  is  considered  better  than  that  which 
has  none  at  all.  Then  the  alum  is  hewn  out  with  a  knife  or  a  chisel.  It  is 
thick  and  excellent  according  to  the  strength  of  the  rock,  either  white  or 
pink  according  to  the  colour  of  the  rock.  The  earthy  powder,  which  remains 
three  to  four  digits  thick  as  the  residue  of  the  alum  at  the  bottom  of  the 
trough  is  again  thrown  into  the  caldron  and  boiled  with  fresh  aluminous 
material.  Lastly,  the  alum  cut  out  is  washed,  and  dried,  and  sold. 

Alum  is  also  made   from  crude  pyrites   and  other  aluminous   mixtures. 
It  is  first  roasted  in  an  enclosed  area  ;    then,  after  being  exposed  for  'some 

eventuated  until  the  appearance  of  one  John  de  Castro.  From  the  Commentaries  of 
Pope  Pius  ii.  (1614,  p.  185),  it  appears  that  this  Italian  had  been  engaged  in 
dyeing  cloth  in  Constantinople,  and  thus  became  aware  of  the  methods  of  making 
alum.  Driven  out  of  that  city  through  its  capture  by  the  Turks,  he  returned  to  Italy  and 
obtained  an  office  under  the  Apostolic  Chamber.  While  in  this  occupation  he  discovered  a 
rock  at  Tolfa  which  appeared  to  him  identical  with  that  used  at  Constantinople  in  alum 
manufacture.  After  experimental  work,  he  sought  the  aid  of  the  Pope,  which  he  obtained 
after  much  vicissitude.  Experts  were  sent,  who  after  examination  "shed  tears  of  joy,  they 
kneeling  down  three  times,  worshipped  God  and  praised  His  kindness  in  conferring  such  a  gift 
on  their  age."  Castro  was  rewarded,  and  the  great  papal  monopoly  was  gradually  built  upon 
this  discovery.  The  industry  firmly  established  at  Tolfa  exists  to  the  present  day,  and  is  the 
source  of  the  Roman  alum  of  commerce.  The  Pope  maintained  this  monopoly  strenuously, 
by  fair  means  and  by  excommunication,  gradually  advancing  the  price  until  the  consumers  had 
greater  complaint  than  against  the  Turks.  The  history  of  the  disputes  arising  over  the 
papal  alum  monopoly  would  alone  fill  a  volume. 

By  the  middle  of  the  I5th  Century  alum  was  being  made  in  Spain,  Holland,  and 
Germany,  and  later  in  England.  In  her  efforts  to  encourage  home  industries  and  escape  the 
tribute  to  the  Pope,  Elizabeth  (see  Note  on  p.  283)  invited  over  "  certain  foreign  chymistes  and 
mineral  masters "  and  gave  them  special  grants  to  induce  them  to  "  settle  in  these 
realmes."  Among  them  was  Cornelius  Devoz,  to  whom  was  granted  the  privilege  of  "  mining 
and  digging  in  our  Realm  of  England  for  allom  and  copperas."  What  Devoz  accomplished 
is  not  recorded,  but  the  first  alum  manufacture  on  a  considerable  scale  seems  to  have  been  in 
Yorkshire,  by  one  Thomas  Chaloner  (about  1608),  who  was  supposed  to  have  seduced 
workmen  from  the  Pope's  alum  works  at  Tolfa,  for  which  he  was  duly  cursed  with  all  the 
weight  of  the  Pope  and  Church.  (Pennant,  Tour  of  Scotland,  1786). 


BOOK     XII. 


A — FURNACE.     B — ENCLOSED  SPACE.     C — ALUMINOUS  ROCK.     D — DEEP  LADLE. 
E — CALDRON.    F — LAUNDER.    G — TROUGHS. 


572  BOOK     XII. 

months  to  the  air  in  order  to  soften  it,  it  is  thrown  into  vats  and  dissolved. 
After  this  the  solution  is  poured  into  the  leaden  rectangular  pans  and  boiled 
until  it  condenses  into  alum.  The  pyrites  and  other  stones  which  are  not 
mixed  with  alum  alone,  but  which  also  contain  vitriol,  as  is  most  usually  the 
case,  are  both  treated  in  the  manner  which  I  have  already  described.  Finally, 
if  metal  is  contained  in  the  pyrites  and  other  rock,  this  material  must  be  dried, 
and  from  it  either  gold,  silver,  or  copper  is  made  in  a  furnace. 

Vitriol11  can  be  made  by  four  different  methods  ;  by  two  of  these  methods 

"The  term  for  vitriol  used  by  the  Roman  authors,  followed  by  Agricola,  is 
atramentum  sutorium,  literally  shoemaker's  blacking,  the  term  no  doubt  arising  from  its 
ancient  (and  modern)  use  for  blackening  leather.  The  Greek  term  was  chalcanthon.  The 
term  "  vitriol "  seems  first  to  appear  in  Albertus  Magnus  (De  Mineralibus,  Liber  v.),  who 
died  in  1280,  where  he  uses  the  expression  "  atramentum  viride  a  quibusdam  vitreolum  vocatur." 
Agricola  (De  Nat.  Foss.,  p.  213)  states,  "In  recent  years  the  name  vitriolum  has  been  given  to  it." 
The  first  adequate  description  of  vitriol  is  by  Dioscorides  (v.,  76),  as  follows  : — "  Vitriol 
"  (chalcanthon)  is  of  one  genus,  and  is  a  solidified  liquid,  but  it  has  three  different  species. 
"  One  is  formed  from  the  liquids  which  trickle  down  drop  by  drop  and  congeal  in  certain 
"  mines  ;  therefore  those  who  work  in  the  Cyprian  mines  call  it  stalactis.  Petesius  calls 
"  this  kind  pinarion.  The  second  kind  is  that  which  collects  in  certain  caverns  ;  afterward 
"  it  is  poured  into  trenches,  where  it  congeals,  whence  it  derives  its  name  pectos.  The 
"  third  kind  is  called  hephthon  and  is  mostly  made  in  Spain  ;  it  has  a  beautiful  colour  but  is 
"  weak.  The  manner  of  preparing  it  is  as  follows  :  dissolving  it  in  water,  they  boil  it,  and 
"  then  they  transfer  it  to  cisterns  and  leave  it  to  settle.  After  a  certain  number  of  days  it 
"  congeals  and  separates  into  many  small  pieces,  having  the  form  of  dice,  which  stick 
"  together  like  grapes.  The  most  valued  is  blue,  heavy,  dense,  and  translucent."  Pliny 
(xxxiv.,  32)  says  : — "  By  the  name  which  they  have  given  to  it,  the  Greeks  indicate 
"  the  similar  nature  of  copper  and  atramentum  sutorium,  for  they  call  it  chalcanthon.  There 
"  is  no  substance  of  an  equally  miraculous  nature.  It  is  made  in  Spain  from  wells  of  this  kind 
"  of  water.  This  water  is  boiled  with  an  equal  quantity  of  pure  water,  and  is  then  poured 
"into  wooden  tanks  (fish  ponds).  Across  these  tanks  there  are  fixed  beams,  to  which  hang 
"cords  stretched  by  little  stones.  Upon  these  cords  adheres  the  limus  (Agricola's 'juice') in 
"  drops  of  a  vitreous  appearance,  somewhat  resembling  a  bunch  of  grapes.  After  removal,  it 
"  is  dried  for  thirty  days.  It  is  of  a  blue  colour,  and  of  a  brilliant  lustre,  and  is  very  like 
"  glass.  Its  solution  is  the  blacking  used  for  colouring  leather.  Chalcanthon  is  made  in 
"  many  other  ways  :  its  kind  of  earth  is  sometimes  dug  from  ditches,  from  the  sides  of  which 
"  exude  drops,  which  solidify  by  the  winter  frosts  into  icicles,  called  stalagmia,  and  there  is 
"  none  more  pure.  When  its  colour  is  nearly  white,  with  a  slight  tinge  of  violet,  it  is  called 
"  leuko'ion.  It  is  also  made  in  rock  basins,  the  rain  water  collecting  the  limus  into  them, 
"  where  it  becomes  hardened.  It  is  also  made  in  the  same  way  as  salt  by  the  intense  heat  of 
"  the  sun.  Hence  it  is  that  some  distinguish  two  kinds,  the  mineral  and  the  artificial ;  the' 
"  latter  being  paler  than  the  former  and  as  much  inferior  to  it  in  quality  as  it  is  in  colour." 

While  Pliny  gives  prominence  to  blue  vitriol,  his  solution  for  colouring  leather  must 
have  been  the  iron  sulphate.  There  can  be  no  doubt  from  the  above,  however,  that  both 
iron  and  copper  sulphates  were  known  to  the  Ancients.  From  the  methods  for  making  vitriol 
given  here  in  De  Re  Metallica,  it  is  evident  that  only  the  iron  sulphate  would  be  produced, 
for  the  introduction  of  iron  strips  into  the  vats  would  effectually  precipitate  any  copper. 
It  is  our  belief  that  generally  throughout  this  work,  the  iron  sulphate  is  meant  by  the  term 
atramentum  sutorium.  In  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  213-15)  Agricola  gives  three  varieties  of 
atramentum  sutorium,— viride,  caeruleum,  and  candidum,  i.e.,  green,  blue,  and  white.  Thus 
the  first  mention  of  white  vitriol  (zinc  sulphate)  appears  to  be  due  to  him,  and  he 
states  further  (p.  213)  :  "  A  white  sort  is  found,  especially  at  Goslar,  in  the  shape 
"  of  icicles,  transparent  like  crystals."  And  on  p.  215  :  "  Since  I  have  explained 
"  the  nature  of  vitriol  and  its  relatives,  which  are  obtained  from  cupriferous  pyrites, 
"  I  will  next  speak  of  an  acrid  solidified  juice  which  commonly  comes  from  cadmia.  It  is  found 
"  at  Annaberg  in  the  tunnel  driven  to  the  Saint  Otto  mine  ;  it  is  hard  and  white,  and  so 
"  acrid  that  it  kills  mice,  crickets,  and  every  kind  of  animal.  However,  that  feathery  sub- 
"  tance  which  oozes  out  from  the  mountain  rocks  and  the  thick  substance  found  hanging 
"  in  tunnels  and  caves  from  which  saltpetre  is  made,  while  frequently  acrid,  does  not  come 
"  from  cadmia."  Dana  (Syst.  of  Min.,  p.  939)  identifies  this  as  Goslarite — native  zinc  sulphate. 
It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  artificial  zinc  vitriol  was  made  in  Agricola's  time. 
Schlviter  (Huette-Werken,  Braunschweig  1738,  p.  597)  states  it  to  have  been  made  for  the  first 
time  at  Rammelsberg  about  1570. 


BOOK    XII.  573 

from  water  containing  vitriol ;  by  one  method  from  a  solution  of  melanteria, 
sory  and  chalcitis ;  and  by  another  method  from  earth  or  stones  mixed  with 
vitriol. 

The  vitriol  water  is  collected  into  pools,  and  if  it  cannot  be  drained  into 
them,  it  must  be  drawn  up  and  carried  to  them  in  buckets  by  a  workman. 

It  is  desirable  here  to  enquire  into  the  nature  of  the  substances  given  by  all  of  the 
old  mineralogists  under  the  Latinized  Greek  terms  chalcitis,  misy,  sory,  and  melanteria.  The 
first  mention  of  these  minerals  is  in  Dioscorides,  who  (v.,  75-77)  says  :  "  The  best  chalcitis 
"  is  like  copper.  It  is  friable,  not  stony,  and  is  intersected  by  long  brilliant  veins.  .  .  . 
"  Misy  is  obtained  from  Cyprus  ;  it  should  have  the  appearance  of  gold,  be  hard,  and  when 
"  pulverised  it  should  have  the  colour  of  gold  and  sparkle  like  stars.  It  has  the  same 
"  properties  as  chalcitis.  .  .  .  The  best  is  from  Egypt.  .  .  .  One  kind  of  melanteria 
"  congeals  like  salt  in  the  entries  to  copper  mines.  The  other  kind  is  earthy  and  appears 
"  on  the  surface  of  the  aforesaid  mines.  It  is  found  in  the  mines  of  Cilicia  and  other  regions. 
'  The  best  has  the  colour  of  sulphur,  is  smooth,  pure,  homogenous,  and  upon  contact  with 

'  water  immediately  becomes  black Those  who  consider  sory  to  be  the  same 

'  as  melanteria,  err  greatly.  Sory  is  a  species  of  its  own,  though  it  is  not  dissimilar.  The 
'  smell  of  sory  is  oppressive  and  provokes  nausea.  It  is  found  in  Egypt  and  in  other  regions, 
'  as  Libya,  Spain,  and  Cyprus.  The  best  is  from  Egypt,  and  when  broken  is  black,  porous, 
'  greasy,  and  astringent."  Pliny  (xxxiv.,  29-31)  says  : — "  That  is  called  chalcitis  from 
'  which,  as  well  as  itself  copper  (?)  is  extracted  by  heat.  It  differs  from  cadmia  in  that  this 
'  is  obtained  from  rocks  near  the  surface,  while  that  is  taken  from  rocks  below  the  surface. 
'  Also  chalcitis  is  immediately  friable,  being  naturally  so  soft  as  to  appear  like  compressed 
'  wool.  There  is  also  this  other  distinction  ;  chalcitis  contains  three  other  substances, 
'  copper,  misy,  and  sory.  Of  each  of  these  we  shall  speak  in  their  appropriate  places. 
'  It  contains  elongated  copper  veins.  The  most  approved  kind  is  of  the  colour  of  honey ; 
'  it  is  streaked  with  fine  sinuous  veins  and  is  friable  and  not  stony.  It  is  considered  most 
'  valuable  when  fresh.  .  .  .  The  sory  of  Egypt  is  the  most  esteemed,  being  much  superior 
"  to  that  of  Cyprus,  Spain,  and  Africa  ;  although  some  prefer  the  sory  from  Cyprus  for  affec- 
'  tions  of  the  eyes.  But  from  whatever  nation  it  comes,  the  best  is  that  which  has  the 
'  strongest  odour,  and  which,  when  ground  up,  becomes  greasy,  black,  and  spongy.  It  is 
'  a  substance  so  unpleasant  to  the  stomach  that  some  persons  are  nauseated  by  its  smell. 
'  Some  say  that  misy  is  made  by  the  burning  of  stones  in  trenches,  its  fine  yellow 
'  powder  being  mixed  with  the  ashes  of  pine-wood.  The  truth  is,  as  I  said  above,  that 
'  though  obtained  from  the  stone,  it  is  already  made  and  in  solid  masses,  which  require  force 
'  to  detach  them.  The  best  comes  from  the  works  of  Cyprus,  its  characteristics  being  that 
'  when  broken  it  sparkles  like  gold,  and  when  ground  it  presents  a  sandy  appearance,  but  on 
'  the  contrary,  if  heated,  it  is  similar  to  chalcitis.  Misy  is  used  in  refining  gold.  .  .  ." 

Agricola's  views  on  the  subject  appear  in  De  Natura  Fossilium.  He  says  (p.  212) : — 
"  The  cupriferous  pyrites  (pyrites  aerosus)  called  chalcitis  is  the  mother  and  cause  of  sory 
"  — which  is  likewise  known  as  mine  vitriol  (atramentum  melallicum) — and  melanteria. 
"  These  in  turn  yield  vitriol  and  such  related  things.  This  may  be  seen  especially  at  Goslar, 
"  where  the  nodular  lumps  of  dark  grey  colour  are  called  vitriol  stone  (lapis  atramenli). 
"  In  the  centre  of  them  is  found  greyish  pyrites,  almost  dissolved,  the  size  of  a  walnut.  It 
"  is  enclosed  on  all  sides,  sometimes  by  sory,  sometimes  by  melanteria.  From  them  start 
"  little  veinlets  of  greenish  vitriol  which  spread  all  over  it,  presenting  somewhat  the  appear- 
"  ance  of  hairs  extending  in  all  directions  and  cohering  together.  .  .  .  There  are  five 
"  species  of  this  solidified  juice,  melanteria,  sory,  chalcitis,  misy,  and  vitriol.  Sometimes  many 
"  are  found  in  one  place,  sometimes  all  of  them,  for  one  originates  from  the  other.  From 
"  pyrites,  which  is,  as  one  might  say,  the  root  of  all  these  juices,  originates  the  above- 
"  mentioned  sory  and  melanteria.  From  sory,  chalcitis,  and  melanteria  originate  the  various 
"  kinds  of  vitriol.  .  .  .  Sory,  melanteria,  chalcitis,  and  misy  are  always  native  ;  vitriol 
"  alone  is  either  native  or  artificial.  From  them  vitriol  effloresces  white,  and  sometimes 
"  green  or  blue.  Misy  effloresces  not  only  from  sory,  melanteria,  and  chalcitis,  but  also  from 
"  all  the  vitriols,  artificial  as  well  as  natural.  .  .  .  Sory  and  melanteria  differ  somewhat 
"  from  the  others,  but  they  are  of  the  same  colours,  grey  and  black  ;  but  chalcitis  is  red  and 
"  copper-coloured ;  misy  is  yellow  or  gold-coloured.  All  these  native  varieties  have  the 
"  odour  of  lightning  (brimstone),  but  sory  is  the  most  powerful.  The  feathery  vitriol  is  soft 
"  and  fine  and  hair-like,  and  melanteria  has  the  appearance  of  wool  and  it  has  a  similarity  to 
"  salt ;  all  these  are  rare  and  light ;  sory,  chalcitis,  and  misy  have  the  following  relations. 
"  Sory  because  of  its  density  has  the  hardness  of  stone,  although  its  texture  is  very  coarse. 
"  Misy  has  a  very  fine  texture.  Chalcitis  is  between  the  two  ;  because  of  its  roughness  and 
"  strong  odour  it  differs  from  melanteri a,  although  they  do  not  differ  in  colour.  The  vitriols, 
"  whether  natural  or  artificial,  are  hard  and  dense  ...  as  regarding  shape,  sory,  chalcitis. 
"  misy,  and  melanteria  are  nodular,  but  sory  is  occasionally  porous,  which  is  peculiar  to  it. 

39 


574 


BOOK    XII. 


A — TUNNEL.    B — BUCKET.    C — PIT. 

In  hot  regions  or  in  summer,  it  is  poured  into  out-of-door  pits  which  have 
been  dug  to  a  certain  depth,  or  else  it  is  extracted  from  shafts  by  pumps 
and  poured  into  launders,  through  which  it  flows  into  the  pits,  where  it  is 
condensed  by  the  heat  of  the  sun.  In  cold  regions  and  in  winter  these  vitriol 
waters  are  boiled  down  with  equal  parts  of  fresh  water  in  rectangular  leaden 
caldrons  ;  then,  when  cold,  the  mixture  is  poured  into  vats  or  into  tanks, 
which  Pliny  calls  wooden  fish-tanks.  In  these  tanks  light  cross-beams  are 
fixed  to  the  upper  part,  so  that  they  may  be  stationary,  and  from  them  hang 
ropes  stretched  with  little  stones ;  to  these  the  contents  of  the  thickened 
solutions  congeal  and  adhere  in  transparent  cubes  or  seeds  of  vitriol,  like 
bunches  of  grapes. 

"  Misy  when  it  effloresces  in  no  great  quantity  from  the  others  is  like  a  kind  of  pollen,  other- 
"  wise  it  is  nodular.  Melanteria  sometimes  resembles  wool,  sometimes  salt." 

The  sum  and  substance,  therefore,  appears  to  be  that  misy  is  a  yellowish  material, 
possibly  ochre,  and  sory  a  blackish  stone,  both  impregnated  with  vitriol.  Chalcitis  is  a 
partially  decomposed  pyrites ;  and  melanteria  is  no  doubt  native  vitriol.  From  this  last 
term  comes  the  modern  melanterite,  native  hydrous  ferrous  sulphate.  Dana  (System  of 
Mineralogy,  p.  964)  considers  misy  to  be  in  part  copiapite — basic  ferric  sulphate — but 
any  such  part  would  not  come  under  Agricola's  objection  to  it  as  a  source  of  vitriol.  The 
disabilities  of  this  and  chalcitis  may,  however,  be  due  to  their  copper  content. 


BOOK    XII. 


575 


A — CALDRON.     B — TANK.    C — CROSS-BARS.    D — ROPES.     E — LITTLE  STONES. 

By  the  third  method  vitriol  is  made  out  of  melanteria  and  sory.  If 
the  mines  give  an  abundant  supply  of  melanteria  and  sory,  it  is  better  to 
reject  the  chalcitis,  and  especially  the  misy,  for  from  these  the  vitriol  is  impure, 
particularly  from  the  misy.  These  materials  having  been  ,diig  and  thrown 
into  the  tanks,  they  are  first  dissolved  with  water  ;  then,  in  order  to  recover 
the  pyrites  from  which  copper  is  not  rarely  smelted  and  which  forms  a  sedi- 
ment at  the  bottom  of  the  tanks,  the  solution  is  transferred  to  other  vats, 
which  are  nine  feet  wide  and  three  feet  deep.  Twigs  and  wood  which  float 
on  the  surface  are  lifted  out  with  a  broom  made  of  twigs,  and  afterward  all  the 
sediment  settles  at  the  bottom  of  this  vat.  The  solution  is  poured  into  a 
rectangular  leaden  caldron  eight  feet  long,  three  feet  wide,  and  the  same  in 
depth.  In  this  caldron  it  is  boiled  until  it  becomes  thick  and  viscous,  when 
it  is  poured  into  a  launder,  through  which  it  runs  into  another  leaden  caldron 
of  the  same  size  as  the  one  described  before.  When  cold,  the  solution  is 
drawn  off  through  twelve  little  launders,  out  of  which  it  flows  into  as  many 
wooden  tubs  four  and  a  half  feet  deep  and  three  feet  wide.  Upon  these  tubs 
are  placed  perforated  crossbars  distant  from  each  other  from  four  to  six 
digits,  and  from  the  holes  hang  thin  laths,  which  reach  to  the  bottom,  with 


576 


BOOK    XII. 


pegs  or  wedges  driven  into  them.  The  vitriol  adheres  to  these  laths,  and 
within  the  space  of  a  few  days  congeals  into  cubes,  which  are  taken  away 
and  put  into  a  chamber  having  a  sloping  board  floor,  so  that  the  moisture 
which  drips  from  the  vitriol  may  flow  into  a  tub  beneath.  This  solution  is 
re-boiled,  as  is  also  that  solution  which  was  left  in  the  twelve  tubs,  for,  by 
reason  of  its  having  become  too  thin  and  liquid,  it  did  not  congeal,  and  was 
thus  not  converted  into  vitriol. 


A — WOODEN  TUB.    B — CROSS-BARS.    C — LATHS.    D — SLOPING  FLOOR  OF  THE  CHAMBER. 

E — TUB   PLACED   UNDER  IT. 

The  fourth  method  of  making  vitriol  is  from  vitriolous  earth  or  stones. 
Such  ore  is  at  first  carried  and  heaped  up,  and  is  then  left  for  five  or  six  months 
exposed  to  the  rain  of  spring  and  autumn,  to  the  heat  of  summer,  and  to  the 
rime  and  frost  of  winter.  It  must  be  turned  over  several  times  with  shovels, 
so  that  the  part  at  the  bottom  may  be  brought  to  the  top,  and  it  is  thus 
ventilated  and  cooled  ;  by  this  means  the  earth  crumbles  up  and  loosens, 
and  the  stone  changes  from  hard  to  soft.  Then  the  ore  is  covered  with  a  roof, 
or  else  it  is  taken  away  and  placed  under  a  roof,  and  remains  in  that  place 
six,  seven,  or  eight  months.  Afterward  as  large  a  portion  as  is  required  is 
thrown  into  a  vat,  which  is  half-filled  with  water ;  this  vat  is  one  hundred 


BOOK     XII. 


577 


feet  long,  twenty-four  feet  wide,  eight  feet  deep.  It  has  an  opening  at  the 
bottom,  so  that  when  it  is  opened  the  dregs  of  the  ore  from  which  the  vitriol 
comes  may  be  drawn  off,  and  it  has,  at  the  height  of  one  foot  from  the  bottom, 
three  or  four  little  holes,  so  that,  when  closed,  the  water  may  be  retained, 
and  when  opened  the  solution  flows  out.  Thus  the  ore  is  mixed  with  water, 
stirred  with  poles  and  left  in  the  tank  until  the  earthy  portions  sink  to  the 
bottom  and  the  water  absorbs  the  juices.  Then  the  little  holes  are  opened, 
the  solution  flows  out  of  the  vat,  and  is  caught  in  a  vat  below  it  ;  this  vat  is 
of  the  same  length  as  the  other,  but  twelve  feet  wide  and  four  feet  deep.  If 
the  solution  is  not  sufficiently  vitriolous  it  is  mixed  with  fresh  ore  ;  but  if  it 
contains  enough  vitriol,  and  yet  has  not  exhausted  all  of  the  ore  rich  in  vitriol, 
it  is  well  to  dissolve  the  ore  again  with  fresh  water.  As  soon  as  the  solution 
becomes  clear,  it  is  poured  into  the  rectangular  leaden  caldron  through 
launders,  and  is  boiled  until  the  water  is  evaporated.  Afterward  as  many  thin 
strips  of  iron  as  the  nature  of  the  solution  requires,  are  thrown  in,  and  then 
it  is  boiled  again  until  it  is  thick  enough,  when  cold,  to  congeal  into  vitriol. 
Then  it  is  poured  into  tanks  or  vats,  or  any  other  receptacle,  in  which  all  of  it 
that  is  apt  to  congeal  does  so  within  two  or  three  days.  The  solution  which 
does  not  congeal  is  either  poured  back  into  the  caldron  to  be  boiled  again,  or 


A — CALDRON.     B — MOULDS.     C — CAKES. 


578  BOOK    XII. 

it  is  put  aside  for  dissolving  the  new  ore,  for  it  is  far  preferable  to  fresh  water. 
The  solidified  vitriol  is  hewn  out,  and  having  once  more  been  thrown  into  the 
caldron,  is  re-heated  until  it  liquefies  ;  when  liquid,  it  is  poured  into 
moulds  that  it  may  be  made  into  cakes.  If  the  solution  first  poured  out  is 
not  satisfactorily  thickened,  it  is  condensed  two  or  three  times,  and  each 
time  liquefied  in  the  caldron  and  re-poured  into  the  moulds,  in  which 
manner  pure  cakes,  beautiful  to  look  at,  are  made  from  it. 

The  vitriolous  pyrites,  which  are  to  be  numbered  among  the  mixtures 
(mistura),  are  roasted  as  in  the  case  of  alum,  and  dissolved  with  water,  and 
the  solution  is  boiled  in  leaden  caldrons  until  it  condenses  into  vitriol.  Both 
alum  and  vitriol  are  often  made  out  of  these,  and  it  is  no  wonder,  for  these 
juices  are  cognate,  and  only  differ  in  the  one  point, — that  the  former  is  less,  the 
latter  more,  earthy.  That  pyrites  which  contains  metal  must  be  smelted  in  the 
furnace.  In  the  same  manner,  from  other  mixtures  of  vitriolic  and  metallifer- 
ous material  are  made  vitriol  and  metal.  Indeed,  if  ores  of  vitriolous  pyrites 
abound,  the  miners  split  small  logs  down  the  centre  and  cut  them  off  in  lengths 
as  long  as  the  drifts  and  tunnels  are  wide,  in  which  they  lay  them  down  trans- 
versely ;  but,  that  they  may  be  stable,  they  are  laid  on  the  ground  with  the  wide 
side  down  and  the  round  side  up,  and  they  touch  each  other  at  the  bottom, 
but  not  at  the  top.  The  intermediate  space  is  filled  with  pyrites,  and  the  same 
crushed  are  scattered  over  the  wood,  so  that,  coming  in  or  going  out,  the 
road  is  flat  and  even.  Since  the  drifts  or  tunnels  drip  with  water,  these 
pyrites  are  soaked,  and  from  them  are  freed  the  vitriol  and  cognate  things.  If 
the  water  ceases  to  drip,  these  dry  and  harden,  and  then  they  are  raised 
from  the  shafts,  together  with  the  pyrites  not  yet  dissolved  in  the  water,  or 
they  are  carried  out  from  the  tunnels  ;  then  they  are  thrown  into  vats  or 
tanks,  and  boiling  water  having  been  poured  over  them,  the  vitriol  is  freed 
and  the  pyrites  are  dissolved.  This  green  solution  is  transferred  to  other  vats 
or  tanks,  that  it  may  be  made  clear  and  pure ;  it  is  then  boiled  in  the  lead 
caldrons  until  it  thickens  ;  afterward  it  is  poured  into  wooden  tubs,  where 
it  condenses  on  rods,  or  reeds,  or  twigs,  into  green  vitriol. 

Sulphur  is  made  from  sulphurous  waters,  from  sulphurous  ores,  and 
from  sulphurous  mixtures.  These  waters  are  poured  into  the  leaden  caldrons 
and  boiled  until  they  condense  into  sulphur.  From  this  latter,  heated 
together  with  iron-scales,  and  transferred  into  pots,  which  are  afterward 
covered  with  lute  and  refined  sulphur,  another  sulphur  is  made,  which  we 
call  caballinum.12 

The  ores13  which  consist  mostly  of  sulphur  and  of  earth,  and  rarely  of 
other  minerals,  are  melted  in  big-bellied  earthenware  pots.  The  furnaces, 

"Agricola  (De  Nat.  Fos.,  221)  says  : — "  There  is  a  species  of  artificial  sulphur  made 
"  from  sulphur  and  iron  hammer-scales,  melted  together  and  poured  into  moulds.  This, 
because  it  heals  scabs  of  horses,  is  generally  called  caballinum."  It  is  difficult 
to  believe  such  a  combination  was  other  than  iron  sulphide,  but  it  is  equally  difficult 
to  understand  how  it  was  serviceable  for  this  purpose. 

"Inasmuch  as  pyrites  is  discussed  in  the  next  paragraph,  the  material  of  the  first 
distillation  appears  to  be  native  sulphur.  Until  the  receiving  pots  became  heated  above  the 
melting  point  of  the  sulphur,  the  product  would  be  "  flowers  of  sulphur,"  and  not  the  wax- 


BOOK     XII. 


579 


A — POTS  HAVING  SPOUTS.    B — POTS  WITHOUT  SPOUTS.    C — LIDS. 

which  hold  two  of  these  pots,  are  divided  into  three  parts  ;  the  lowest  part  is  a 
foot  high,  and  has  an  opening  at  the  front  for  the  draught ;  the  top  of  this  is 
covered  with  iron  plates,  which  are  perforated  near  the  edges,  and  these 
support  iron  rods,  upon  which  the  firewood  is  placed.  The  middle  part  of  the 
furnace  is  one  and  a  half  feet  high,  and  has  a  mouth  in  front,  so  that  the  wood 
may  be  inserted  ;  the  top  of  this  has  rods,  upon  which  the  bottom  of  the  pots 
stand.  The  upper  part  is  about  two  feet  high,  and  the  pots  are  also  two  feet 
high  and  one  digit  thick  ;  these  have  below  their  mouths  a  long,  slender  spout. 
In  order  that  the  mouth  of  the  pot  may  be  covered,  an  earthenware  lid  is 
made  which  fits  into  it.  For  every  two  of  these  pots  there  must  be  one  pot 

like  product.  The  equipment  described  for  pyrites  in  the  next  paragraph  would  be  obviously 
useful  only  for  coarse  material. 

But  little  can  be  said  on  the  history  of  sulphur  ;  it  is  mentioned  often  enough  in  the  Bible 
and  also  by  Homer  (Od.  xxn.,  481).  The  Greeks  apparently  knew  how  to  refine  it,  although 
neither  Dioscorides  nor  Pliny  specifically  describes  such  an  operation.  Agricola  says  (De 
Nat.  Fos.,  220)  :  "  Sulphur  is  of  two  kinds  ;  the  mineral,  which  the  Latins  call  vivum,  and 
the  Greeks  apyron,  which  means  '  not  exposed  to  the  fire '  (ignem  non  expertum)  as 
rightly  interpreted  by  Celsius  ;  and  the  artificial,  called  by  the  Greeks  pepyromenon,  that 
is,  '  exposed  to  the  fire.'  '  In  Book  X.,  the  expression  sulfur  ignem  non  expertum  frequently 
appears,  no  doubt  in  Agricola's  mind  for  native  sulphur,  although  it  is  quite  possible  that 
the  Greek  distinction  was  between  "  flowers  "  of  sulphur  and  the  "  wax-like  "  variety. 


58o  BOOK    XII. 

of  the  same  size  and  shape,  and  without  a  spout,  but  having  three  holes,  two  of 
which  are  below  the  mouth  and  receive  the  spouts  of  the  two  first  pots  ;  the 
third  hole  is  on  the  opposite  side  at  the  bottom,  and  through  it  the  sulphur 
flows  out.  In  each  furnace  are  placed  two  pots  with  spouts,  and  the  furnace 
must  be  covered  by  plates  of  iron  smeared  over  with  lute  two  digits  thick  ;  it  is 
thus  entirely  closed  in,  but  for  two  or  three  ventholes  through  which  the  mouths 
of  the  pots  project.  Outside  of  the  furnace,  against  one  side,  is  placed  the  pot 
without  a  spout,  into  the  two  holes  of  which  the  two  spouts  of  the  other  pots 
penetrate,  and  this  pot  should  be  built  in  at  both  sides  to  keep  it  steady.  When 
the  sulphur  ore  has  been  placed  in  the  pots,  and  these  placed  in  the  furnace, 
they  are  closely  covered,  and  it  is  desirable  to  smear  the  joint  over  with  lute, 
so  that  the  sulphur  will  not  exhale,  and  for  the  same  reason  the  pot  below  is 
covered  with  a  lid,  which  is  also  smeared  with  lute.  The  wood  having  been 
kindled,  the  ores  are  heated  until  the  sulphur  is  exhaled,  and  the  vapour, 
arising  through  the  spout,  penetrates  into  the  lower  pot  and  thickens  into 
sulphur,  which  falls  to  the  bottom  like  melted  wax.  It  then  flows  out 
through  the  hole,  which,  as  I  said,  is  at  the  bottom  of  this  pot ;  and  the  work- 
man makes  it  into  cakes,  or  thin  sticks  or  thin  pieces  of  wood  are  dipped  in  it. 
Then  he  takes  the  burning  wood  and  glowing  charcoal  from  the  furnace,  and 
when  it  has  cooled,  he  opens  the  two  pots,  empties  the  residues,  which,  if  the 
ores  were  composed  of  sulphur  and  earth,  resemble  naturally  extinguished 
ashes ;  but  if  the  ores  consisted  of  sulphur  and  earth  and  stone,  or  sulphur 
and  stone  only,  they  resemble  earth  completely  dried  or  stones  well  roasted. 
Afterward  the  pots  are  re-filled  with  ore,  and  the  whole  work  is  repeated. 

The  sulphurous  mixture,  whether  it  consists  of  stone  and  sulphur  only, 
or  of  stone  and  sulphur  and  metal,  may  be  heated  in  similar  pots,  but  with 
perforated  bottoms.  Before  the  furnace  is  constructed,  against  the  "  second  " 
wall  of  the  works  two  lateral  partitions  are  built  seven  feet  high,  three  feet 
long,  one  and  a  half  feet  thick,  and  these  are  distant  from  each  other  twenty- 
seven  feet.  Between  them  are  seven  low  brick  walls,  that  measure  but 
two  feet  and  the  same  number  of  digits  in  height,  and,  like  the  other  walls, 
are  three  feet  long  and  one  foot  thick ;  these  little  walls  are  at  equal 
distances  from  one  another,  consequently  they  will  be  two  and  one  half  feet 
apart.  At  the  top,  iron  bars  are  fixed  into  them,  which  sustain  iron  plates 
three  feet  long  and  wide  and  one  digit  thick,  so  that  they  can  bear  not  only 
the  weight  of  the  pots,  but  also  the  fierceness  of  the  fire.  These  plates  have 
in  the  middle  a  round  hole  one  and  a  half  digits  wide  ;  there  must  not  be 
more  than  eight  of  these,  and  upon  them  as  many  pots  are  placed.  These 
pots  are  perforated  at  the  bottom,  and  the  same  number  of  whole  pots  are 
placed  underneath  them  ;  the  former  contain  the  mixture,  and  are  covered 
with  lids ;  the  latter  contain  water,  and  their  mouths  are  under  the  holes 
in  the  plates.  After  wood  has  been  arranged  round  the  upper  pots  and 
ignited,  the  mixture  being  heated,  red,  yellow,  or  green  sulphur  drips 
from  it  and  flows  down  through  the  hole,  and  is  caught  by  the  pots  placed 
underneath  the  plates,  and  is  at  once  cooled  by  the  water.  If  the  mixture 
contains  metal,  it  is  reserved  for  smelting,  and,  if  not,  it  is  thrown  away. 


BOOK     XII. 


A — LONG   WALL.    B — HIGH    WALLS.    C — Low  WALLS.    D — PLATES.    E — UPPER  POTS. 

F — LOWER  POTS. 

The  sulphur  from  such  a  mixture  can  best  be  extracted  if  the  upper  pots  are 
placed  in  a  vaulted  furnace,  like  those  which  I  described  among  other 
metallurgical  subjects  in  Book  VIII.,  which  has  no  floor,  but  a  grate  inside ; 
under  this  the  lower  pots  are  placed  in  the  same  manner,  but  the  plates 
must  have  larger  holes. 

Others  bury  a  pot  in  the  ground,  and  place  over  it  another  pot  with  a 
hole  at  the  bottom,  in  which  pyrites  or  cadmia,  or  other  sulphurous  stones 
are  so  enclosed  that  the  sulphur  cannot  exhale.  A  fierce  fire  heats  the 
sulphur,  and  it  drips  away  and  flows  down  into  the  lower  pot,  which  contains 
water.  (Illustration  p.  582). 

Bitumen14  is  made  from  bituminous  waters,  from  liquid  bitumen,  and 
from  mixtures  of  bituminous  substances.  The  water,  bituminous  as  well  as 


14The  substances  referred  to  under  the  names  bitumen,  asphalt,  maltha,  naphtha, 
petroleum,  rock-oil,  etc.,  have  been  known  and  used  from  most  ancient  times,  and  much  of  our 
modern  nomenclature  is  of  actual  Greek  and  Roman  ancestry.  These  peoples  distinguished 
three  related  substances, — the  Greek  asphaltos  and  Roman  bitumen  for  the  hard  material, — 
Greek  pissasphaltos  and  Roman  maltha  for  the  viscous,  pitchy  variety — and  occasionally  the 
Greek  naphtha  and  Roman  naphtha  for  petroleum  proper,  although  it  is  often  enough  referred 
to  as  liquid  bitumen  or  liquid  asphaltos.  The  term  petroleum  apparently  first  appears  in 
Agricola's  De  Natura  Fossilium  (p.  222),  where  he  says  the  "  oil  of  bitumen  .  .  .  now 


582 


BOOK    XII. 


A — LOWER  POT.    B — UPPER  POT.    C — LID. 

salty,  at  Babylon,  as  Pliny  writes,  was  taken  from  the  wells  to  the  salt  works 
and  heated  by  the  great  heat  of  the  sun,  and  condensed  partly  into  liquid 
bitumen  and  partly  into  salt.  The  bitumen  being  lighter,  floats  on  the  top, 
while  the  salt  being  heavier,  sinks  to  the  bottom.  Liquid  bitumen,  if  there 
is  much  floating  on  springs,  streams  and  rivers,  is  drawn  up  in  buckets  or 
other  vessels  ;  but,  if  there  is  little,  it  is  collected  with  goose  wings,  pieces 


called  petroleum."  Bitumen  was  used  by  the  Egyptians  for  embalming  from  prehistoric  times, 
i.e.,  prior  to  5000  B.C.,  the  term  "  mummy  "  arising  from  the  Persian  word  for  bitumen,  mumiai. 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  tribute  from  Babylonia  to  Thotmes  in.,  who  lived  about  1500  B.C. 
(Wilkinson,  Ancient  Egyptians  I.,  p.  397).  The  Egyptians,  however,  did  not  need  to  go 
further  afield  than  the  Sinai  Peninsula  for  abundant  supplies.  Bitumen  is  often  cited  as  the 
real  meaning  of  the  "  slime  "  mentioned  in  Genesis  (XL,  3  ;  xiv.,  10),  and  used  in  building 
the  Tower  of  Babel.  There  is  no  particular  reason  for  this  assumption,  except  the  general 
association  of  Babel,  Babylon,  and  Bitumen.  However,  the  Hebrew  word  sift  for  pitch  or 
bitumen  does  occur  as  the  cement  used  for  Moses's  bulrush  cradle  (Exodus  n.,  3),  and  Moses 
is  generally  accounted  about  1300  B.C.  Other  attempts  to  connect  Biblical  reference  to 
petroleum  and  bitumen  revolve  around  Job  xxix.,  6,  Deut.  xxxn.,  13,  Maccabees  n., 
i,  18,  Matthew  v.,  13,  but  all  require  an  unnecessary  strain  on  the  imagination. 

The  plentiful  occurrence  of  bitumen  throughout  Asia  Minor,  and  particularly  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Euphrates  and  in  Persia,  is  the  subject  of  innumerable  references  by  writers 
from  Herodotus  (484-424  B.C.)  down  to  the  author  of  the  company  prospectus  of  recent 
months.  Herodotus  (i.,  179)  and  Diodorus  Siculus  (i)  state  that  the  walls  of  Babylon  were 
mortared  with  bitumen— a  fact  partially  corroborated  by  modern  investigation.  The  follow- 


BOOK    XII. 


583 


A — BITUMINOUS  SPRING.    B — BUCKET.    C — POT.    D — LID. 

of  linen,  ralla,  shreds  of  reeds,  and  other  things  to  which  it  easily  adheres, 
and  it  is  boiled  in  large  brass  or  iron  pots  by  fire  and  condensed.  As  this 
bitumen  is  put  to  divers  uses,  some  mix  pitch  with  the  liquid,  others  old 
cart-grease,  in  order  to  temper  its  viscosity ;  these,  however  long  they  are 


ing  statement  by  Herodotus  (vi.,  119)  is  probably  the  source  from  which  Pliny  drew  the 
information  which  Agricola  quotes  above.  In  referring  to  a  well  at  Ardericca,  a  place 
about  40  miles  from  ancient  Susa,  in  Persia,  Herodotus  says  : — "  For  from  the  well  they 
"  get  bitumen,  salt,  and  oil,  procuring  it  in  the  way  that  I  will  now  describe  :  they  draw 
"  with  a  swipe,  and  instead  of  a  bucket  they  make  use  of  the  half  of  a  wine-skin  ;  with 
"  this  the  man  dips  and,  after  drawing,  pours  the  liquid  into  a  reservoir,  wherefrom  it 
"  passes  into  another,  and  there  takes  three  different  shapes.  The  salt  and  bitumen  forth- 
"  with  collect  and  harden,  while  the  oil  is  drawn  off  into  casks.  It  is  called  by  the  Persians 
"  rhadinace,  is  black,  and  has  an  unpleasant  smell."  (Rawlinsons,  Trans,  in.,  p.  409).  The 
statement  from  Pliny  (xxxi.,  39)  here  referred  to  by  Agricola,  reads  : — "  It  (salt)  is 
"  made  from  water  of  wells  poured  into  salt-pans.  At  Babylon  the  first  condensed  is  a 
"  bituminous  liquid  like  oil  which  is  burned  in  lamps.  When  this  is  taken  off,  salt  is  found 
"  beneath.  In  Cappadocia  also  the  water  from  both  wells  and  springs  is  poured  into  salt- 
"  pans."  When  petroleum  began  to  be  used  as  an  illuminant  it  is  impossible  to  say.  A 
passage  in  Aristotle's  De  Mirabilibus  (127)  is  often  quoted,  but  in  reality  it  refers  only  to 
a  burning  spring,  a  phenomenon  noted  by  many  writers,  but  from  which  to  its  practical  use 
is  not  a  great  step.  The  first  really  definite  statement  as  to  the  use  of  petroleum  as  an 


584  BOOK    XII. 

boiled  in  the  pots,  cannot  be  made  hard.  The  mixtures  containing  bitumen 
are  also  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  those  containing  sulphur,  in  pots 
having  a  hole  in  the  bottom,  and  it  is  rare  that  such  bitumen  is  not  highly 
esteemed. 

Since  all  solidified  juices  and  earths,  if  abundantly  and  copiously  mixed 
with  the  water,  are  deposited  in  the  beds  of  springs,  streams  or  rivers,  and  the 
stones  therein  are  coated  by  them,  they  do  not  require  the  heat  of  the  sun  or 
fire  to  harden  them.  This  having  been  pondered  over  by  wise  men,  they  dis- 
covered methods  by  which  the  remainder  of  these  solidified  juices  and  unusual 
earths  can  be  collected.  Such  waters,  whether  flowing  from  springs  or 
tunnels,  are  collected  in  many  wooden  tubs  or  tanks  arranged  in  consecutive 
order,  and  deposit  in  them  such  juices  or  earths  ;  these  being  scraped  off 
every  year,  are  collected,  as  chrysocolla15  in  the  Carpathians  and  as  ochre  in 
the  Harz. 

There  remains  glass,  the  preparation  of  which  belongs  here,  for  the 
reason  that  it  is  obtained  by  the  power  of  fire  and  subtle  art  from  certain 
solidified  juices  and  from  coarse  or  fine  sand.  It  is  transparent,  as  are  certain 
solidified  juices,  gems,  and  stones  ;  and  can  be  melted  like  fusible  stones  and 
metals.  First  I  must  speak  of  the  materials  from  which  glass  is  made  ; 
then  of  the  furnaces  in  which  it  is  melted  ;  then  of  the  methods  by  which  it 
is  produced. 

It  is  made  from  fusible  stones  and  from  solidified  juices,  or  from  other 
juicy  substances  which  are  connected  by  a  natural  relationship.  Stones 
which  are  fusible,  if  they  are  white  and  translucent,  are  more  excellent  than 

illuminant  is  Strabo's  quotation  (xvi.,  i,  15)  from  Posidonius  :    "  Asphaltus  is  found    in 

"  great  abundance  in  Babylonia.     Eratosthenes  describes  it  as  follows  : — The  liquid  asphaltus, 

'  which  is  called  naphtha,  is  found  in  Susa ;    the  dry  kind,  which  can  be  made  solid,  in 

'  Babylonia.     There  is  a  spring  of  it  near  the  Euphrates.     .     .     .     Others  say  that  the'liquid 

'  kind  is  also  found  in  Babylonia.     .     .     .     The  liquid  kind,  called  naphtha,  is  of  a  singular 

'  nature.     When  it  is  brought  near  the  fire,  the  fire  catches  it.     ...     Posidonius  says 

'  that  there  are  springs  of  naphtha  in  Babylonia,  some  of  which  produce  white,  others  black 

'  naphtha ;  the  first  of  these,  I  mean  white  naphtha,  which  attracts  flame,  is  liquid  sulphur  ; 

'  the  second  or  black  naphtha  is  liquid  asphaltus,  and   is   burnt   in  lamps  instead  of  oil." 

(Hamilton's  Translation,  Vol.  in.,  p.  151).      Eratosthenes  lived  about  200  B.C.,  and  Posidonius 

about  100  years  later.     Dioscorides  (i.,  83),  after  discussing  the  usual  sources  of  bitumen 

says  :  "  It  is  found  in  a  liquid  state  in  Agrigentum  in  Sicily,  flowing  on  streams  ;  they  use  it 

"  for  lights  in  lanterns  in  place  of  oil.     Those  who  call  the  Sicilian  kind  oil  are  under  a  delusion, 

"  for  it  is  agreed  that  it  is  a  kind  of  liquid  bitumen."     Pliny  adds  nothing  much  new  to  the 

above  quotations,  except  in  regard  to  these  same  springs  (xxxv.,  51)  that  "  The  inhabitants 

"  collect  it  on  the  panicles  of  reeds,  to  which  it  quickly  adheres  and  they  use  it  for  burning 

"  in  lamps  instead  of  oil."     Agricola  (De  Natura  Fossilium,  Book  iv.)    classifies  petroleum, 

coal,  jet,  and  obsidian,  camphor,  and  amber  as  varieties  of  bitumen,  and  devotes  much  space 

to  the  refutation  of  the  claims  that  the  last  two  are  of  vegetable  origin. 

15Agricola  (De  Natura  Fossilium,  p.  215)  in  discussing  substances  which  originate  from 
copper,  gives  among  them  green  chrysocolla  (as  distinguished  from  borax,  etc.,  see  Note  8 
above),  and  says  :  "  Native  chrysocolla  originates  in  veins  and  veinlets,  and  is  found  mostly 
"  by  itself  like  sand,  or  adhering  to  metallic  substances,  and  when  scraped  off  from  this 
"  appears  similar  to  its  own  sand.  Occasionally  it  is  so  thin  that  very  little  can  be  scraped 
"  off.  Or  else  it  occurs  in  waters  which,  as  I  have  said,  wash  these  minerals,  and  afterward 
"  it  settles  as  a  powder.  At  Neusohl  in  the  Carpathians,  green  water  flowing  from  an 
"  ancient  tunnel  wears  away  this  chrysocolla  with  it.  The  water  is  collected  in  thirty  large 
"reservoirs,  where  it  deposits  the  chrysocolla  as  a  sediment,  which  they  collect  every 
"  year  and  sell," — as  a  pigment.  This  description  of  its  occurrence  would  apply  equally 
well  to  modern  chrysocolla  or  to  malachite.  The  solution  from  copper  ores  would  deposit 
some  sort  of  green  incrustation,  of  carbonates  mostly. 


BOOK    XII. 


585 


A — MOUTH  OF  THE  TUNNEL.    B — TROUGH.    C — TANKS.    D — LITTLE  TROUGH. 

the  others,  for  which  reason  crystals  take  the  first  place.  From  these,  when 
pounded,  the  most  excellent  transparent  glass  was  made  in  India,  with  which 
no  other  could  be  compared,  as  Pliny  relates.  The  second  place  is  accorded 
to  stones  which,  although  not  so  hard  as  crystal,  are  yet  just  as  white  and 
transparent.  The  third  is  given  to  white  stones,  which  are  not  transparent. 
It  is  necessary,  however,  first  of  all  to  heat  all  these,  and  afterward  they  are 
subjected  to  the  pestle  in  order  to  break  and  crush  them  into  coarse  sand, 
and  then  they  are  passed  through  a  sieve.  If  this  kind  of  coarse  or  fine  sand 
is  found  by  the  glass-makers  near  the  mouth  of  a  river,  it  saves  them  much 
labour  in  burning  and  crushing.  As  regards  the  solidified  juices,  the  first 
place  is  given  to  soda  ;  the  second  to  white  and  translucent  rock-salt ;  the  third 
to  salts  which  are  made  from  lye,  from  the  ashes  of  the  musk  ivy,  or  from 
other  salty  herbs.  Yet  there  are  some  who  give  to  this  latter,  and  not  to  the 
former,  the  second  place.  One  part  of  coarse  or  fine  sand  made  from  fusible 
stones  should  be  mixed  with  two  parts  of  soda  or  of  rock-salt  or  of  herb 
salts,  to  which  are  added  minute  particles  of  magnes.10  It  is  true  that  in  our 

16The  statement  in  Pliny  (xxxvi.,  66)  to  which  Agricola  refers  is  as  follows  :   "  Then 
"  as  ingenuity  was  not  content  with  the  mixing  of  nitrum,  they  began  the  addition  of  lapis 


586  BOOK    XII. 

day,  as  much  as  in  ancient  times,  there  exists  the  belief  in  the  singular 
power  of  the  latter  to  attract  to  itself  the  vitreous  liquid  just  as  it  does  iron, 
and  by  attracting  it  to  purify  and  transform  green  or  yellow  into  white  ;  and 
afterward  fire  consumes  the  magnes.  When  the  said  juices  are  not  to  be  had, 
two  parts  of  the  ashes  of  oak  or  holmoak,  or  of  hard  oak  or  Turkey  oak, 
or  if  these  be  not  available,  of  beech  or  pine,  are  mixed  with  one  part 
of  coarse  or  fine  sand,  and  a  small  quantity  of  salt  is  added,  made  from  salt 
water  or  sea-water,  and  a  small  particle  of  magnes  ;  but  these  make  a  less 
white  and  translucent  glass.  The  ashes  should  be  made  from  old  trees,  of 
which  the  trunk  at  a  height  of  six  feet  is  hollowed  out  and  fire  is  put  in,  and 
thus  the  whole  tree  is  consumed  and  converted  into  ashes.  This  is  done  in 
winter  when  the  snow  lies  long,  or  in  summer  when  it  does  not  rain,  for  the 
showers  at  other  times  of  the  year,  by  mixing  the  ashes  with  earth,  render 
them  impure  ;  for  this  reason,  at  such  times,  these  same  trees  are  cut  up 
into  many  pieces  and  burned  under  cover,  and  are  thus  converted  into  ashes. 
Some  glass-makers  use  three  furnaces,  others  two,  others  only  one. 
Those  who  use  three,  melt  the  material  in  the  first,  re-melt  it  in  the  second, 

magnes,  because  of  the  belief  that  it  attracts  liquefied  glass  as  well  as  iron.  In  a  similar 
manner  many  kinds  of  brilliant  stones  began  to  be  added  to  the  melting,  and  then  shells 
and  fossil  sand.  Authors  tell  us  that  the  glass  of  India  is  made  of  broken  crystal,  and 
in  consequence  nothing  can  compare  with  it.  Light  and  dry  wood  is  used  for  fusing, 
cyprium  (copper  ?)  and  nitrum  being  added,  particularly  nitrum  from  Ophir  etc." 

A  great  deal  of  discussion  has  arisen  over  this  passage,  in  connection  with  what  this 
lapis  magnes  really  was.  Pliny  (xxxvi.,  25)  describes  the  lodestone  under  this  term,  but 
also  says  :  "  There  (in  Ethiopia)  also  is  haematites  magnes,  a  stone  of  blood  colour,  which 
"  shows  a  red  colour  if  crushed,  or  of  saffron.  The  haematites  has  not  the  same  property  of 
"  attracting  iron  as  magnes."  Relying  upon  this  sentence  for  an  exception  to  the  ordinary 
sort  of  magnes,  and  upon  the  impossible  chemical  reaction  involved,  most  commentators 
have  endeavoured  to  show  that  lodestone  was  not  the  substance  meant  by  Pliny,  but 
manganese,  and  thus  they  find  here  the  first  knowledge  of  this  mineral.  There  can  be 
little  doubt  that  Pliny  assumed  it  to  be  the  lodestone,  and  Agricola  also.  Whether  the 
latter  had  any  independent  knowledge  on  this  point  in  glass-making  or  was  merely  quoting 
Pliny — which  seems  probable — we  do  not  know.  In  any  event,  Biringuccio,  whose  work 
preceded  De  Re  Metallica  by  fifteen  years,  does  definitely  mention  manganese  in  this 
connection.  He  dismisses  this  statement  of  Pliny  with  the  remark  (p.  37-38) :  "  The 
"  Ancients  wrote  about  lodestones,  as  Pliny  states,  and  they  mixed  it  together  with  nitrum 
"  in  their  first  efforts  to  make  glass."  The  following  passage  from  this  author  (p.  36-37), 
however,  is  not  only  of  interest  in  this  connection,  but  also  as  possibly  being  the  first  specific 
mention  of  manganese  under  its  own  name.  Moreover,  it  has  been  generally  overlooked 
in  the  many  discussions  of  the  subject.  "  Of  a  similar  nature  (to  zaffir)  is  also  another 
"  mineral  called  manganese,  which  is  found,  besides  in  Germany,  at  the  mountain  of 
"  Viterbo  in  Tuscany  .  .  .  it  is  the  colour  of  ferrigno  scuro  (iron  slag  ?).  In  melting  it 
"  one  cannot  obtain  any  metal  .  .  .  but  it  gives  a  very  fine  colour  to  glass,  so  that  the 
"  glass  workers  use  it  in  their  pigments  to  secure  an  azure  colour.  ...  It  also  has  such 
"  a  property  that  when  put  into  melted  glass  it  cleanses  it  and  makes  it  white,  even  if  it  were 
"  green  or  yellow.  In  a  hot  fire  it  goes  off  in  a  vapour  like  lead,  and  turns  into  ashes." 

To  enter  competently  into  the  discussion  of  the  early  history  of  glass-making  would 
employ  more  space  than  can  be  given,  and  would  lead  but  to  a  sterile  end.  It  is  certain 
that  the  art  was  pre-Grecian,  and  that  the  Egyptians  were  possessed  of  some  knowledge  of 
making  and  blowing  it  in  the  XI  Dynasty  (according  to  Petrie  3,500  B.C.),  the  wall 
painting  at  Beni  Hassen,  which  represents  glass-blowing,  being  attributed  to  that  period. 
The  remains  of  a  glass  factory  at  Tel  el  Amarna  are  believed  to  be  of  the  XVIII 
Dynasty.  (Petrie,  1,500  B.C.).  The  art  reached  a  very  high  state  of  development  among 
the  Greeks  and  Romans.  No  discussion  of  this  subject  omits  Pliny's  well-known  story 
(xxxvi.  65),  which  we  also  add  :  "  The  tradition  is  that  a  merchant  ship  laden  with 
"  nitrum  being  moored  at  this  place,  the  merchants  were  preparing  their  meal  on  the  beach, 
"  and  not  having  stones  to  prop  up  their  pots,  they  used  lumps  of  nitrum  from  the  ship, 
"  which  fused  and  mixed  with  the  sands  of  the  shore,  and  there  flowed  streams  of  a  new 
"  translucent  liquid,  and  thus  was  the  origin  of  glass." 


BOOK     XII. 


587 


A— LOWER  CHAMBER  OF  THE  FIRST  FURNACE.     B— UPPER  CHAMBER.    C — VITREOUS  MASS. 

and  in  the  third  they  cool  the  glowing  glass  vessels  and  other  articles.  Of 
these  the  first  furnace  must  be  vaulted  and  similar  to  an  oven.  In  the  upper 
chamber,  which  is  six  feet  long,  four  feet  wide,  and  two  feet  high,  the 
mixed  materials  are  heated  by  a  fierce  fire  of  dry  wood  until  they  melt 
and  are  converted  into  a  vitreous  mass.  And  if  they  are  not  satisfactorily 
purified  from  dross,  they  are  taken  out  and  cooled  and  broken  into  pieces ; 
and  the  vitreous  pieces  are  heated  in  pots  in  the  same  furnace. 

The  second  furnace  is  round,  ten  feet  in  diameter  and  eight  feet  high, 
and  on  the  outside,  so  that  it  may  be  stronger,  it  is  encompassed  by  five 
arches,  one  and  one  half  feet  thick  ;  it  consists  in  like  manner  of  two 
chambers,  of  which  the  lower  one  is  vaulted  and  is  one  and  one  half  feet  thick. 
In  front  this  chamber  has  a  narrow  mouth,  through  which  the  wood 
can  be  put  into  the  hearth,  which  is  on  the  ground.  At  the  top  and  in  the 
middle  of  its  vault,  there  is  a  large  round  hole  which  opens  to  the  upper 
chamber,  so  that  the  flames  can  penetrate  into  it.  Between  the  arches  in 
the  walls  of  the  upper  chamber  are  eight  windows,  so  large  that  the  big- 
bellied  pots  may  be  placed  through  them  on  to  the  floor  of  the  chamber, 
around  the  large  hole.  The  thickness  of  these  pots  is  about  two  digits,  their 
height  the  same  number  of  feet,  and  the  diameter  of  the  belly  one  and  a  half 


588 


BOOK    XII. 


feet,  and  of  the  mouth  and  bottom  one  foot.  In  the  back  part  of  the  furnace 
is  a  rectangular  hole,  measuring  in  height  and  width  a  palm,  through  which 
the  heat  penetrates  into  a  third  furnace  which  adjoins  it. 

This  third  furnace  is  rectangular,  eight  feet  long  and  six  feet  wide  ;  it 
also  consists  of  two  chambers,  of  which  the  lower  has  a  mouth  in  front,  so  that 
firewood  may  be  placed  on  the  hearth  which  is  on  the  ground.  On  each  side  of 
this  opening  in  the  wall  of  the  lower  chamber  is  a  recess  for  oblong  earthen- 
ware receptacles,  which  are  about  four  feet  long,  two  feet  high,  and  one  and 
a  half  feet  wide.  The  upper  chamber  has  two  holes,  one  on  the  right  side, 
the  other  on  the  left,  of  such  height  and  width  that  earthenware  receptacles 
may  be  conveniently  placed  in  them.  These  latter  receptacles  are  three 
feet  long,  one  and  a  half  feet  high,  the  lower  part  one  foot  wide,  and  the 
upper  part  rounded.  In  these  receptacles  the  glass  articles,  which  have  been 
blown,  are  placed  so  that  they  may  cool  in  a  milder  temperature  ;  if  they  were 
not  cooled  slowly  they  would  burst  asunder.  When  the  vessels  are  taken 
from  the  upper  chamber,  they  are  immediately  placed  in  the  receptacles 
to  cool. 


A — ARCHES    OF    THE     SECOND     FURNACE.        B — MOUTH    OF    THE   LOWER    CHAMBER. 
C — WINDOWS   OF   THE   UPPER  CHAMBER.      D — BIG-BELLIED  POTS.      E — MOUTH  OF  THE 

THIRD   FURNACE.        F — RECESSES  FOR   THE   RECEPTACLES.        G — OPENINGS   IN    THE    UPPER 

CHAMBER.     H — OBLONG  RECEPTACLES. 


BOOK    XII. 


589 


A — LOWER  CHAMBER  OF  THE  OTHER  SECOND  FURNACE.    B — MIDDLE  ONE.    C — UPPER  ONE. 
D — ITS  OPENING.    E — ROUND  OPENING.    F — RECTANGULAR  OPENING. 

40 


5QO  BOOK    XII. 

Some  who  use  two  furnaces  partly  melt  the  mixture  in  the  first,  and 
not  only  re-melt  it  in  the  second,  but  also  replace  the  glass  articles  there. 
Others  partly  melt  and  re-melt  the  material  in  different  chambers  of  the 
second  furnace.  Thus  the  former  lack  the  third  furnace,  and  the  latter, 
the  first.  But  this  kind  of  second  furnace  differs  from  the  other  second 
furnace,  for  it  is,  indeed,  round,  but  the  interior  is  eight  feet  in  diameter 
and  twelve  feet  high,  and  it  consists  of  three  chambers,  of  which  the  lowest  is 
not  unlike  the  lowest  of  the  other  second  furnace.  In  the  middle  chamber 
wall  there  are  six  arched  openings,  in  which  are  placed  the  pots  to  be  heated, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  small  windows  are  blocked  up  with  lute.  In  the 
middle  top  of  the  middle  chamber  is  a  square  opening  a  palm  in  length 
and  width.  Through  this  the  heat  penetrates  into  the  upper  chamber, 
of  which  the  rear  part  has  an  opening  to  receive  the  oblong  earthenware 
receptacles,  in  which  are  placed  the  glass  articles  to  be  slowly  cooled.  On 
this  side,  the  ground  of  the  workshop  is  higher,  or  else  a  bench  is  placed  there, 
so  that  the  glass-makers  may  stand  upon  it  to  stow  away  their  products 
more  conveniently. 

Those  who  lack  the  first  furnace  in  the  evening,  when  they  have  accom- 
plished their  day's  work,  place  the  material  in  the  pots,  so  that  the  heat  during 
the  night  may  melt  it  and  turn  it  into  glass.  Two  boys  alternately,  during 
night  and  day,  keep  up  the  fire  by  throwing  dry  wood  on  to  the  hearth.  Those 
who  have  but  one  furnace  use  the  second  sort,  made  with  three  chambers. 
Then  in  the  evening  they  pour  the  material  into  the  pots,  and  in  the  morning, 
having  extracted  the  fused  material,  they  make  the  glass  objects,  which  they 
place  in  the  upper  chamber,  as  do  the  others. 

The  second  furnace  consists  either  of  two  or  three  chambers,  the  first  of 
which  is  made  of  unburnt  bricks  dried  in  the  sun.  These  bricks  are  made  of  a 
kind  of  clay  that  cannot  be  easily  melted  by  fire  nor  resolved  into  powder  ; 
this  clay  is  cleaned  of  small  stones  and  beaten  with  rods.  The  bricks  are 
laid  with  the  same  kind  of  clay  instead  of  lime.  From  the  same  clay  the 
potters  also  make  their  vessels  and  pots,  which  they  dry  in  the  shade.  These 
two  parts  having  been  completed,  there  remains  the  third. 

The  vitreous  mass  having  been  made  in  the  first  furnace  in  the  manner 
I  described,  is  broken  up,  and  the  assistant  heats  the  second  furnace,  in  order 
that  the  fragments  may  be  re-melted.  In  the  meantime,  while  they  are  doing 
this,  the  pots  are  first  warmed  by  a  slow  fire  in  the  first  furnace,  so  that  the 
vapours  may  evaporate,  and  then  by  a  fiercer  fire,  so  that  they  become  red 
in  drying.  Afterward  the  glass-makers  open  the  mouth  of  the  furnace,  and, 
seizing  the  pots  with  tongs,  if  they  have  not  cracked  and  fallen  to  pieces, 
quickly  place  them  in  the  second  furnace,  and  they  fill  them  up  with  the 
fragments  of  the  heated  vitreous  mass  or  with  glass.  Afterward  they  close 
up  all  the  windows  with  lute  and  bricks,  with  the  exception  that  in  each 
there  are  two  little  windows  left  free  ;  through  one  of  these  they  inspect  the 
glass  contained  in  the  pot,  and  take  it  up  by  means  of  a  blow-pipe  ;  in  the 
other  they  rest  another  blow-pipe,  so  that  it  may  get  warm.  Whether  it 
is  made  of  brass,  bronze,  or  iron,  the  blow-pipe  must  be  three  feet  long. 


BOOK    XII. 


591 


A— BLOW-PIPE.     B— LITTLE  WINDOW.     C — MARBLE.     D — FORCEPS.    E— MOULDS  BY 

MEANS   OF   WHICH   THE   SHAPES   ARE   PRODUCED. 


592  BOOK    XII. 

In  front  of  the  window  is  inserted  a  lip  of  marble,  on  which  rests  the 
heaped-up  clay  and  the  iron  shield.  The  clay  holds  the  blow-pipe  when  it 
is  put  into  the  furnace,  whereas  the  shield  preserves  the  eyes  of  the  glass-maker 
from  the  fire.  All  this  having  been  carried  out  in  order,  the  glass-makers 
bring  the  work  to  completion.  The  broken  pieces  they  re-melt  with  dry  wood, 
which  emits  no  smoke,  but  only  a  flame.  The  longer  they  re-melt  it,  the  purer 
and  more  transparent  it  becomes,  the  fewer  spots  and  blisters  there  are,  and 
therefore  the  glass-makers  can  carry  out  their  work  more  easily.  For  this 
reason  those  who  only  melt  the  material  from  which  glass  is  made  for  one 
night,  and  then  immediately  make  it  up  into  glass  articles,  make  them  less 
pure  and  transparent  than  those  who  first  produce  a  vitreous  mass  and  then 
re-melt  the  broken  pieces  again  for  a  day  and  a  night.  And,  again,  these  make 
a  less  pure  and  transparent  glass  than  do  those  who  melt  it  again  for  two  days 
and  two  nights,  for  the  excellence  of  the  glass  does  not  consist  solely  in  the 
material  from  which  it  is  made,  but  also  in  the  melting.  The  glass-makers 
often  test  the  glass  by  drawing  it  up  with  the  blowpipes  ;  as  soon  as  they 
observe  that  the  fragments  have  been  re-melted  and  purified  satisfactorily, 
each  of  them  with  another  blow-pipe  which  is  in  the  pot,  slowly  stirs  and  takes 
up  the  glass  which  sticks  to  it  in  the  shape  of  a  ball  like  a  glutinous,  coagulated 
gum.  He  takes  up  just  as  much  as  he  needs  to  complete  the  article  he  wishes 
to  make  ;  then  he  presses  it  against  the  lip  of  marble  and  kneads  it  round  and 
round  until  it  consolidates.  When  he  blows  through  the  pipe  he  blows  as 
he  would  if  inflating  a  bubble  ;  he  blows  into  the  blow-pipe  as  often  as  it  is 
necessary,  removing  it  from  his  mouth  to  re-fill  his  cheeks,  so  that  his  breath 
does  not  draw  the  flames  into  his  mouth.  Then,  twisting  the  lifted  blow-pipe 
round  his  head  in  a  circle,  he  makes  a  long  glass,  or  moulds  the  same  in  a 
hollow  copper  mould,  turning  it  round  and  round,  then  warming  it  again, 
blowing  it  and  pressing  it,  he  widens  it  into  the  shape  of  a  cup  or  vessel',  or  of 
any  other  object  he  has  in  mind.  Then  he  again  presses  this  against  the 
marble  to  flatten  the  bottom,  which  he  moulds  in  the  interior  with  his  other 
blow-pipe.  Afterward  he  cuts  out  the  lip  with  shears,  and,  if  necessary,  adds 
feet  and  handles.  If  it  so  please  him,  he  gilds  it  and  paints  it  with  various 
colours.  Finally,  he  lays  it  in  the  oblong  earthenware  receptacle,  which  is 
placed  in  the  third  furnace,  or  in  the  upper  chamber  of  the  second  furnace, 
that  it  may  cool.  When  this  receptacle  is  full  of  other  slowly-cooled  articles, 
he  passes  a  wide  iron  bar  under  it,  and,  carrying  it  on  the  left  arm,  places  it 
in  another  recess. 

The  glass-makers  make  divers  things,  such  as  goblets,  cups,  ewers,  flasks, 
dishes,  plates,  panes  of  glass,  animals,  trees,  and  ships,  all  of  which  excellent  and 
wonderful  works  I  have  seen  when  I  spent  two  whole  years  in  Venice  some 
time  ago.  Especially  at  the  time  of  the  Feast  of  the  Ascension  they  were  on 
sale  at  Morano,  where  are  located  the  most  celebrated  glass-works.  These  I 
saw  on  other  occasions,  and  when,  for  a  certain  reason,  I  visited  Andrea 
Naugerio  in  his  house  which  he  had  there,  and  conversed  with  him  and 
Francisco  Asulano. 

END    OF    BOOK    XII. 


APPENDIX    A. 

AGRICOLA'S    WORKS. 

EORGIUS  AGRICOLA  was  not  only  the  author  of 
works  on  Mining  and  allied  subjects,  usually  asso- 
ciated with  his  name,  but  he  also  interested  himself 
to  some  extent  in  political  and  religious  subjects. 
For  convenience  in  discussion  we  may,  therefore, 
divide  his  writings  on  the  broad  lines  of  (i)  works  on 
mining,  geology,  mineralogy,  and  allied  subjects ;  (2) 
works  on  other  subjects,  medical,  religious,  critical, 
political,  and  historical.  In  respect  especially  to  the 
first  division,  and  partially  with  regard  to  the  others,  we  find  three  principal 
cases  :  (a)  Works  which  can  be  authenticated  in  European  libraries  to-day  ; 
(6)  references  to  editions  of  these  in  bibliographies,  catalogues,  etc.,  which  we 
have  been  unable  to  authenticate  ;  and  (c)  references  to  works  either  un- 
published or  lost.  The  following  are  the  short  titles  of  all  of  the  published 
works  which  we  have  been  able  to  find  on  the  subjects  allied  to  mining, 
arranged  according  to  their  present  importance  : — De  Re  Metallica,  first 
edition,  1556  ;  De  Natura  Fossilium,  first  edition,  1546  ;  De  Ortu  et  Causis 
Subterraneorum,  first  edition,  1546  ;  Bermannus,  first  edition,  1530  ;  Rerum 
Metatticarum  Interpretatio,  first  edition,  1546 ;  De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus, 
first  edition,  1533  ;  De  Precio  Metallorum  et  Monetis,  first  edition,  1550  ;  De 
Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis,  first  edition,  1546  ;  De  Natura  eorum  quae  Effluunt 
ex  Terra,  first  edition,  1546  ;  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis,  first  edition,  1549. 

Of  the  "  lost  "  or  unpublished  works,  on  which  there  is  some  evidence, 
the  following  are  the  most  important : — De  Metallicis  et  Machinis,  De  Ortu 
Metallorum  Defensio  ad  Jacobum  Scheckium,  De  Jure  et  Legibus  Metallicis, 
De  Varia  Temperie  sive  Constitutione  Aeris,  De  Terrae  Motu,  and  Commen- 
tariorum,  Libri  VI. 

The  known  published  works  upon  other  subjects  are  as  follows  : — Latin 
Grammar,  first  edition,  1520  ;  Two  Religious  Tracts,  first  edition,  1522; 
Galen  (Joint  Revision  of  Greek  Text),  first  edition,  1525  ;  De  Bella  adversus 
Turcam,  first  edition,  1528  ;  De  Peste,  first  edition,  1554. 

The  lost  or  partially  completed  works  on  subjects  unrelated  to  mining, 
of  which  some  trace  has  been  found,  are  : — De  Medicatis  Fontibus,  De  Putre- 
dine  solidas  paries,  etc.,  Castigationes  in  Hippocratem,  Typographia  Mysnae 
et  Toringiae,  De  Traditionibus  Apostolicis,  Oratio  de  rebus  gestis  Ernesti  et 
Alberti,  Ducum  Saxoniae. 

REVIEW    OF    PRINCIPAL    WORKS. 

Before  proceeding  with  the  bibliographical  detail,  we  consider  it  desirable 
to  review  briefly  the  most  important  of  the  author's  works  on  subjects  related 
to  mining. 


594  APPENDIX    A 

De  Natura  FossiUum.  This  is  the  most  important  work  of  Agricola, 
excepting  De  Re  Metallica.  It  has  always  been  printed  in  combination  with 
other  works,  and  first  appeared  at  Basel,  1546.  This  edition  was  considerably 
revised  by  the  author,  the  amended  edition  being  that  of  1558,  which  we  have 
used  in  giving  references.  The  work  comprises  ten  "  books  "  of  a  total  of 
217  folio  pages.  It  is  the  first  attempt  at  systematic  mineralogy,  the  minerals1 
being  classified  into  (i)  "  earths  "  (clay,  ochre,  etc.),  (2)  "  stones  properly  so- 
called  "  (gems,  semi-precious  and  unusual  stones,  as  distinguished  from  rocks), 
(3)  "  solidified  juices  "  (salt,  vitriol,  alum,  etc.),  (4)  metals,  and  (5)  "  com- 
pounds "  (homogeneous  "  mixtures "  of  simple  substances,  thus  forming 
such  minerals  as  galena,  pyrite,  etc.).  In  this  classification  Agricola  en- 
deavoured to  find  some  fundamental  basis,  and  therefore  adopted  solubility, 
fusibility,  odour,  taste,  etc.,  but  any  true  classification  without  the  atomic 
theory  was,  of  course,  impossible.  However,  he  makes  a  very  creditable 
performance  out  of  their  properties  and  obvious  characteristics.  All  of  the 
external  characteristics  which  we  use  to-day  in  discrimination,  such  as  colour, 
hardness,  lustre,  etc.,  are  enumerated,  the  origin  of  these  being  attributed  to 
the  proportions  of  the  Peripatetic  elements  and  their  binary  properties. 
Dana,  in  his  great  work2,  among  some  fourscore  minerals  which  he  identifies 
as  having  been  described  by  Agricola  and  his  predecessors,  accredits  a  score  to 
Agricola  himself.  It  is  our  belief,  however,  that  although  in  a  few  cases 
Agricola  has  been  wrongly  credited,  there  are  still  more  of  which  priority  in 
description  might  be  assigned  to  him.  While  a  greater  number  than  four- 
score of  so-called  species  are  given  by  Agricola  and  his  predecessors,  many 
of  these  are,  in  our  modern  system,  but  varieties  ;  for  instance,  some  eight 
or  ten  of  the  ancient  species  consist  of  one  form  or  another  of  silica. 

Book  I.  is  devoted  to  mineral  characteristics — colour,  brilliance,  taste, 
shape,  hardness,  etc.,  and  to  the  classification  of  minerals  ;  Book  II., 
"  earths  "  —clay,  Lemnian  earth,  chalk,  ochre,  etc.  ;  Book  III.,  "  solidified 
juices  "  —salt,  nitrum  (soda  and  potash),  saltpetre,  alum,  vitriol,  chrysocolla, 
caeruleum  (part  azurite),  orpiment,  realgar,  and  sulphur  ;  Book  IV.,  camphor, 
bitumen,  coal,  bituminous  shales,  amber  ;  Book  V.,  lodestone,  bloodstone, 
gypsum,  talc,  asbestos,  mica,  calamine,  various  fossils,  geodes,  emery,  touch- 
stones, pumice,  fluorspar,  and  quartz  ;  Book  VI.,  gems  and  precious  stones  ; 
Book  VII.,  "  rocks  " — marble,  serpentine,  onyx,  alabaster,  limestone,  etc.  ; 
Book  VIII.,  metals — gold,  silver,  quicksilver,  copper,  lead,  tin,  antimony, 
bismuth,  iron,  and  alloys,  such  as  electrum,  brass,  etc.  ;  Book  IX.,  various 
furnace  operations,  such  as  making  brass,  gilding,  tinning,  and  products  such 
as  slags,  furnace  accretions,  pompholyx  (zinc  oxide),  copper  flowers,  litharge, 
hearth-lead,  verdigris,  white-lead,  red-lead,  etc.  ;  Book  X.,  "  compounds," 
embracing  the  description  of  a  number  of  recognisable  silver,  copper,  lead, 
quicksilver,  iron,  tin,  antimony,  and  zinc  minerals,  many  of  which  we  set 
out  more  fully  in  Note  8,  page  108. 

De  Ortu  el  Causis  Subterraneorum.  This  work  also  has  always  been 
published  in  company  with  others.  The  first  edition  was  printed  at  Basel, 

1See  footnote  4,  page  i.  *System  of  Mineralogy. 


APPENDIX    A.  595 

1546  ;  the  second  at  Basel,  1558,  which,  being  the  edition  revised  and  added  to 
by  the  author,  has  been  used  by  us  for  reference.  There  are  five  "  books,"  and 
in  the  main  they  contain  Agricola's  philosophical  views  on  geologic  phenomena. 
The  largest  portion  of  the  actual  text  is  occupied  with  refutations  of  the 
ancient  philosophers,  the  alchemists,  and  the  astrologers ;  and  these  portions, 
while  they  exhibit  his  ability  in  observation  and  in  dialectics,  make  but  dull 
reading.  Those  sections  of  the  book  which  contain  his  own  views,  however, 
are  of  the  utmost  importance  in  the  history  of  science,  and  we  reproduce 
extensively  the  material  relating  to  ore  deposits  in  the  footnotes  on  pages  43 
to  52.  Briefly,  Book  I.  is  devoted  to  discussion  of  the  origin  and  distribution 
of  ground  waters  and  juices.  The  latter  part  of  this  book  and  a  portion  of 
Book  II.  are  devoted  to  the  origin  of  subterranean  heat,  which  he  assumes 
is  in  the  main  due  to  burning  bitumen — a  genus  which  with  him  embraced 
coal — and  also,  in  a  minor  degree,  to  friction  of  internal  winds  and  to 
burning  sulphur.  The  remainder  of  Book  II.  is  mainly  devoted  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  subterranean  "air",  "  vapour",  and  "  exhalations",  and  he  con- 
ceives that  volcanic  eruptions  and  earthquakes  are  due  to  their  agency,  and 
in  these  hypotheses  he  comes  fairly  close  to  the  modern  theory  of  eruptions 
from  explosions  of  steam.  "  Vapour  arises  when  the  internal  heat  of  the 
"  earth  or  some  hidden  fire  burns  earth  which  is  moistened  with  vapour. 
"  When  heat  or  subterranean  fire  meets  with  a  great  force  of  vapour  which 
"  cold  has  contracted  and  encompassed  in  every  direction,  then  the  vapour, 
"  finding  no  outlet,  tries  to  break  through  whatever  is  nearest  to  it,  in  order 
"  to  give  place  to  the  insistent  and  urgent  cold.  Heat  and  cold  cannot  abide 
"  together  in  one  place,  but  expel  and  drive  each  other  out  of  it  by  turns". 

As  he  was,  we  believe,  the  first  to  recognise  the  fundamental  agencies 
of  mountain  sculpture,  we  consider  it  is  of  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  a 
reproduction  of  his  views  on  this  subject :  "  Hills  and  mountains  are  pro- 
"  duced  by  two  forces,  one  of  which  is  the  power  of  water,  and  the  other  the 
"  strength  of  the  wind.  There  are  three  forces  which  loosen  and  demolish 
"  the  mountains,  for  hi  this  case,  to  the  power  of  the  water  and  the  strength 
"  of  the  wind  we  must  add  the  fire  in  the  interior  of  the  earth.  Now  we  can 
"  plainly  see  that  a  great  abundance  of  water  produces  mountains,  for  the 
"  torrents  first  of  all  wash  out  the  soft  earth,  next  carry  away  the  harder 
"  earth,  and  then  roll  down  the  rocks,  and  thus  in  a  few  years  they  excavate 
"  the  plains  or  slopes  to  a  considerable  depth  ;  this  may  be  noticed  in  moun- 
"  tainous  regions  even  by  unskilled  observers.  By  such  excavation  to  a 
"  great  depth  through  many  ages,  there  rises  an  immense  eminence  on  each 
"  side.  When  an  eminence  has  thus  arisen,  the  earth  rolls  down,  loosened  by 
"  constant  rain  and  split  away  by  frost,  and  the  rocks,  unless  they  are  exceed- 
"  ingly  firm,  since  their  seams  are  similarly  softened  by  the  damp,  roll  down 
"  into  the  excavations  below.  This  continues  until  the  steep  eminence  is 
"  changed  into  a  slope.  Each  side  of  the  excavation  is  said  to  be  a  mountain, 
"  just  as  the  bottom  is  called  a  valley.  Moreover,  streams,  and  to  a  far  greater 
"  extent  rivers,  effect  the  same  results  by  their  rushing  and  washing  ;  for  this 
"  reason  they  are  frequently  seen  flowing  either  between  very  high  mountains 


5g6  APPENDIX    A. 

"  which  they  have  created,  or  close  by  the  shore  which  borders  them.  .  .  . 
"  Nor  did  the  hollow  places  which  now  contain  the  seas  all  formerly  exist, 
"  nor  yet  the  mountains  which  check  and  break  their  advance,  but  in  many 
"  parts  there  was  a  level  plain,  until  the  force  of  winds  let  loose  upon  it  a 
"  tumultuous  sea  and  a  scathing  tide.  By  a  similar  process  the  impact  of 
"  water  entirely  overthrows  and  flattens  out  hills  and  mountains.  But 
"  these  changes  of  local  conditions,  numerous  and  important  as  they  are,  are 
"  not  noticed  by  the  common  people  to  be  taking  place  at  the  very  moment 
"  when  they  are  happening,  because,  through  their  antiquity,  the  time,  place, 
"  and  manner  in  which  they  began  is  far  prior  to  human  memory.  The  wind 
"  produces  hills  and  mountains  in  two  ways  :  either  when  set  loose  and  free 
"  from  bonds,  it  violently  moves  and  agitates  the  sand;  or  else  when,  after 
"  having  been  driven  into  the  hidden  recesses  of  the  earth  by  cold,  as  into  a 
"  prison,  it  struggles  with  a  great  effort  to  burst  out.  For  hills  and  mountains 
"  are  created  in  hot  countries,  whether  they  are  situated  by  the  sea  coasts  or 
"  in  districts  remote  from  the  sea,  by  the  force  of  winds  ;  these  no  longer  held 
"  in  check  by  the  valleys,  but  set  free,  heap  up  the  sand  and  dust,  which  they 
"  gather  from  all  sides,  to  one  spot,  and  a  mass  arises  and  grows  together.  If 
"  time  and  space  allow,  it  grows  together  and  hardens,  but  if  it  be  not  allowed 
"  (and  in  truth  this  is  more  often  the  case),  the  same  force  again  scatters  the 
''  sand  far  and  wide.  .  .  .  Then,  on  the  other  hand,  an  earthquake 
"  either  rends  and  tears  away  part  of  a  mountain,  or  engulfs  and  devours  the 
"  whole  mountain  in  some  fearful  chasm.  In  this  way  it  is  recorded  the 
"  Cybotus  was  destroyed,  and  it  is  believed  that  within  the  memory  of  man 
"  an  island  under  the  rule  of  Denmark  disappeared.  Historians  tell  us  that 
"  Taygetus  suffered  a  loss  in  this  way,  and  that  Therasia  was  swallowed  up 
"  with  the  island  of  Thera.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  water  and  the  powerful 
"  winds  produce  mountains,  and  also  scatter  and  destroy  them.  Fire  "only 
"  consumes  them,  and  does  not  produce  at  all,  for  part  of  the  mountains— 
"  usually  the  inner  part — takes  fire." 

The  major  portion  of  Book  III.  is  devoted  to  the  origin  of  ore  channels, 
which  we  reproduce  at  some  length  on  page  47.  In  the  latter  part  of  Book 
III.,  and  in  Books  IV.  and  V.,  he  discusses  the  principal  divisions  of  the  mineral 
kingdom  given  in  De  Natura  Fossilium,  and  the  origin  of  their  characteristics. 
It  involves  a  large  amount  of  what  now  appears  fruitless  tilting  at  the  Peripa- 
tetics and  the  alchemists  ;  but  nevertheless,  embracing,  as  Agricola  did,  the 
fundamental  Aristotelian  elements,  he  must  needs  find  in  these  same  ele- 
ments and  their  subordinate  binary  combinations  cause  for  every  variation  in 
external  character. 

Bermannus.  This,  Agricola's  first  work  in  relation  to  mining,  was  appa- 
rently first  published  at  Basel,  1530.  The  work  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue 
between  "  Bermannus,"  who  is  described  as  a  miner,  mineralogist,  and  "  a 
student  of  mathematics  and  poetry,"  and  "  Nicolaus  Ancon  "  and  "  Johannes 
Neavius,"  both  scholars  and  physicians.  Ancon  is  supposed  to  be  of  philoso- 
phical turn  of  mind  and  a  student  of  Moorish  literature,  Naevius  to  be  par- 
ticularly learned  in  the  writings  of  Dioscorides,  Pliny,  Galen,  etc.  "  Berman- 


APPENDIX     A.  597 

nus  "  was  probably  an  adaptation  by  Agricola  of  the  name  of  his  friend  Lorenz 
Berman,  a  prominent  miner.  The  book  is  in  the  main  devoted  to  a  correla- 
tion of  the  minerals  mentioned  by  the  Ancients  with  those  found  in  the  Saxon 
mines.  This  phase  is  interesting  as  indicating  the  natural  trend  of  Agricola's 
scholastic  mind  when  he  first  comes  into  contact  with  the  sciences  to  which 
he  devoted  himself.  The  book  opens  with  a  letter  of  commendation  from 
Erasmus,  of  Rotterdam,  and  with  the  usual  dedication  and  preface  by  the 
author.  The  three  conversationalists  are  supposed  to  take  walks  among  the 
mines  and  to  discuss,  incidentally,  matters  which  come  to  their  attention  ; 
therefore  the  book  has  no  systematic  or  logical  arrangement.  There  are 
occasional  statements  bearing  on  the  history,  management,  titles,  and  methods 
used  in  the  mines,  and  on  mining  lore  generally.  The  mineralogical  part,  while 
of  importance  from  the  point  of  view  of  giving  the  first  description  of  several 
minerals,  is  immensely  improved  upon  in  De  Natura  Fossilium,  published 
15  years  later.  It  is  of  interest  to  find  here  the  first  appearance  of  the  names 
of  many  minerals  which  we  have  since  adopted  from  the  German  into  our  own 
nomenclature.  Of  importance  is  the  first  description  of  bismuth,  although, 
as  pointed  out  on  page  433,  the  metal  had  been  mentioned  before.  In  the 
revised  collection  of  collateral  works  published  in  1558,  the  author  makes 
many  important  changes  and  adds  some  new  material,  but  some  of  the  later 
editions  were  made  from  the  unre vised  older  texts. 

Rerum  Metallicarum  Inter pretatio.  This  list  of  German  equivalents 
for  Latin  mineralogical  terms  was  prepared  by  Agricola  himself,  and  first 
appears  in  the  1546  collection  of  De  Ortu  et  Causis,  De  Natura  Fossilium,  etc., 
being  repeated  in  all  subsequent  publications  of  these  works.  It  consists  of 
some  500  Latin  mineralogical  and  metallurgical  terms,  many  of  which  are  of 
Agricola's  own  coinage.  It  is  of  great  help  in  translation  and  of  great  value 
in  the  study  of  mineralogic  nomenclature. 

De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus.  This  work  is  devoted  to  a  discussion  of  the 
Greek  and  Roman  weights  and  measures,  with  some  correlation  to  those  used 
in  Saxony.  It  is  a  careful  work  still  much  referred  to  by  students  of  these 
subjects.  The  first  edition  was  published  at  Paris  in  1533,  and  in  the  1550 
edition  at  Basel  appears,  for  the  first  time,  De  Predo  MetaUorum  et  Monetis. 

De  Veteribm  et  Novis  Metallis.  This  short  work  comprises  31  folio 
pages,  and  first  appears  in  the  1546  collection  of  collateral  works.  It  consists 
mainly  of  historical  and  geographical  references  to  the  occurrence  of  metals 
and  mines,  culled  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  together  with  some 
information  as  to  the  history  of  the  mines  in  Central  Europe.  The  latter 
is  the  only  original  material,  and  unfortunately  is  not  very  extensive.  We 
have  incorporated  some  of  this  information  in  the  footnotes. 

De  Animantibus  Subterraneis.  This  short  work  was  first  printed  in 
Basel,  1549,  and  consists  of  one  chapter  of  23  folio  pages.  Practically  the  whole 
is  devoted  to  the  discussion  of  various  animals  who  at  least  a  portion  of  their 
time  live  underground,  such  as  hibernating,  cave-dwelling,  and  burrowing 
animals,  together  with  cave-dwelling  birds,  lizards,  crocodiles,  serpents, 
etc.  There  are  only  a  few  lines  of  remote  geological  interest  as  to  migration 


598 


APPENDIX    A. 


of  animals  imposed  by  geologic  phenomena,  such  as  earthquakes,  floods,  etc. 
This  book  also  discloses  an  occasional  vein  of  credulity  not  to  be  expected  from 
the  author's  other  works,  in  that  he  apparently  believes  Aristotle's  story  of 
the  flies  which  were  born  and  lived  only  in  the  smelting  furnace  ;  and  further, 
the  last  paragraph  in  the  book  is  devoted  to  underground  gnomes.  This  we 
reproduce  in  the  footnote  on  page  217. 

De  Natura  eorum  quae  Effluunt  ex  Terra.  This  work  of  four  books, 
comprising  83  folio  pages,  first  appears  in  the  1546  collection.  As  the  title 
indicates,  the  discussion  is  upon  the  substances  which  flow  from  the  earth, 
such  as  water,  bitumen,  gases,  etc.  Altogether  it  is  of  microscopic  value  and 
wholly  uninteresting.  The  major  part  refers  to  colour,  taste,  temperature, 
medicinal  uses  of  water,  descriptions  of  rivers,  lakes,  swamps,  and  aqueducts. 


APPENDIX    A.  599 

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL    NOTES. 

For  the  following  we  have  mainly  to  thank  Miss  Kathleen  Schlesinger,  who  has  been 
employed  many  months  in  following  up  every  clue,  and  although  the  results  display 
very  considerable  literary  activity  on  the  part  of  the  author,  they  do  not  by  any  means 
indicate  Miss  Schlesinger's  labours.  Agricola's  works  were  many  of  them  published  at 
various  times  in  combination,  and  therefore  to  set  out  the  title  and  the  publication  of  each 
work  separately  would  involve  much  repetition  of  titles,  and  we  consequently  give  the  titles 
of  the  various  volumes  arranged  according  to  dates.  For  instance,  De  Natura  Fossilium,  De 
Ortu  et  Causis,  De  Veteribm  et  Novis  Metallis,  De  Natura  eorum  quae  Efflmmt  ex  Terra,  and 
Interpretatio  have  always  been  published  together,  and  the  Latin  and  Italian  editions  of 
these  works  always  include  Bermannus  as  well.  Moreover,  the  Latin  De  Re  Melallica  of 
1657  includes  all  of  these  works. 

We  mark  with  an  asterisk  the  titles  to  editions  which  we  have  been  able  to  authen- 
ticate by  various  means  from  actual  books.  Those  unmarked  are  editions  which  we  are 
satisfied  do  exist,  but  the  titles  of  which  are  possibly  incomplete,  as  they  are  taken  from 
library  catalogues,  etc.  Other  editions  to  which  we  find  reference  and  of  which  we  are  not 
certain  are  noted  separately  in  the  discussion  later  on.3 

•1530  (8vo). 

Georgii  Agricolae  Medici,  Bermannus  sive  de  re  Metallica. 
(Froben's  mark). 

Basileae  in  aedibus  Frobenianis  Anno.  MDXXX. 

Bound  with  this  edition  is  (p.  131-135),  at  least  occasionally,  Rerum  metatticarum 
appellationes  juxta  vernaculam  Germanorum  linguam,  autori  Plateano. 
Basileae  in  officina  Frobeniana,  Anno.  MDXXX. 

*i533  (8vo) : 

Georgii  Agricolae  Medici  libri  quinque  de  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus  :  in  quibus  plaeraque 
a  Budaeo  et  Portia  parum  animadversa  diligenter  excutiuntur.  Opus  nunc  primum  in  lucem 
aeditum. 

(Wechelus's  Mark). 

Parisiis.  Excudebat  Christianus  Wechelus,  in  vico  lacobaeo,  sub  scuto  Basileiensi,  Anno 
MDXXXIII. 

261  pages  and  index  of  5  pages. 

8The  following  are  the  titles  of  the  works  referred  to  in  this  discussion  : — 

Petrus  Albinus  :  Meissnische  Land  und  Berg  Chronica  In  welcher  ein  wollnstendige 
description  des  Landes,  etc.,  Dresden,  1590  (contains  part  i,  Commentatoritim  de  Mysnia). 
Newe  Chronica  und  Beschreibung  des  Landes  zu  Meissen,  pp.  I  to  449,  besides  preface  and 
index,  and  Part  II.  Meissnische  Bergk  Chronica,  Dresden,  1590,  pp.  I  to  205,  besides  preface 
and  index. 

Adam  Daniel  Richter :  Unstdndliche  ....  Chronica  der  ....  Stadt 
Chemnitz  nebst  beygefugten  Urkunden,  2  pts.  4to,  Zittau  &  Leipzig,  1767. 

Ben.  G.  Weinart :  Versuch  einer  Litteratur  d.  Sdchsischen  Geschichte  und  Staats  kunde, 
Leipzig,  1885. 

Friedrich  August  Schmid  :  Georg  Agrikola's  Bermannus  :  Einleitung  in  die 
metallurgischen  Schriften  desselben,  Freyberg,  Craz  &  Gerlach,  1806,  pp.  vin.,  1-260. 

Franz  Ambros  Reuss  :  Mineralogische  Geographic  von  Bdhmen.  2  vols.  4to,  Dresden, 
1793-97.  (Agricola  Vol.  I,  p.  2). 

Jacob  Leupold :  Prodromus  Bibliothecae  Metallicae,  corrected,  continued,  and 
augmented  by  F.  E.  Briickmann.  Wolfenbiittel,  1732,  s.v.  Agricola. 

Christian  Gottlieb  Gocher :  Allgemeines  Gelehrten- Lexicon,  with  continuation  and 
supplements  by  Adelung,  Leipzig,  1750,  s.v.  Agricola. 

John  Anton  Van  der  Linden  :  De  Scriptis  medicis,  Libri  duo,  Amsterdam,  1662,  s.v. 
Georgius  Agriccla. 

Nicolas  Fran9ois  Joseph  Eloy :  Dictionnaire  Historique  de  la  Medecine,  Li6ge  & 
Francfort  (chez  J.  F.  Bassompierre),  1755,  8vo  (Agricola  p.  28,  vol.  i). 

Georg  Abraham  Mercklinus  :  Lindenius  Renovatus  de  scriptis  medicis  continuati 
.  .  .  .  amplificati,  etc.,  Amsterdam,  1686,  s.v.  Georgius  Agricola. 

John  Ferguson :  Bibliotheca  Chemica :  A  catalogue  of  the  Alchemical,  Chemical, 
and  Pharmaceutical  books  in  the  collection  of  the  late  James  Young  of  Kelly  &  Durris,  Esq., 
LL.D.,  F.R.S.,  F.R.S.E.  Glasgow,  1906,  4to,  2  vols.,  s.v.  Agricola. 

Christoph  Wilhelm  Gatterer  :  Allgemeines  Repertorium  der  miner alogischen,  berg- 
werks  und  Salz  werkswissenschaftlichen  Literatur,  Gottingen,  1798,  vol.  I. 

Dr.  Reinhold  Hofmann  :  Dr.  Georg  Agricola,  Ein  Gelehrtenleben  aus  dem  Zeitalter  der 
Reformation,  8vo,  Gotha,  1905. 

Georg  Heinrich  Jacobi :  Der  Miner alog  Georgius  Agricola  und  sein  Verhdltnis  zur 
wissenschaft  seiner  Zeit,  etc.,  8vo.  Zwickau  (1889),  (Dissertation — Leipzig). 

Georg  Draud  :    Bibliotheca  Classica,  Frankfurt-am-Main,  1611. 

B.  G.  Struve  :    Bibliotheca  Saxonica,  8vo,  Halle,  1736. 


6oo  APPENDIX    A. 

"1533  (4to)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  Medici  Libri  quinque.  De  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus  :  In  quibus 
pleraque  a  Budaeo  et  Portio  -pa-rum  animadversa  diligenter  excutiuntur. 

(Froben's  Mark). 

Basileae  ex  Officina  Frobeniana  Anno  MDXXXIII.  Cum  gratia  et  privilegio  Caesareo 
ad  sex  annos. 

1534  (4to)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae.  Epistola  ad  Plateanum,  cui  sunt  adiecta  aliquot  loca  castigata  in 
libris  de  mensitris  et  ponderibus  nuper  editis. 

Froben,  Basel,  1534. 

*I535  (8vo): 

Georgii  Agricolae  Medici  libri  V.  de  Mensuris  et  Ponderibus  :  in  quibus  pleraque  a 
Budaeo  et  Portio  parum  animadversa  diligenter  excutiuntur. 

(Printer's  Mark). 

At  the  end  of  Index  :  Venitus  per  Joan  Anto.  de  Nicolinis  de  Sabio,  sumptu  vero  et 
requisitione  DTii  Melchionis  Sessae.  Anno.  DTii  MDXXXV.  Mense  Julii.  116  folios. 

On  back  of  title  page  is  given  :  Liber  primus  de  mensuris  Romanis,  Secundus  de  men- 
suris  Graecis,  Tertius  de  rerum  quas  metimur  pondere,  Quartus  de  ponderibus  Romanis, 
Quintus  de  ponderibus  Graecis. 

"•1541  (8vo)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  Medici  Bermannus  sive  de  re  metallica. 

Parisiis.     Apud  Hieronymum  Gormontiu.    In  Vico  Jacobeo  sub  signotrium  coronarum. 


(8vo)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  medici  Bermannus,  sive  de  metallica  ab  accurata  autoris  recognitione 
et  emendatione  nunc  primum  editus  cum  nomenclatura  rerum  metallicarum. 

Eorum  Lipsiae  In  officina  Valentini  Papae  Anno.  MDXLVI. 

*I546  (folio)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  De  ortu  et  causis  subterraneorum  Lib.  V.  De  natura  eorum  quae 
effluunt  ex  terra  Lib.  IIII.  De  natura  fossilium  Lib.  X.  De  veteribus  et  novis  metallis,  Lib.  II. 
Bermannus  sive  De  re  Metallica  dialogus.  Interpretatio  Germanica  vocum  rei  metallicae  addito 
Indice  faecundissimo. 

Apud  Hieron  Frobenium  et  Nicolaum  Episcopium  Basileae,  MDXLVI.  Cum  privilegio 
Imp.  Maiestatis  ad  quinquennium. 

*I549  (8vo)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  de  animantibus  subterraneis  Liber. 

Froben,  Basel,  MDXLIX. 

*i55o  (8vo)  : 

Di  Georgia  Agricola  De  la  generations  de  le  cose,  che  sottola  terra  sono,  e  de  le  cause  de' 
loro  effetti  e  natura,  Lib.  V.  De  La  Natura  di  quelle  cose,  che  de  la  terra  scorrono  Lib.  IIII.  De 
La  Natura  de  le  cose  Fossili,  e  die  sotto  la  terra  si  Cavano  Lib.  X.  De  Le  Minere  antiche  e 
moderne  Lib.  II.  II  Bermanno,  6  de  le  cose  Metallice  Dialogo,  Recato  tulto  hora  dal  Latino 
in  Buona  Lingua  volgare. 

(Vignette  of  Sybilla  surrounded  by  the  words)  —  Qv  Al  Piv  Fermo  E  II  Mio  Foglio  E  II 
Mio  Presaggio. 

Col  Privilegio  del  Sommo  Pontefice  Papa  Giulio  III.  Et  del  Illustriss.  Senato  Veneto  per 
anni.  xx. 

(Colophon).     In  Vinegia  per  Michele  Tramezzino,  MDL. 

*I550  (folio)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae.  De  Mensuris  et  ponderibus  Rom.  atque  Graec.  lib.  V.  De  externis 
mensuris  et  ponderibus  Lib.  II.  Ad  ea  quae  Andreas  Alciatus  denuo  disputavit  De  Men- 
suris et  Ponderibus  brevis  defensio  Lib.  I.  De  Mensuris  quibus  intervalla  metimur  Lib.  I. 
De  restituendis  ponderibus  atque  mensuris.  Lib.  I.  De  precio  metallorum  et  monetis.  Lib. 
III. 

Basileae.     Froben.     MDL.     Cum  privilegio  Imp.  Maiestatis  ad  quinquennium.1' 

*I556  (folio)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  De  Re  Metallica  Libri  XII.  quibus  Officia,  Instrumenta,  Machinae,  ac 
omnia  denique  ad  Metallicam  spectantia,  non  modo  luculentissime  describuntur,  sed  et  per  effigies, 
suis  locis  insertas,  adjunctis  Latinis,  Germanicisque  appellationibus  ita  ob  oculos  ponuntur, 
ut  clarius  tradi  non  possint  Eiusdem  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis  Liber,  ab  Autore  recognitus  : 
cum  Indicibus  diversis,  quicquid  in  opere  tractatum  est,  pulchre  demonstrantibus. 

(Froben's  Mark). 

Basileae  MDLVI.  Cum  Privilegio  Imperatoris  in  annos  V.  et  Galliarum  Regis  ad 
Sexennium. 

Folio  538  pages  and  preface,  glossary  and  index  amounting  to  86  pages.  This  is  the 
first  edition  of  De  Re  Metallica.  We  reproduce  this  title-page  on  page  xix. 

4Albinus  states  (p.  354)  :  Omnes  simul  editi  Anno.  1549,  iterum  1550,  Basileae,  as 
though  two  separate  editions. 


APPENDIX    A.  601 

*I557  (folio) : 

Vom  Bergkwerck  xii  Biicher  darinn  alle  Empter,  Instrument,  Gezeuge,  unnd  Alles  zu  disem 
Handel  gehorig,  mitt  schonen  figuren  vorbildet,  und  Kldrlich  beschriben  seindt  ersllich  in 
Lateinischer  Sprach  durch  den  Hochgelerten  und  weitlberumpten  Herrn  Georgium  Agricolam, 
Doctorn  und.  Biirgermeistern  der  Churfiirstlichen  statt  Kempnitz,  jezundt  aber  verteiischl  durch 
den  Achtparen.  unnd  Hochgelerten  Herrn  Philippttm  Bechium,  Philosophen,  Artzer  und  in  der 
Loblichen  Universitet  zu  Basel  Professorn. 

Gedruckt  zu  Basel  durch  feronymus  Froben  Und  Niclausen  Bischoff  im  1557  Jar  m^ 
Keiserlicher  Freyheit. 

*i558  (folio) : 

Georgii  Agricolae  De  ortu  et  causis  subterraneorum  Lib.  V.  De  natural  eorum  quae 
effluunt  ex  terra  Lib.  IV.  De  natura  fossilium  Lib.  X.  De  veteribus  et  novis  meiallis  Lib.  II. 
Bermannus,  sive  De  Re  Metallica  Dialogus  Liber.  Interpretatio  Germanica  vocum  rei  metallicae, 
addito  duplici  Indice,  altero  rerum,  altero  locorum  Omnia  ab  ipso  authors,  cum  haud  poenitenda 
accessions,  recens  recognita. 

Froben,  et  Episcop.  Basileae  MDLVIII.  Cum  Imp.  Maiestatis  renovalo  privilegio  ad  quin- 
quennium. 

270  pages  and  index.  As  the  title  states,  this  is  a  revised  edition  by  the  author,  and 
as  the  changes  are  very  considerable  it  should  be  the  one  used.  The  Italian  translation 
and  the  1612  Wittenberg  edition,  mentioned  below,  are  taken  from  the  1546  edition,  and  are, 
therefore,  very  imperfect. 

*i56i  (folio) : 

Second  edition  of  De  Re  Metallica  including  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis,  with  same 
title  as  the  first  edition  except  the  addition,  after  the  body  of  the  title,  of  the  words  Atque 
omnibus  nunc  iterum  ad  archetypum  diligenter  restitutis  et  castigatis  and  the  year  MDLXI.  502 
pages  and  72  pages  of  glossary  and  index. 

"1563  (folio) : 

Opera  di  Giorgio  Agricola  de  L'arte  de  Metalli  Partita  in  XII.  libri,  ne  quali  si  descrivano 
tulle  le  sorti,  e  qualita  de  gli  uffizii,  de  gli  strumenti,  delle  macchine,  e  di  tutte  I'altre  cose  attenenti 
a  colal  arte,  non  pure  con  parole  chiare  ma  eziandio  si  mettano  a  luoghi  loro  le  figure  di  dette 
cose,  ritratte  al  naturale,  con  I'aggiunta  de  nomi  di  quelle,  cotanto  chiari,  e  spediti,  che  meglio  non 
si  puo  desiderare,  o  havere. 

Aggiugnesi  il  libro  del  medesimo  autore,  che  tratta  de  gl'  Animalidi  sottoterra  da  lui  stesso 
corretto  et  riveduto.  Tradotti  in  lingua  Toscana  da  M.  Michelangelo  Florio  Fiorentino. 

Con  I' Indice  di  tutte  le  cose  piu  notabili  alia  fine  (Froben's  mark)  in  Basilea  per  Hieronimo 
Frobenio  et  Nicolao  Episcopio,  MDLXIII. 

542  pages  with  6  pages  of  index. 

*i58o  (folio): 

Bergwerck  Buck :  Darinn  nicht  Attain  alle  Empte  Instrument  Gezeug  und  alles  so  zu 
diesem  Handel  gehorig  mit  figuren  vorgebildet  und  klarlich  beschriben,  etc.  Durch  den  Hoch- 
gelehrten  ....  Herrn  Georgium  Agricolam  der  Artzney  Doctorn  und  Bur  germeister 
der  Churfurstlichen  Statt  Kemnilz  erstlich  mit  grossem  fleyss  muhe  und  arbeit  in  Latein  beschriben 
und  in  zwolff  Bucher  abgetheilt:  Nachmals  aber  durch  den  Achtbarn  und  auch  Hochgelehrten 
Philippum  Bechium  Philosophen  Artzt  und  in  der  Loblichen  Universitet  zu  Basel  Professorn 
mit  sonderm  fleyss  Teutscher  Nation  zu  gut  verteutscht  und  an  Tag  geben.  Allen  Berckherrn 
Gewercken  Berckmeistern  Geschwornen  Schichtmeistern  Steigern  Berckheuwern  Wdschern 
und  Schmeltzern  nicht  allein  nutzlich  und  dienstlich  sondern  auch  zu  wissem  hochnotwendig. 

Mit  Romischer  Keys.  May  Freyheit  nicht  nachzutrucken. 

Getruckt  in  der  Keyserlichen  Reichsstatt,  Franckfort  am  Mayn,  etc.     Im  Jahr  MDLXXX. 

*i6i2  (i2mo) : 

Georgii  Agricolae  De  ortu  et  causis  subterraneorum  Lib.  V.  De  natura  eorum  quae 
effluunt  ex  terra,  Lib.  IV.  De  natura  fossilium  Lib.  X.  De  veteribus  et  novis  metallis  Lib.  II. 
Bermannus,  sive  de  re  metallica  Dialogus.  Interpretatio  Germanica  vocum  rei  metallicae. 

Addito  Indice  faecundissimo,  Plurimos  jam  annos  a  Germanis,  et  exlernarum  quoque 
nationum  doctissimis  viris,  valde  desiderati  et  expetiti. 

Nunc  vero  in  rei  metallicae  studiosorum  gratiam  recensiti,  in  certa  capita  distribute, 
capitum  argumentis,  et  nonnullis  scholiis  marginalibus  illustrati  a  Johanne  Sigfrido  Philos :  et 
Medicinae  Doctore  et  in  illustri  Julia  Professore  ordinario. 

Accesserunt  De  metallicis  rebus  et  nominibus  observations  variae  et  eruditae,  ex  schedis 
Georgii  Fabricii,  quibus  ea  potissimum  explicantur,  quae  Georgius  Agricola  praeteriit. 

Wittebergae  Sumptibus  Zachariae  Schureri  Bibliopolae  Typis  Andreae  Rudingeri,  1612. 

There  are  970  pages  in  the  work  of  Agricola  proper,  the  notes  of  Fabricius  comprising 
a  further  44  pages,  and  the  index  112  pages. 

*i6i4  (8vo) : 

Georgii  Agricolae  De  Animantibus  Subterraneis  Liber  Hactenus  a  multis  desideratus, 
nunc  vero  in  gratiam  studiosorum  seorsim  editus,  in  certa  capita  divisus,  capitum  argumentis  et 
nonnullis  marginalibus  exornatus  a  Johanne  Sigfrido,  Phil.  &  Med.  Doctore,  etc. 

Wittebergae,    Typis    Meisnerianis :     Impensis    Zachariae.     Schureri    Bibliop.     Anno. 

MDCXIV. 


602  APPENDIX    A. 

*i6ai  (folio)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  Kempnicensis  Medici  ac  Philosophi  Clariss.  De  Re  Metallica  Libri  XII 
Quibus  Officia,  Instrumenta,  Machinae,  ac  omnia  denique  ad  metallicam  spectantia,  non  modo 
Luculentissime  describuntur  ;  sed  et  per  effigies,  suis  locis  insertas  adjunctis  Latinis,  German- 
icisque  ;  appellationibus,  ita  ob  oculos  ponuntur,  ut  clarius  tradi  non  possint. 

Ejusdem  De  Animantibus  Subtenaneis  Liber,  ab  Autore  recognitus  cum  Indicibns  diver  sis 
quicquid  in  Opere  tractatum  est,  pulchre  demonstrantibus. 

(Vignette  of  man  at  assay  furnace). 

Basileae  Helvet.     Sumptibus  itemque  typis  chalcographicis  Ludovici  Regis  Anno  MDCXXI. 

502  pages  and  58  pages  glossary  and  indices. 

*i6ai  (folio)  : 

Bergwerck  Buck  Darinnen  nicht  allein  alle  Empter  Instrument  Gezeug  und  alles  so  zu 
disem  Handel  gehorig  mil  Figuren  vorgebildet  und  klarlich  beschrieben  :  ....  Ditrch 
den  Hochgelehrten  und  weitberuhmten  Herrn  Georgium  Agricolam,  der  Artzney  Doctorn  und 
Burgermeister  der  Churfurstlichen  Stall  Kemnitz  Erstlich  init  grossem  fleiss  muhe  und  arbeit  in 
Latein  beschrieben  und  in  zwolff  Bucher  abgetheilt  :  Nachmals  aber  durch  den  Achtbarn  und 
auch  Hochgelehrten  Philippum  Bechium.  Philosophen,  Artzt,  und  in  der  loblichen  Universitet  zu 
Basel  Professorn  mil  sonderm  fleiss  Teutscher  Nation  zu  gut  verteutscht  und  an  Tag  geben  und 
nun  zum  andern  mat  getruckt. 

Allen  Bergherrn  Gewercken  Bergmeistern  Geschwornen  Schichtmeistern  Steigern 
Berghawern  Wdschern  unnd  Schmeltzern  nicht  allein  nutzlich  und  dienstlich  sondern  auch  zu 
wissen  hochnohtwendig. 

(Vignette  of  man  at  assay  furnace). 

Getruckt  zu  Basel  inverlegung  Ludwig  Konigs  Im  Jahr,  MDCXXI. 

491  pages  5  pages  glossary  —  no  index. 

*i657  (folio)  : 

Georgii  Agricolae  Kempnicensis  Medici  ac  Philosophi  Clariss.  De  Re  Metallica  Libri 
XII.  Quibus  Officia,  inslrumenta,  machinae,  ac  omnia  denique  ad  metallicam  spectantia,  non 
modo  luculentissime  describuntur  :  sed  et  per  effigies,  suis  locis  insertas,  adjunctis  Latinis, 
Germanicisque  appellationibus,  ita  ob  oculos  ponuntur,  ut  clarius  tradi  non  possint.  Quibus 
accesserunt  hac  ultima  editione,  Tractatus  ejusdem  argumenti,  ab  eodem  conscripti,  sequentes. 

De  Animantibus  Subterraneis  Lib.  I.,  De  Ortu  et  Causis  Subterraneorum  Lib.  V.,  De 
Natura  eorum  quae  effluunt  e%  Terra  Lib.  IV.,  De  Natura  Fossilium  Lib.  X.,  De  Veteribut  et 
Novis  Metallis  Lib.  II.,  Bermannus  sive  de  Re  Metallica,  Dialogus  Lib.  I. 

Cum  Indicibus  diversis,  quicquid  in  Opere  tractatum  est,  pulchre  demonstrantibus. 

(Vignette  of  assayer  and  furnace). 

Basileae  Sumptibns  et  Typis  Emanuelis  Konig.     Anno  MDCLVII. 

Folio,  708  pages  and  90  pages  of  glossary  and  indices.  This  is  a  very  serviceable 
edition  of  all  of  Agricola's  important  works,  and  so  far  as  we  have  noticed  there  are  but  few 
typographical  errors. 

*i778  (8vo)  : 

Gesprach  vom  Bergwesen,  wegen  seiner  Furtrefflich  keit  aus  dem  Lateinischen  in  das 
Deutsche  ubersetzet,  mil  nuizl.  Anmerkungen  erlautert.  u.  mit  einem  ganz  neuen  Zusatze  von 
Zliiglicher  Anstellung  des  Bergbaues  u.  von  der  Zugutemachung  der  Erze  auf  den  Huttenwerken 
versehen  von  Johann  Gottlieb  Star. 

Rotenburg  a.  d.  Fulda,  Hermsladt  1778.     180  pages. 

*i8o6  (8vo)  : 

Georg  Agricola's  Bermannus  eine  Einleitung  in  die  metallurgischen  Schriften  desselben, 
ubersetzt  und  mit  Exkursionen  herausgegeben  von  Friedrich  August  Schmid.  Haushalts-und 
Befahrungs-Protokollist  im  Churf.  vereinigten  Bergamte  zu  St.  Annaberg. 

Freyberg  1806.    Bey  Craz  und  Gerlach. 


-i2  (8vo). 

Georg  Agrikola's  Mineralogische  Schriften  ubersetzt  und  mit  erlduternden  Anmerkungen. 
Begleitet  von  Ernst  Lehmann  Bergamts-  Assessor,  Berg-  Gegen-  und  Receszschreiber  in  Dem 
Konigl.  Sachs.  Bergamte  Voigtsberg  der  jenaischen  Societal  fur  die  gesammte  Mineralogie 
Ehrenmitgliede. 

Freyberg,  1807-12.     Bey  Craz  und  Gerlach. 

This  German  translation  consists  of  four  parts  :  the  first  being  De  Ortu  et  Causis, 
the  second  De  Natura  eorum  quae  effluunt  ex  terra,  and  the  third  in  two  volumes  De  Natura 
Fossilium,  the  fourth  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis  ;  with  glossary  and  index  to  the  four 
parts. 

We  give  the  following  notes  on  other  possible  prints,  as  a  great  many  references  to  the 
above  works  occur  in  various  quarters,  of  date  other  than  the  above.  Unless  otherwise 
convinced  it  is  our  belief  that  most  of  these  refer  to  the  prints  given  above,  and  are  due  to 
error  in  giving  titles  or  dates.  It  is  always  possible  that  such  prints  do  exist  and  have  escaped 
our  search. 


APPENDIX    A.  603 

De  Re  Metallica.  Leupold,  Richter,  Schmid,  van  der  Linden,  Mercklinus  and  Eloy 
give  an  8vo  edition  of  De  Re  Metallica  without  illustrations,  Schweinfurt,  1607.  We  have 
found  no  trace  of  this  print.  Leupold,  van  der  Linden,  Richter,  Schmid  and  Eloy  mention 
an  8vo  edition,  Wittenberg,  1614.  It  is  our  belief  that  this  refers  to  the  1612  Wittenberg 
edition  of  the  selected  works,  which  contains  a  somewhat  similar  title  referring  in  reality 
to  Bermannus,  which  was  and  is  still  continually  confused  with  De,  Re  Metallica.  Ferguson 
mentions  a  German  edition,  Schweinfurt,  8vo,  1687.  We  can  find  no  trace  of  this  ;  it  may 
refer  to  the  1607  Schweinfurt  edition  mentioned  above. 

De  Natura  Fossilium.  Leupold  and  Gatter  refer  to  a  folio  edition  of  1550.  This  was 
probably  an  error  for  either  the  1546  or  the  1558  editions.  Watt  refers  to  an  edition  of  1561 
combined  with  De  Medicatis  Fontibus.  We  find  no  trace  of  such  edition,  nor  even  that  the 
latter  work  was  ever  actually  printed.  He  also  refers  to  an  edition  of  1614  and  one  of  1621, 
this  probably  being  an  error  for  the  1612  edition  of  the  subsidiary  works  and  the  De  Re 
Metallica  of  1621.  Leupold  also  refers  to  an  edition  of  1622,  this  probably  being  an  error  for 
1612. 

De  Ortu  et  Causis.  Albinus,  Hofmann,  Jacobi,  Schmid,  Richter,  and  Reuss  mention 
an  edition  of  1544.  This  we  believe  to  be  an  error  in  giving  the  date  of  the  dedication  instead 
of  that  of  the  publication  (1546).  Albinus  and  Ferguson  give  an  edition  of  1555,  which  date 
is,  we  believe,  an  error  for  1558.  Ferguson  gives  an  edition  of  the  Italian  translation  as 
1559 ;  we  believe  this  should  be  1550.  Draud  gives  an  edition  of  1621  ;  probably  this 
should  be  1612. 

Bermannus.  Albinus,  Schmid,  Reuss,  Richter,  and  Weinart  give  the  first  edition  as 
1528.  We  have  been  unable  to  learn  of  any  actual  copy  of  that  date,  and  it  is  our  belief  that 
the  date  is  taken  from  the  dedication  instead  of  from  the  publication,  and  should  be  1530. 
Leupold,  Schmid,  and  Reuss  give  an  edition  by  Froben  in  1549 ;  we  have  been  unable  to 
confirm  this.  Leupold  also  gives  an  edition  of  1550  (folio),  and  Jocher  gives  an  edition  of 
Geneva  1561  (folio) ;  we  have  also  been  unable  to  find  this,  and  believe  the  latter  to  be  a 
confusion  with  the  De  Re  Metallica  of  1561,  as  it  is  unlikely  that  Bermannus  would  be  pub- 
lished by  itself  in  folio.  The  catalogue  of  the  library  at  Siena  (Vol.  III.,  p.  78)  gives  // 
Bermanno,  Vinegia,  1550,  8vo.  We  have  found  no  trace  of  this  edition  elsewhere. 

De  Mensnris  et  Ponderibits.  Albinus  and  Schmid  mention  an  edition  of  1539,  and  one 
of  1550.  The  Biographic  Universelle,  Paris,  gives  one  of  1553,  and  Leupold  one  of  1714,  all 
of  which  we  have  been  unable  to  find.  An  epitome  of  this  work  was  published  at  various 
times,  sometimes  in  connection  with  editions  of  Vitruvius  ;  so  far  as  we  are  aware  on  trie 
following  dates,  1552,  1585,  1586,  1829.  There  also  appear  extracts  in  relation  to  liquid 
measures  in  works  entitled  Vocabula  rei  numariae  ponderum  et  mensurarum,  etc.  Paul  Eber 
and  Caspar  Peucer,  Lipsiae,  1549,  and  in  same  Wittenberg,  1552. 

De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis.  Watt  gives  an  edition,  Basel,  1530,  and  Paris,  1541 ; 
we  believe  this  is  incorrect  and  refers  to  Bermannus.  Reuss  mentions  a  folio  print  of  Basel, 
1550.  We  consider  this  very  unlikely. 

De  Natura  eorum  quae  Effluunt  ex  Terra.  Albinus,  Hofmann,  Schmid,  Jacobi, 
Richter,  Reuss,  and  Weinart  give  an  edition  of  1545.  We  believe  this  is  again  the  dedication 
instead  of  the  publication  date  (1546). 

De  Animantibus  Subterraneis.  Van  der  Linden  gives  an  edition  at  Schweinfurt, 
8vo,  1607.  Although  we  have  been  unable  to  find  a  copy,  this  slightly  confirms  the 
possibility  of  an  octavo  edition  of  De  Re  Metallica  of  this  date,  as  they  were  usually  published 
together.  Leupold  gives  assurance  that  he  handled  an  octavo  edition  of  Wittenberg,  1612, 
cum  notis  Johann  Sigfridi.  We  think  he  confused  this  with  Bermannus  sive  de  re  metallica 
of  that  date  and  place.  Schmid,  Richter,  and  Draud  all  refer  to  an  edition  similarly  annotated, 
Leipzig,  1613,  8vo.  We  have  no  trace  of  it  otherwise. 

UNPUBLISHED  WORKS  ON  SUBJECTS  RELATED  TO  MINING. 

Agricola  apparently  projected  a  complete  series  of  works  covering  the  whole  range  of 
subjects  relating  to  minerals  :  geology,  mineralogy,  mining,  metallurgy,  history  of  metals, 
their  uses,  laws,  etc.  In  a  letter6  from  Fabricius  to  Meurer  (March,  1553),  the  former  states 
that  Agricola  intended  writing  about  30  books  (chapters)  in  addition  to  those  already  pub- 
lished, and  to  the  twelve  books  De  Re  Metallica  which  he  was  about  to  publish.  Apparently 
a  number  of  these  works  were  either  unfinished  or  unpublished  at  Agricola's  death,  for  his 
friend  George  Fabricius  seems  to  have  made  seme  effort  to  secure  their  publication,  but  did 
not  succeed,  through  lack  of  sympathy  on  the  part  of  Agricola's  family.  Hofmann6  states  on 
this  matter  :  "  His  intentions  were  frustrated  mainly  through  the  lack  of  support  with  which 
"  he  was  met  by  the  heirs  of  the  Mineralogist.  These,  as  he  complains  to  a  Councillor  of  the 
"  Electorate,  Christopher  von  Carlovitz,  in  1556,  and  to  Paul  Eber  in  another  letter,  adopted 
"  a  grudging  and  ungracious  tone  with  regard  to  his  proposal  to  collect  all  Agricola's  works 
"  left  behind,  and  they  only  consented  to  communicate  to  him  as  much  as  they  were  obliged 

*G.  Fabricii  epistolae  ad  W.  Meurerum  et  alias  aequales,  by  Baumgarten-Crusius, 
Leipzig,  1845,  p.  83. 

*Dr.  Georg  Agricola,  Gotha,  1905,  pp.  60-61. 


604  APPENDIX    A. 

"  by  express  command  of  the  Prince.  At  the  Prince's  command  they  showed  him  a  little, 
"  but  he  supposed  that  there  was  much  more  that  they  had  suppressed  or  not  preserved. 
"  The  attempt  to  purchase  some  of  the  works — the  Elector  had  given  Fabricius  money  for 
"  the  purpose  (30  nummos  unciales) — proved  unavailing,  owing  to  the  disagreeableness  of 
"  Agricola's  heirs.  It  is  no  doubt  due  to  these  regrettable  circumstances  that  all  the  works 
"of  the  industrious  scholar  did  not  come  down  to  us."  The  "disagreeableness"  was  pro- 
bably due  to  the  refusal  of  the  Protestant  townsfolk  to  allow  the  burial  of  Agricola  in  the 
Cathedral  at  Chemnitz.  So  far  as  we  know  the  following  are  the  unpublished  or  lost  works. 

De  Jure  et  Legibus  Metallicis.  This  work  on  mining  law  is  mentioned  at  the  end  of 
Book  IV.  of  De  Re  Metallica,  and  it  is  referred  to  by  others  apparently  from  that  source.  We 
have  been  unable  to  find  any  evidence  that  it  was  ever  published. 

De  Varia  temperie  sive  Constitutione  Aeris.  In  a  letter7  to  Johann  Naevius,  Agricola 
refers  to  having  a  work  in  hand  of  this  title. 

De  Metallis  et  Machinis.  Hofmann8  states  that  a  work  of  this  title  by  Agricola,  dated 
Basel  1543,  was  sold  to  someone  in  America  by  a  Frankfort-on-Main  bookseller  in  1896. 
This  is  apparently  the  only  reference  to  it  that  we  know  of,  and  it  is  possibly  a  confusion  of 
titles  or  a  "  separate  "  of  some  chapters  from  De  Re  Metallica. 

De  Ortu  Metallorum  Defensio  ad  Jacobum  Scheckium.  Referred  to  by  Fabricius  in  a 
letter9  to  Meurer.  If  published  was  probably  only  a  tract. 

De  Terras  Motu.  In  a  letter10  from  Agricola  to  Meurer  (Jan.  i,  1544)  is  some  reference 
which  might  indicate  that  he  was  formulating  a  work  on  earthquakes  under  this  title,  or 
perhaps  may  be  only  incidental  to  the  portions  of  De  Ortu  et  Causis  dealing  with  this  subject. 

Commentariorum  in  quibus  utriusque  linguae  scriptorum  locos  difficiles  de  rebus 
subterraneis  explicat,  Libri  VI.  Agricola  apparently  partially  completed  a  work  under  some 
such  title  as  this,  which  was  to  embrace  chapters  entitled  De  Methodis  and  De  Demonstratione. 
The  main  object  seems  to  have  been  a  commentary  on  the  terms  and  passages  in  the  classics 
relating  to  mining,  mineralogy,  etc.  It  is  mentioned  in  the  Preface  of  De  Veteribus  et  Novis 
Metallis,  and  in  a  letter11  from  one  of  Froben's  firm  to  Agricola  in  1548,  where  it  is  suggested 
that  Agricola  should  defer  sending  his  new  commentaries  until  the  following  spring.  The 
work  is  mentioned  by  Albinus12,  and  in  a  letter  from  Georg  Fabricius  to  Meurer  on  the  2nd 
Jan.  1548, ls  in  another  from  G.  Fabricius,  to  his  brother  Andreas  on  Oct.  28,  1555, 14  and  in 
a  third  from  Fabricius  to  Melanchthon  on  December  8th,  I55518,  in  which  regret  is  expressed 
that  the  work  was  not  completed  by  Agricola. 

7Albinus,  Landchronik,  pp.  354-5. 

*Dr.  Georg  Agricola,  p.  63. 

9Baumgarten-Crusius,  p.  115. 

10Virorum  Clarorum  Saec.  xvi.  et  xvn.  Epistolae  Selectae  by  Ernst  Weber,  Leipzig, 
1894,  p.  2. 

"Nicholas  Episcopius  to  Georg  Agricola,  Sept.  17,  1548,  published  in  Schmid's 
Bermannus  p.  38.  See  also  Hofmann,  op.  cit.  pp.  62  and  140. 

12Meissnische  Landchronik,  Dresden,  1589,  p.  354. 

"Printed  in  Baumgarten-Crusius,  pp.  48-49,  letter  XLVIII. 

"Printed  in  Hermann  Peter's  Meissner  J ahresbericht  der  Fiirstenschule,  1891,  p.  24. 

15Baumgarten-Crusius.  Georgii  Fabricii  Chemnicensis  Epistolae,  Leipzig,  1845, 
P-  139- 


APPENDIX    A.  605 

WRITINGS  NOT  RELATED  TO  MINING,  INCLUDING  LOST  OR  UNPUBLISHED 

WORKS. 

Latin  Grammar.  This  was  probably  the  first  of  Agricola's  publications,  the  full  title 
to  which  is  Georgii  Agricolae  Glaucii  Libellus  de  prima  ac  simplici  institutione  grammatica. 
Excusum  Lipsiae  in  Officina  Melchioris  Lottheri.  Anno  MDXX.  (4to),  24  folios.18  There  is 
some  reason  to  believe  that  Agricola  also  published  a  Greek  grammar,  for  there  is  a  letter17 
from  Agricola  dated  March  i8th,  1522,  in  which  Henicus  Camitianus  is  requested  to  send  a 
copy  to  Stephan  Roth. 

Theological  Tracts.  There  are  preserved  in  the  Zwickau  Rathsschul  Library18  copies 
by  Stephan  Roth  of  two  tracts,  the  one  entitled,  Deum  non  esse  auctorem  Peccali,  the 
other,  Religioso  patri  Petri  Fontano,  sacre  theologie  Doctori  eximio  Georgius  Agricola  salutem 
dicit  in  Christo.  The  former  was  written  from  Leipzig  in  1522,  and  the  latter,  although 
not  dated,  is  assigned  to  the  same  period.  Both  are  printed  in  Zwei  theologische  Abhandlungen 
des  Georg  Agricola,  an  article  by  Otto  Clemen,  Neuen  Archiv  fur  Sachsische  Geschichte,  etc., 
Dresden,  1900.  There  is  some  reason  (from  a  letter  of  Fabricius  to  Melanchthon,  Dec.  8th, 
I555)  to  believe  that  Agricola  had  completed  a  work  on  the  unwritten  traditions  concerning 
the  Church.  There  is  no  further  trace  of  it. 

Galen.  Agricola  appears  to  have  been  joint  author  with  Andreas  Asulanus  and  J.  B. 
Opizo  of  a  revision  of  this  well-known  Greek  work.  It  was  published  at  Venice  in  1525, 
under  the  title  of  Galeni  Librorum,  etc.,  etc.  Agricola's  name  is  mentioned  in  a  prefatory 
letter  to  Opizo  by  Asulanus. 

De  Bella  adversus  Turcam.  This  political  tract,  directed  against  the  Turks,  was  written  in 
Latin  and  first  printed  by  Froben,  Basel,  1528.  It  was  translated  into  German  apparently 
by  Agricola's  friend  Laurenz  Berman,  and  published  under  the  title  Oration  Anrede  Und 
Vormanunge  ....  widder  den  Ttircken  by  Frederich  Peypus,  Nuremberg,  in  1531 
(8vo),  and  either  in  1530  or  1531  by  Wolfgang  Stockel,  Dresden,  4to.  It  was  again  printed 
in  Latin  by  Froben,  Basel,  1538,  4to  ;  by  H.  Grosius,  Leipzig,  1594,  8vo ;  it  was  included 
among  other  works  published  on  the  same  subject  by  Nicholas  Reusnerus,  Leipzig,  1595  ; 
by  Michael  Lantzenberger,  Frankfurt-am-Main,  1597,  4to.  Further,  there  is  reference  by 
Watt  to  an  edition  at  Eisleben,  1603,  of  which  we  have  no  confirmation.  There  is  another 
work  on  the  subject,  or  a  revision  by  the  author  mentioned  by  Albinus1'  as  having  been, 
after  Agricola's  death,  sent  to  Froben  by  George  Fabricius  to  be  printed ;  nothing  further 
appears  in  this  matter  however. 

De  Peste.  This  work  on  the  Plague  appears  to  have  been  first  printed  by  Froben, 
Basel,  1554,  8vo.  The  work  was  republished  at  Schweinfurt,  1607,  and  at  Augsburg  in 
1614,  under  various  editors.  It  would  appear  from  Albinus80  that  the  work  was  revised  by 
Agricola  and  in  Froben's  hands  for  publication  after  the  author's  death. 

De  Medicatis  Fontibus.  This  work  is  referred  to  by  Agricola  himself  in  De  Natura 
Eorum,21  in  the  prefatory  letter  in  De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis  ;  and  Albinus22  quotes  a 
letter  of  Agricola  to  Sebastian  Munster  on  the  subject.  Albinus  states  (Bergchronik,  p.  193) 
that  to  his  knowledge  it  had  not  yet  been  published.  Conrad  Gesner,  in  his  work  Excerp- 
torum  et  observadonum  de  Thermis,  which  is  reprinted  in  De  Balneis,  Venice,  1553,  after 
Agricola's  De  Natura  Eorum,  states  **  concerning  Agricola  in  libris  quos  de  medicatis  fontibus 
instituerit  copiosus  se  dicturum  pollicetur.  Watts  mentions  it  as  having  been  published  in  1549, 
1561,  1614,  and  1621.  He,  however,  apparently  confuses  it  with  De  Natura  Eorum.  We 
are  unable  to  state  whether  it  was  ever  printed  or  not.  A  note  of  inquiry  to  the  principal 
libraries  in  Germany  gave  a  negative  result. 

De  Putredine  solidas  partes  humani  corporis  corrumpente.  This  work,  according  to 
Albinus  was  received  by  Fabricius  a  year  after  Agricola's  death,  but  whether  it  was  published 
or  not  is  uncertain.24 

Castigationes  in  Hippocratem  et  Galenum.  This  work  is  referred  to  by  Agricola  in  the 
preface  of  Bermannus,  and  Albinus28  mentions  several  letters  referring  to  the  preparation 
of  the  work.  There  is  no  evidence  of  publication. 

Typographia  Mysnae  et  Toringiae.  It  seems  from  Agricola's  letter18  to  Munster  that 
Agricola  prepared  some  sort  of  a  work  on  the  history  of  Saxony  and  of  the  Royal  Family 

18There  is  a  copy  of  this  work  in  the  Rathsschul  Library  at  Zwickau. 
17In  the  Rathsschul  Library  at  Zwickau. 

"Contained  in  Vols.  xxxvu.  and  XL.  of  Stephan  Roth's  Kollectanenbdnde  Volumes 
of  Transcripts. 

19Landchronik,  p.  354. 

*°Op.  cit.,  p.  354. 

uBook  IV. 

"Op.  cit.,  p.  355. 

2SPage  291. 

**See  Baumgarten-Crusius,  p    114,  letter  from  Georg  Fabricius. 

SBOp.  cit.,  p.  354. 

"Albinus,  Op.  cit.,  p.  355. 

41 


606  APPENDIX    A. 

thereof  at  the  command  of  the  Elector  and  sent  it  to  him  when  finished,  but  it  was  never 
published  as  written  by  Agricola.  Albinus,  Hofmann,  and  Struve  give  some  details  of  letters 
in  reference  to  it.  Fabricius  in  a  letter27  dated  Nov.  n,  1536  asks  Meurer  to  send  Agricola 
some  material  for  it ;  in  a  letter  from  Fabricius  to  Meurer  dated  Oct.  30,  1554,  it  appears 
that  the  Elector  had  granted  Agricola  200  thalers  to  assist  in  the  work.  After  Agricola's 
death  the  material  seems  to  have  been  handed  over  to  Fabricius,  who  made  use  of  it  (as  he 
states  in  the  preface)  in  preparing  the  work  he  was  commissioned  by  the  Elector  to  write, 
the  title  of  which  was,  Originum  illustrissimae  stirpis  Saxonicae  Libri,  and  was  published  in 
Leipzig,  1597.  It  includes  on  page  880  a  fragment  of  a  work  entitled  Oratio  de  rebus  Geslis 
Ernesti  et  Alberti  Ducum  Saxoniae,  by  Agricola. 

WORKS   WRONGLY   ATTRIBUTED   TO   GEORGIUS   AGRICOLA. 

The  following  works  have  been  at  one  time  or  another  wrongly  attributed  to  Georgius 
Agricola : — 

Galerazeya  sive  Revelator  Secretorum  De  Lapide  Philosophorum,  Cologne,  1531  and 
1534,  by  one  Daniel  Agricola,  which  is  merely  a  controversial  book  with  a  catch-title,  used 
by  Catholics  for  converting  heretics. 

Rechter  Gebrauch  der  Alchimey,  a  book  of  miscellaneous  receipts  which  treats  very 
slightly  of  transmutation.28 

Chronik  der  Stadt  Freiberg  by  a  Georg  Agricola  (died  1630),  a  preacher  at  Freiberg. 

Dominatores  Saxonici,  by  the  same  author. 

Breviarum  de  Asse  by  Guillaume  Bude. 

De  Inventione  Dialectica  by  Rudolph  Agricola. 

"Baumgarten-Crusius,  p.  2. 

28See  Ferguson,  Bibliotheca  Chemica,  s.v.  Daniel  Agricola. 


APPENDIX   B. 

ANCIENT    AUTHORS. 

We  give  the  following  brief  notes  on  early  works  containing  some  reference  to  miner- 
alogy, mining,  or  metallurgy,  to  indicate  the  literature  available  to  Agricola  and  for  historical 
notes  bearing  upon  the  subject.  References  to  these  works  in  the  footnotes  may  be  most 
easily  consulted  through  the  personal  index. 

GREEK  AUTHORS. — Only  a  very  limited  Greek  literature  upon  subjects  allied  to 
mining  or  natural  science  survives.  The  whole  of  the  material  of  technical  interest  could  be 
reproduced  on  less  than  twenty  of  these  pages.  Those  of  most  importance  are  :  Aristotle 
(384-322  B.C.),  Theophrastus  (371-288  B.C.),  Diodorus  Siculus  (ist  Century  B.C.),  Strabo 
(64  B.C. — 25  A.D.),  and  Dioscorides  (ist  Century  A.D.). 

Aristotle,  apart  from  occasional  mineralogical  or  metallurgical  references  in  De  Mira- 
bilibus,  is  mostly  of  interest  as  the  author  of  the  Peripatetic  theory  of  the  elements  and  the 
relation  of  these  to  the  origin  of  stones  and  metals.  Agricola  was,  to  a  considerable  measure, 
a  follower  of  this  school,  and  their  views  colour  much  of  his  writings.  We,  however,  discuss 
elsewhere1  at  what  point  he  departed  from  them.  Especially  in  De  Ortu  et  Causis  does  he 
quote  largely  from  Aristotle's  Meteorologica,  Physica,  and  De  Coelo  on  these  subjects.  There 
is  a  spurious  work  on  stones  attributed  to  Aristotle  of  some  interest  to  mineralogists.  It  was 
probably  the  work  of  some  Arab  early  in  the  Middle  Ages. 

Theophrastus,  the  principal  disciple  of  Aristotle,  appears  to  have  written  at  least  two 
works  relating  to  our  subject — one  "  On  Stones",  and  the  other  on  metals,  mining  or  metal- 
lurgy, but  the  latter  is  not  extant.  The  work  "  On  Stones  "  was  first  printed  in  Venice  in 
1498,  and  the  Greek  text,  together  with  a  fair  English  translation  by  Sir  John  Hill,  was 
published  in  London  in  1746  under  the  title  "Theophrastus  on  Stones"  ;  the  translation  is, 
however,  somewhat  coloured  with  Hill's  views  on  mineralogy.  The  work  comprises  120 
short  paragraphs,  and  would,  if  reproduced,  cover  but  about  four  of  these  pages.  In  the 
first  paragraphs  are  the  Peripatetic  view  of  the  origin  of  stones  and  minerals,  and  upon  the 
foundation  of  Aristotle  he  makes  some  modifications.  The  principal  interest  in  Theophrastus' 
work  is  the  description  of  minerals  ;  the  information  given  is,  however,  such  as  might  be  pos- 
sessed by  any  ordinary  workman,  and  betrays  no  particular  abilities  for  natural  philosophy. 
He  enumerates  various  exterior  characteristics,  such  as  colour,  tenacity,  hardness,  smooth- 
ness, density,  fusibility,  lustre,  and  transparence,  and  their  quality  of  reproduction,  and  then 
proceeds  to  describe  various  substances,  but  usually  omits  his  enumerated  characteristics. 
Apart  from  the  then  known  metals  and  certain  "  earths  "  (ochre,  marls,  clay,  etc.),  it  is  possible 
to  identify  from  his  descriptions  the  following  rocks  and  minerals  : — marble,  pumice,  onyx, 
gypsum,  pyrites,  coal,  bitumen,  amber,  azurite,  chrysocolla,  realgar,  orpiment,  cinnabar, 
quartz  in  various  forms,  lapis  lazuli,  emerald,  sapphire,  diamond,  and  ruby.  Altogether  there 
are  some  sixteen  distinct  mineral  species.  He  also  describes  the  touchstone  and  its  uses,  the 
making  of  white-lead  and  verdigris,  and  of  quicksilver  from  cinnabar. 

Diodorus  Siculus  was  a  Greek  native  of  Sicily.  His  "  historical  library  "  consisted  of 
some  40  books,  of  which  parts  of  15  are  extant.  The  first  print  was  in  Latin,  1472,  and  in 
Greek  in  1539  ;  the  first  translation  into  English  was  by  Thomas  Stocker,  London,  1568,  and 
later  by  G.  Booth,  1700.  We  have  relied  upon  Booth's  translation,  but  with  some  amend- 
ments by  friends,  to  gain  more  literal  statement.  Diodorus,  so  far  as  relates  to  our  subject, 
gives  merely  the  occasional  note  of  a  traveller.  The  most  interesting  paragraphs  are  his 
quotation  from  Agatharchides  on  Egyptian  mining  and  upon  British  tin. 

Strabo  was  also  a  geographer.  His  work  consists  of  17  books,  and  practically  all 
survive.  We  have  relied  upon  the  most  excellent  translation  of  Hamilton  and  Falconer, 
London,  1903,  the  only  one  in  English.  Mines  and  minerals  did  not  escape  such  an  acute 
geographer,  and  the  matters  of  greatest  interest  are  those  with  relation  to  Spanish  mines. 

Dioscorides  was  a  Greek  physician  who  wrote  entirely  from  the  standpoint  of  materia 
medica,  most  of  his  work  being  devoted  to  herbs ;  but  Book  V.  is  devoted  to  minerals  and 
rocks,  and  their  preparation  for  medicinal  purposes.  The  work  has  never  been  translated 
into  English,  and  we  have  relied  upon  the  Latin  translation  of  Matthioli,  Venice,  1565,  and  notes 
upon  the  Greek  text  prepared  for  us  by  Mr.  C.  Katopodes.  In  addition  to  most  of  the  sub- 
stances known  before,  he,  so  far  as  can  be  identified,  adds  schist,  cadmia  (blende  or  calamine), 
chalcitis  (copper  sulphide),  misy,  melanteria,  sory  (copper  or  iron  sulphide  oxidation  minerals). 
He  describes  the  making  of  certain  artificial  products,  such  as  copper  oxides,  vitriol,  litharge, 
pompholyx,  and  spodos  (zinc  and/  or  arsenical  oxides).  His  principal  interest  for  us,  however, 
lies  in  the  processes  set  out  for  making  his  medicines. 

Occasional  scraps  of  information  relating  to  the  metals  or  mines  in  some  connection 
are  to  be  found  in  many  other  Greek  writers,  and  in  quotations  by  them  from  others  which  are 
not  now  extant,  such  as  Polybius,  Posidonius,  etc.  The  poets  occasionally  throw  a  gleam 

pages  44  and  46. 


6o8  APPENDIX    B. 

of  light  on  ancient  metallurgy,  as  for  instance  in  Homer's  description  of  Vulcan's  foundry  ; 
while  the  historians,  philosophers,  statesmen,  and  physicians,  among  them  Herodotus, 
Xenophon,  Demosthenes,  Galen,  and  many  others,  have  left  some  incidental  references  to  the 
metals  and  mining,  helpful  to  gleaners  from  a  field,  which  has  heen  almost  exhausted  by  time. 
Even  Archimedes  made  pumps,  and  Hero  surveying  instruments  for  mines. 

ROMAN  AUTHORS. — Pre-eminent  among  all  ancient  writers  on  these  subjects  is,  of 
course,  Pliny,  and  in  fact,  except  some  few  lines  by  Vitruvius,  there  is  practically  little  else 
in  extant  Roman  literature  of  technical  interest,  for  the  metallurgical  metaphors  of  the  poets 
and  orators  were  threadbare  by  this  time,  and  do  not  excite  so  much  interest  as  upon  their 
first  appearance  among  the  Greeks  and  Hebrews. 

Pliny  (Caius  Plinius  Secundus)  was  born  23  A.D.,  and  was  killed  by  eruption  of  Vesuvius 
79  A.D.  His  Natural  History  should  be  more  properly  called  an  encyclopaedia,  the  whole 
comprising  37  books  ;  but  only  portions  of  the  last  four  books  relate  to  our  subject,  and  over 
one-half  of  the  material  there  is  upon  precious  stones.  To  give  some  rough  idea  of  the  small 
quantity  of  even  this,  the  most  voluminous  of  ancient  works  upon  our  subject,  we  have  made 
an  estimate  that  the  portions  of  metallurgical  character  would  cover,  say,  three  pages  of 
this  text,  on  mining  two  pages,  on  building  and  precious  stones  about  ten  pages.  Pliny 
and  Dioscorides  were  contemporaries,  and  while  Pliny  nowhere  refers  to  the  Greek,  internal 
evidence  is  most  convincing,  either  that  they  drew  from  the  same  source,  or  that  Pliny  drew 
from  Dioscorides.  We  have,  therefore,  throughout  the  text  given  precedence  in  time  to  the 
Greek  author  in  matters  of  historical  interest.  The  works  of  Pliny  were  first  printed  at  Venice 
in  1469.  They  have  passed  dozens  of  editions  in  various  languages,  and  have  been  twice 
translated  into  English.  The  first  translation  by  Philemon  Holland,  London,  1601,  is  quite 
impossible.  The  second  translation,  by  Bostock  and  Riley,  London,  1855,  was  a  great 
advance,  and  the  notes  are  most  valuable,  but  in  general  the  work  has  suffered  from  a  freedom 
justifiable  in  the  translation  of  poetry,  but  not  in  science.  We  have  relied  upon  the  Latin 
edition  of  Janus,  Leipzig,  1870.  The  frequent  quotations  in  our  footnotes  are  sufficient 
indication  of  the  character  of  Pliny's  work.  In  general  it  should  be  remembered  that  he  was 
himself  but  a  compiler  of  information  from  others,  and,  so  far  as  our  subjects  are  concerned, 
of  no  other  experience  than  most  travellers.  When  one  considers  the  reliability  of  such 
authors  to-day  on  technical  subjects,  respect  for  Pliny  is  much  enhanced.  Further,  the  text 
is  no  doubt  much  corrupted  through  the  generations  of  transcription  before  it  was  set  in  type. 
So  far  as  can  be  identified  with  any  assurance,  Pliny  adds  but  few  distinct  minerals  to  those 
enumerated  by  Theophrastus  and  Dioscorides.  For  his  metallurgical  and  mining  information 
we  refer  to  the  footnotes,  and  in  general  it  may  be  said  that  while  those  skilled  in  metallurgy 
can  dimly  see  in  his  statements  many  metallurgical  operations,  there  is  little  that  does  not 
require  much  deduction  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion.  On  geology  he  offers  no  new  philosophical 
deductions  of  consequence  ;  the  remote  connection  of  building  stones  is  practically  all  that 
can  be  enumerated,  lest  one  build  some  assumption  of  a  knowledge  of  ore-deposits  on  the 
use  of  the  word  "  vein".  One  point  of  great  interest  to  this  work  is  that  in  his  search  for  Latin 
terms  for  technical  purposes  Agricola  relied  almost  wholly  upon  Pliny,  and  by  some  devotion 
to  the  latter  we  have  been  able  to  disentangle  some  very  puzzling  matters  of  nomenclature 
in  De  Re  Metallica,  of  which  the  term  molybdaena  may  be  cited  as  a  case  in  point. 

Vitruvius  was  a  Roman  architect  of  note  of  the  ist  Century  B.C.  His  work  of  ten 
books  contains  some  very  minor  references  to  pumps  and  machinery,  building  stones,  and  the 
preparation  of  pigments,  the  latter  involving  operations  from  which  metallurgical  deductions 
can  occasionally  be  safely  made.  His  works  were  apparently  first  printed  in  Rome  in  1496. 
There  are  many  editions  in  various  languages,  the  first  English  translation  being  from  the 
French  in  1692.  We  have  relied  upon  the  translation  of  Joseph  Gwilt,  London,  1875,  with 
such  alterations  as  we  have  considered  necessary. 

MEDIAEVAL  AUTHORS.  For  convenience  we  group  under  this  heading  the  writers 
of  interest  from  Roman  times  to  the  awakening  of  learning  in  the  early  loth  Century. 
Apart  from  Theophilus,  they  are  mostly  alchemists  ;  but,  nevertheless,  some  are  of  great 
importance  in  the  history  of  metallurgy  and  chemistry.  Omitting  a  horde  of  lesser  lights 
upon  whom  we  have  given  some  data  under  the  author's  preface,  the  works  principally  con- 
cerned are  those  ascribed  to  Avicenna,  Theophilus,  Geber,  Albertus  Magnus,  Roger  Bacon, 
and  Basil  Valentine.  Judging  from  the  Preface  to  De  Re  Metallica,  and  from  quotations  in  his 
subsidiary  works,  Agricola  must  have  been  not  only  familiar  with  a  wide  range  of  alchemistic 
material,  but  also  with  a  good  deal  of  the  Arabic  literature,  which  had  been  translated  into 
Latin.  The  Arabs  were,  of  course,  the  only  race  which  kept  the  light  of  science  burning 
during  the  Dark  Ages,  and  their  works  were  in  considerable  vogue  at  Agricola's  time. 

Avicenna  (980-1037)  was  an  Arabian  physician  of  great  note,  a  translator  of  the  Greek 
classics  into  Arabic,  and  a  follower  of  Aristotle  to  the  extent  of  attempting  to  reconcile  the 
Peripatetic  elements  with  those  of  the  alchemists.  He  is  chiefly  known  to  the  world  through 
the  works  which  he  compiled  on  medicine,  mostly  from  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors.  These 
works  for  centuries  dominated  the  medical  world,  and  were  used  in  certain  European  Univer- 
sities until  the  I7th  century.  A  great  many  works  are  attributed  to  him,  and  he  is  copiously 
quoted  by  Agricola,  principally  in  his  De  Ortu  et  Causis,  apparently  for  the  purpose  of 
exposure. 


APPENDIX    B.  609 

Theophilus  was  a  Monk  and  the  author  of  a  most  illuminating  work,  largely  upon 
working  metal  and  its  decoration  for  ecclesiastical  purposes.  An  excellent  translation,  with 
the  Latin  text,  was  published  by  Robert  Hendrie,  London,  1847,  under  the  title  "  An  Essay 
upon  various  Arts,  in  three  books,  by  Theophilus,  called  also  Rugerus,  Priest  and  Monk." 
Hendrie,  for  many  sufficient  reasons,  places  the  period  of  Theophilus  as  the  latter  half  of  the 
nth  century.  The  work  is  mainly  devoted  to  preparing  pigments,  making  glass,  and  working 
metals,  and  their  conversion  into  ecclesiastical  paraphernalia,  such  as  mural  decoration, 
pictures,  windows,  chalices,  censers,  bells,  organs,  etc.  However,  he  incidentally  describes 
the  making  of  metallurgical  furnaces,  cupellation,  parting  gold  and  silver  by  cementation 
with  salt,  and  by  melting  with  sulphur,  the  smelting  of  copper,  liquating  lead  from  it,  and  the 
refining  of  copper  under  a  blast  with  poling. 

Geber  was  until  recent  years  considered  to  be  an  Arab  alchemist  of  a  period  somewhere 
between  the  7th  and  I2th  centuries.  A  mere  bibliography  of  the  very  considerable  literature 
which  exists  in  discussion  of  who,  where,  and  at  what  time  the  author  was,  would  fill  pages. 
Those  who  are  interested  may  obtain  a  start  upon  such  references  from  Hermann  Kopp's  Bei- 
trage  zur  Geschichte  der  Chemie,  Braunschweig,  1875,  and  in  John  Ferguson's  Bibliotheca  Chemica, 
Glasgow,  1906.  Berthelot,  in  his  Chimie  au  Moyen  Age,  Paris,  1893,  considers  the  works  under 
the  name  of  Geber  were  not  in  the  main  of  Arabic  origin,  but  composed  by  some  Latin  scholar 
in  the  i3th  century.  In  any  event,  certain  works  were,  under  this  name,  printed  in  Latin  as 
early  as  1470-80,  and  have  passed  innumerable  editions  since  They  were  first  translated  into 
English  by  Richard  Russell,  London,  1678,  and  we  have  relied  upon  this  and  the  Nuremberg 
edition  in  Latin  of  1541.  This  work,  even  assuming  Berthelot's  view,  is  one  of  the  most 
important  in  the  history  of  chemistry  and  metallurgy,  and  is  characterised  by  a  directness 
of  statement  unique  among  alchemists.  The  making  of  the  mineral  acids — certainly  nitric  and 
aqua  regia,  and  perhaps  hydrochloric  and  sulphuric — are  here  first  described.  The  author 
was  familiar  with  saltpetre,  sal-ammoniac,  and  alkali,  and  with  the  acids  he  prepared  many 
salts  for  the  first  time.  He  was  familiar  with  amalgamation,  cupellation,  the  separation  of 
gold  and  silver  by  cementation  with  salt  and  by  nitric  acid.  His  views  on  the  primary  com- 
position of  bodies  dominated  the  alchemistic  world  for  centuries.  He  contended  that  all 
metals  were  composed  of  "  spiritual  "  sulphur  (or  arsenic,  which  he  seems  to  consider  a  special 
form  of  sulphur)  and  quicksilver,  varying  proportions  and  qualities  yielding  different  metals. 
The  more  the  quicksilver,  the  more  "  perfect  "  the  metal. 

Albertus  Magnus  (Albert  von  Bollstadt)  was  a  Dominican  Monk,  afterwards  Bishop, 
born  about  1205,  and  died  about  1280.  He  was  rated  the  most  learned  man  of  his  time,  and 
evidence  of  his  literary  activities  lies  in  the  complete  edition  of  his  works  issued  by  Pierre 
Jammy,  Lyons,  1651,  which  comprises  21  folio  volumes.  However,  there  is  little  doubt  that 
a  great  number  of  works  attributed  to  him,  especially  upon  alchemy,  are  spurious.  He 
covered  a  wide  range  of  theology,  logic,  alchemy,  and  natural  science,  and  of  the  latter  the 
following  works  which  concern  our  subject  are  considered  genuine  : — De  Rebus  Metallicis  et 
Mineralibus,  De  Generatione  et  Corruptione,  and  De  Meteoris.  They  are  little  more  than 
compilations  and  expositions  of  the  classics  muddled  with  the  writings  of  the  Arabs,  and  in 
general  an  attempt  to  conciliate  the  Peripatetic  and  Alchemistic  schools.  His  position  in  the 
history  of  science  has  been  greatly  over-estimated.  However,  his  mineralogy  is,  except  for 
books  on  gems,  the  only  writing  of  any  consequence  at  all  on  the  subject  between  Pliny  and 
Agricola,  and  while  there  are  but  two  or  three  minerals  mentioned  which  are  not  to  be  found 
in  the  ancient  authors,  this  work,  nevertheless,  deserves  some  place  in  the  history  of  science, 
especially  as  some  attempt  at  classification  is  made.  Agricola  devotes  some  thousands  of 
words  to  the  refutation  of  his  "  errors." 

Roger  Bacon  (1214-1294)  was  a  Franciscan  Friar,  a  lecturer  at  Oxford,  and  a  man  of 
considerable  scientific  attainments  for  his  time.  He  was  the  author  of  a  large  number  of 
mathematical,  philosophical,  and  alchemistic  treatises.  The  latter  are  of  some  importance 
in  the  history  of  chemistry,  but  have  only  minute  bearing  upon  metallurgy,  and  this  chiefly 
as  being  one  of  the  earliest  to  mention  saltpetre. 

Basil  Valentine  is  the  reputed  author  of  a  number  of  alchemistic  works,  of  which  none 
appeared  in  print  until  early  in  the  I7th  century.  Internal  evidence  seems  to  indicate  that 
the  "  Triumphant  Chariot  6f  Antimony"  is  the  only  one  which  may  possibly  be  authentic, 
and  could  not  have  been  written  prior  to  the  end  of  the  I5th  or  early  i6th  century,  although 
it  has  been  variously  placed  as  early  as  1350.  To  this  work  has  been  accredited  the  first 
mention  of  sulphuric  and  hydrochloric  acid,  the  separation  of  gold  and  silver  by  the  use  of 
antimony  (sulphide),  the  reduction  of  the  antimony  sulphide  to  the  metal,  the  extraction  of 
copper  by  the  precipitation  of  the  sulphate  with  iron,  and  the  discovery  of  various  antimonial 
salts.  At  the  time  of  the  publication  of  works  ascribed  to  Valentine  practically  all  these 
things  were  well  known,  and  had  been  previously  described.  We  are,  therefore,  in  much  doubt 
as  to  whether  this  author  really  deserves  any  notice  in  the  history  of  metallurgy. 

EARLY  i6TH  CENTURY  WORKS.  During  the  i6tb  century,  and  prior  to  De  Re 
Metallica,  there  are  only  three  works  of  importance  from  the  point  of  view  of  mining  tech- 
nology— the  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin,  the  Probierbuchlein,  and  Biringuccio's  De  La  Pirotechnia. 
There  are  also  some  minor  works  by  the  alchemists  of  some  interest  for  isolated  statements, 
particularly  those  of  Paracelsus.  The  three  works  mentioned,  however,  represent  such  a 


6io 


APPENDIX    B. 


stride  of  advance  over  anything  previous,  that  they  merit  careful  consideration. 

Eyn  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin.  Under  this  title  we  frequently  refer  to  a  little  booklet  on 
veins  and  ores,  published  at  the  beginning  of  the  i6th  century.  The  title  page  of  our  copy  is 
as  below  :  — 


btfcblm  von  alien  a&eta 


vom  (kuecfftlber. 


This  book  is  small  8vo,  comprises  24  folios  without  pagination,  and  has  no  typographical 

indications  upon  the  title  page,  but  the  last  line  in  the  book  reads  :   Gedruckt  zu  Erffurd  durch 

Johan  Loersfelt,  1527.     Another  edition  in  our  possession,  that  of    "  Frankfurt  am  Meyn", 

1533.  by  Christian  Egenolph,  is  entitled  Bergwerk  und  Probierbuchlin,  etc.,  and  contains, 

besides  the  above,  an  extract  and  plates  from  the  Probierbuchlein  (referred  to  later  on), and  a  few 

recipes  for  assay  tests.     All  of  these  booklets,  of  which  we  find  mention,  comprise  instructions 

from  Daniel,  a  skilled  miner,  to  Knappius,  "  his  mining  boy".     Although  the  little  books  of 

this  title  are  all  anonymous,  we  are  convinced,  largely  from  the  statement  in  the  Preface  of 

De  Re  Metallica,  that  one  Calbus  of  Freiberg  was  the  original  author  of  this  work.     Agricola 

says  :  "  Two  books  have  been  written  in  our  tongue  :  the  one  on  the  assaying  of  mineral  sub- 

'  stances  and  metals,  somewhat  confused,  whose  author  is  unknown  ;   the  other   '  On  Veins', 

'  of  which  Pandulfus  Anglus  is  also  said  to  have  written,  although  the  German  book  was  written 

'  by  Calbus  of  Freiberg,  a  well-known  doctor  ;  but  neither  of  them  accomplished  the  task  he  had 

'  begun."     He  again  refers  to  Calbus  at  the  end  of  Book  III.2  of  De  Re  Metallica,  and  gives 

an  almost  verbatim  quotation  from  the   Nutzlich    Bergbuchlin.      Jacobi3    says  :   "  Calbus 

'  Fribergius,  so  called  by  Agricola  himself,  is  certainly  no  other  than  the  Freiberg  doctor, 

'  Riihlein  von  C(K)albe."     There  are  also  certain  internal  evidences  that  support  Agricola's 

statement,  for  the  work  was  evidently  written  in  Meissen,  and  the  statement  of  Agricola  that 

the  book  was  unfinished  is  borne  out  by  a  short  dialogue  at  the  end  of  the  earlier  editions, 

designed  to  introduce  further  discussion.     Calbus  (or  Dr.  Ulrich  Riihlein  von  Kalbe)  was  a  very 

active  citizen  of  Freiberg,  having  been  a  town  councillor  in  1509,  burgomaster  in  1514,  a 

mathematician,  mining  surveyor,  founder  of  a  school  of  liberal  arts,  and  in  general  a  physician. 

He  died  in  1523.*    The  book  possesses  great  literary  interest,  as  it  is,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 

2Page  75. 

3Der  Mineralog  Georgius  Agricola,  Zwickau,  1889,  p.  46. 

4Andreas  Moller,  Theatrum  Freibergense  Chronicum,  etc.,  Freiberg,  1653. 


APPENDIX    B.  611 

undoubtedly  the  first  work  on  mining  geology,  and  in  consequence  we  have  spent  some  effort 
in  endeavour  to  find  the  date  of  its  first  appearance.  Through  the  courtesy  of  M.  Polain, 
who  has  carefully  examined  for  us  the  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein  described  in  Marie  Pellechet's 
Catalogue  General  des  Incunables  des  Bibliotheques  Publiques  de  France, B  we  have  ascertained 
that  it  is  similar  as  regards  text  and  woodcuts  to  the  Erfurt  edition,  1527.  This  copy  in  the 
Bibliothique  Nationale  is  without  typographical  indications,  and  M.  Polain  considers  it 
very  possible  that  it  is  the  original  edition  printed  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  or  begininng  of 
the  sixteenth  centuries.  Mr.  Bennett  Brough,8  quoting  Hans  von  Dechen,7  states  that  the 
first  edition  was  printed  at  Augsburg  in  1505,  no  copy  of  which  seems  to  be  extant.  The 
Librarian  at  the  School  of  Mines  at  Freiberg  has  kindly  furnished  us  with  the  following  notes 
as  to  the  titles  of  the  copies  in  that  Institution  : — (i)  Eyn  Wolgeordent  und  Nutzlich  Bergbiich- 
lein, etc.,  Worms,  I5I28  and  1518*  (the  place  and  date  are  written  in)  ;  (2)  the  same  as  ours 
(1527)  ;  (3)  the  same,  Heinrich  Steyner,  Augsburg,  1534  ;  (4)  the  same,  1539.  On  comparing 
these  various  editions  (to  which  may  be  added  one  probably  published  in  Niirnberg  by  Fried- 
rich  Peypus  in  I53210)  we  find  that  they  fall  into  two  very  distinct  groups,  characterised  by 
their  contents  and  by  two  entirely  different  sets  of  woodcuts. 

GROUP    I. 

(a)  Eyn  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein  (in  Bibl.  Nat.,  Paris)  before  1500  (?). 

(b)  Ditto,  Erfurt,  1527. 

GROUP   II. 

(c)  Wolgeordent  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein,  Worms,  Peter  Schofern,  1512. 

(d)  Wolgeordent  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein,  Worms,  Peter  Schofern,  1518. 

(e)  Bergbiichlin  von  Erkantnus  der  Berckwerck,  Niirnberg,  undated,  1532  (?). 

(/)     Bergwerckbuch  &  Probirbuch,  Christian  Egenolph,  Frankfurt-am-Meyn,  1533. 

(?)    Wolgeordent  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein,  Augsburg,  Heinrich  Steyner,  1534. 

(h)  Wolgeordent  Nutzlich  Bergbiichlein,  Augsburg,  Heinrich  Steyner,  1539. 
There  are  also  others  of  later  date  toward  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
The  Buchlein  of  Group  I.  terminate  after  the  short  dialogue  between  Daniel  and  Knappius 
with  the  words  :  Mitt  welchen  das  kleinspeissig  ertz  geschmeltzt  soil  werden  ;  whereas  in  those  of 
Group  II.  these  words  are  followed  by  a  short  explanation  of  the  signs  used  in  the  woodcuts, 
and  by  directions  for  colouring  the  woodcuts,  and  in  some  cases  by  several  pages  containing 
definitions  of  some  92  mining  terms.  In  the  editions  of  Group  I.  the  woodcut  on  the  title  page 
represents  a  miner  hewing  ore  in  a  vein  and  two  others  working  a  windlass.  In  those  of 
Group  II.  the  woodcut  on  the  title  page  represents  one  miner  hewing  on  the  surface,  another  to 
the  right  carting  away  ore  in  a  handcart,  and  two  others  carrying  between  them  a  heavy 
timber.  In  our  opinion  Group  I.  represents  the  older  and  original  work  of  Calbus  ;  but  as  we 
have  not  seen  the  copy  in  the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  and  the  Augsburg  edition  of  1505  has  only 
so  far  been  traced  to  Veith's  catalogue,11  the  question  of  the  first  edition  cannot  be  considered 
settled  at  present.  In  any  event,  it  appears  that  the  material  grafted  on  in  the  second  group 
was  later,  and  by  various  authors. 

The  earliest  books  comprise  ten  chapters,  in  which  Daniel  delivers  about  6,000  words 
of  instruction.  The  first  four  chapters  are  devoted  to  the  description  of  veins  and  the  origin 
of  the  metals,  of  the  remaining  six  chapters  one  each  to  silver,  gold,  tin,  copper,  iron, 
lead,  and  quicksilver.  Among  the  mining  terms  are  explained  the  meaning  of  country  rock 
(zechstein),  hanging  and  footwalls  (hangends  and  liegends),  the  strike  (streichen),  dip  (fallen), 
and  outcrop  (ausgehen).  Of  the  latter  two  varieties  are  given,  one  of  the  "  whole  vein," 
the  other  of  the  gesteins,  which  may  be  the  ore-shoot.  Various  veins  are  illustrated,  and  also 
for  the  first  time  a  mining  compass.  The  account  of  the  origin  of  the  metals  is  a  muddle 
of  the  Peripatetics,  the  alchemists,  and  the  astrologers,  for  which  acknowledgment  to  Albertus 
Magnus  is  given.  They  are  represented  to  originate  from  quicksilver  and  sulphur  through 
heat,  cold,  dampness,  and  dryness,  and  are  drawn  out  as  exhalations  through  the  veins,  each 
metal  owing  its  origin  to  the  special  influence  of  some  planet ;  the  Moon  for  silver,  Saturn  for 
lead,  etc.  Two  types  of  veins  are  mentioned,  "  standing  "  (stehendergang)  and  flat  (fiach- 
gang).  Stringers  are  given  the  same  characteristics  as  veins,  but  divided  into  hanging,  foot- 
wall,  and  other  varieties.  Prominence  is  also  given  to  the  geschick  (selvage  seams  or  joints  ?). 

'Paris,  1897,  Vol.  i.  p.  501. 

•Cantor  Lectures,  London,  April  1892. 

7Hans  von  Dechen,  Das  alteste  deutsche  Bergwerksbuch,  reprint  from  Zts.  fur  Bergrecht 
Bd.  xxvi.,  Bonn,  1885. 

8Panzer's  Annalen,  Niirnberg,  1782,  p.  422,  gives  an  edition  Worms  bei  Peter  Schofern, 
1512. 

The  Royal  Library  at  Dresden  and  the  State  Library  at  Munich  have  each  a  copy, 
dated  1518,  Worms. 

IOHans  von  Decken  op.  cit.,  p.  48-49. 

llAnnales  typographiae  augustanae  ab  ejus  origine,  MCCCLXVI.  usque  ad.  an.  M.D.XXX. 
Accedit  dom  Franc.  Ant.  Veith.  Diatribe  de  origine  .  .  .  artis  typographicae  in  urbe  augusta 
vindelica  edidit  .  .  .  Georgius  G.  Zapf.,  Augsburg,  1778,  x.  p.  23. 


6l2 


APPENDIX    B. 


The  importance  of  the  bearing  of  the  junctions  of  veins  and  stringers  on  enrichment  is  elabor- 
ated upon,  and  veins  of  east-west  strike  lying  upon  a  south  slope  are  considered  the  best. 
From  the  following  notes  it  will  be  seen  that  two  or  three  other  types  of  deposits  besides  veins 
are  referred  to. 

In  describing  silver  veins,  of  peculiar  interest  is  the  mention  of  the  association  of  bismuth 
(wiimuth),  this  being,  we  believe,  the  first  mention  of  that  metal,  galena  (glantz),  quartz  (quertz), 
spar  (spar),  hornstone  (hornsteiri),  ironstone  and  pyrites  (kies),  are  mentioned  as  gangue 
materials,  "  according  to  the  mingling  of  the  various  vapours."  The  term  glasertz  is  used, 
but  it  is  difficult  to  say  if  silver  glance  is  meant ;  if  so,  it  is  the  first  mention  of  this  mineral. 
So  far  as  we  know,  this  is  the  first  use  of  any  of  the  terms  in  print.  Gold  alluvial  is  described, 
part  of  the  gold  being  assumed  as  generated  in  the  gravel.  The  best  alluvial  is  in  streams 
running  east  and  west.  The  association  of  gold  with  pyrites  is  mentioned,  and  the  pyrites  is 
found  "  in  some  places  as  a  complete  stratum  carried  through  horizontally,  and  is  called  a 
schwebender  gang."  This  sort  of  occurrence  is  not  considered  very  good  "  because  the  work 
of  the  heavens  can  be  but  little  completed  on  account  of  the  unsuitability  of  the  position." 
Gold  pyrites  that  comes  in  veins  is  better.  Tin  is  mentioned  as  found  in  alluvial,  and  also  in 
veins,  the  latter  being  better  or  worse,  according  to  the  amount  of  pyrites,  although  the  latter 
can  be  burned  off.  Tin-stone  is  found  in  masses,  copper  ore  in  schist  and  in  veins  sometimes 
with  pyrites.  The  ore  from  veins  is  better  than  schist.  Iron  ore  is  found  in  masses,  and 
sometimes  in  veins  ;  the  latter  is  the  best.  "  The  iron  veins  with  good  hanging-  and  foot- 
"  walls  are  not  to  be  despised,  especially  if  their  strike  be  from  east  to  west,  their  dip  to  the 
"  south,  the  foot-wall  and  outcrop  to  the  north,  then  if  the  ironstone  is  followed  down,  the 
"  vein  usually  reveals  gold  or  other  valuable  ore".  Lead  ore  is  found  in  schwebenden  gang 
and  stehenden  gang.  Quicksilver,  like  other  ore,  is  sometimes  found  in  brown  earth,  and 
sometimes,  again,  in  caves  where  it  has  run  out  like  water.  The  classification  of  veins  is  the 
same  as  in  De  Re  Metattica.1*  The  book  generally,  however,  seems  to  have  raised  Agricola's 
opposition,  for  the  quotations  are  given  in  order  to  be  demolished. 

Probierbuchlein.  Agricola  refers  in  the  Preface  of  De  Re  Metattica  to  a  work  in  German 
on  assaying  and  refining  metals,  and  it  is  our  belief  that  it  was  to  some  one  of  the  little  assay 
books  published  early  in  the  i6th  century.  There  are  several  of  them,  seemingly  revised 
editions  of  each  other  ;  in  the  early  ones  no  author's  name  appears,  although  among  the 
later  editions  various  names  appear  on  the  title  page.  An  examination  of  these  little  books 
discloses  the  fact  that  their  main  contents  are  identical,  for  they  are  really  collections  of 
recipes  after  the  order  of  cookery  books,  and  intended  rather  to  refresh  the  memory  of  those 


ptobtmnfolU 


ercF  Uritett/  *>n  fcauf 
berlftetatt  5$  rniij  micgroffent  f 


llSee  p.  44 


APPENDIX     B. 


613 


already  skilled  than  to  instruct  the  novice.  The  books  appear  to  have  grown  by  accretions 
from  many  sources,  for  a  large  number  of  methods  are  given  over  and  over  again  in  the  same 
book  with  slight  variations.  We  reproduce  the  title  page  of  our  earliest  copy. 


The  following  is  a  list  of  these  booklets  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  discover  actual 

copies  :- 

Date. 

Place. 

Publisher. 

Title  (Short). 

A  uthor. 

Un- 

Unknown 

Unknown 

Probierbuchlein 

Anon. 

known 

(Undated  ; 

but  catalogue  of 

British  Museum  suggests  Augsburg,  1510.) 

1524 

Magdeburg 

Probirbuchleyn   tzu  Gotteslob 

Anon. 

1531 

Augsburg 

Unknown 

Probierbuch  aller  Sachsischer 

Anon. 

Ertze 

1533 

Frankfurt  a. 

Bergwerck  und  Probierbuch- 

Anon. 

Meyn 

lein 

1534 

Augsburg 

Heinrich  Stey- 

Probirbuchlein 

Anon. 

ner,  8vo. 

1546 

Augsburg 

Ditto,  ditto 

Probirbuchlein 

Anon. 

1549 

Augsburg 

Ditto,  ditto 

Probirbuchlein 

Anon. 

1564 

Augsburg 

Math.  Francke, 

Probirbuchlein 

Zach.  Lochner 

4to 

1573 

Augsburg 

8vo. 

Probirbuch 

Sam.  Zimmermann 

1574 

Franckfurt  a. 

Probierbuchlein 

Anon. 

Meyn 

1578 

Ditto 

Probierbuchlein  Fremde  und 

Cyriacus 

subtile  Kunst 

Schreittmann 

1580 

Ditto 

Probierbuchlein 

Anon. 

1595 

Ditto 

Probierbuchlein  darinn  griind- 

Modestin  Fachs 

1607 
1669 

1678 
1689 
1695 

1744 
1755 

1782 


Dresden 

Amsterdam 
Leipzig 
Leipzig 
Niirnberg 

Liibeck 
Frankfurt  and 

Leipzig 
Rotenburg  an 

der  Fulde 


4to 


i2mo. 

8vo. 

8vo. 

8vo. 


licher  Bericht 
Metallische  Probier  Kunst 
Bericht  vont  Ursprung  und 

Erkenntniss   der  Metallis- 

chen  erze 
Probierbuchlein  darinn  grund- 

licher  Bericht 
Probierbuchlein  darinn  grund- 

licher  Bericht 
Probierbuchlein  darinn  griind- 

licher  Bericht 

Deutliche  Vorstellung  der  Pro- 
bier  Kunst 

Neu-eroffnete  Probier  Buch 
Scheid-Kunstler    .  .  .  alle  Ertz 

und  Metalle  .  .  .  probiren 
Probierbuch  aus  Erfahrung 

aufgesetzt 


C.  C.  Schindler 

Modestin  Fachs 
Modestin  Fachs 
Modestin  Fachs 
Anon. 

Anon. 
Anon. 

K.  A.  Scheidt 


As  mentioned  under  the  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlein,  our  copy  of  that  work,  printed  in  1533, 
contains  only  a  portion  of  the  Probierbuchlein.  Ferguson18  mentions  an  edition  of  1608,  and  the 
Freiberg  School  of  Mines  Catalogue  gives  also  Frankfort,  1608,  and  Niirnberg,  1706.  The 
British  Museum  copy  of  earliest  date,  like  the  title  page  reproduced,  contains  no  date.  The 
title  page  woodcut,  however,  in  the  Museum  copy  is  referred  from  that  above,  possibly  indi- 
cating an  earlier  date  of  the  Museum  copy. 

The  booklets  enumerated  above  vary  a  great  deal  in  contents,  the  successive  prints 
representing  a  sort  of  growth  by  accretion.  The  first  portion  of  our  earliest  edition  is  devoted 
to  weights,  in  which  the  system  of  "  lesser  weights  "  (the  principle  of  the  "  assay  ton  ")  is 
explained.  Following  this  are  exhaustive  lists  of  touch-needles  of  various  composition. 
Directions  are  given  with  regard  to  assay  furnaces,  cupels,  muffles,  scorifiers,  and  crucibles, 
granulated  and  leaf  metals,  for  washing,  roasting,  and  the  preparation  of  assay  charges. 
Various  reagents,  including  glass-gall,  litharge,  salt,  iron  filings,  lead,  "alkali",  talc,  argol, 
saltpetre,  sal-ammoniac,  alum,  vitriol,  lime,  sulphur,  antimony,  aqua  fortis,  or  scheid- 
wasser,  etc.,  are  made  use  of.  Various  assays  are  described  and  directions  given  for  crucible, 
scorification,  and  cupellation  tests.  The  latter  part  of  the  book  is  devoted  to  the  refining 
and  parting  of  precious  metals.  Instructions  are  given  for  the  separation  of  silver  from  iron, 
from  lead,  and  from  antimony  ;  of  gold  from  silver  with  antimony  (sulphide)  and  sulphur,  or 
with  sulphur  alone,  with  "  scheidwasser ,"  and  by  cementation  with  salt ;  of  gold  from  copper 
with  sulphur  and  with  lead.  The  amalgamation  of  gold  and  silver  is  mentioned. 


l3Bibliotheca  Chemica. 


614 


APPENDIX    B. 


The  book  is  diffuse  and  confused,  and  without  arrangement  or  system,  yet  a  little 
consideration  enables  one  of  experience  to  understand  most  statements.  There  are  over  120 
recipes,  with,  as  said  before,  much  repetition  ;  for  instance,  the  parting  of  gold  and  silver 
by  use  of  sulphur  is  given  eight  times  in  different  places.  The  final  line  of  the  book  is  :  "  Take 
this  in  good  part,  dear  reader,  after  it,  please  God,  there  will  be  a  better."  In  truth,  however, 
there  are  books  on  assaying  four  centuries  younger  that  are  worse.  This  is,  without  doubt, 
the  first  written  word  on  assaying,  and  it  displays  that  art  already  full  grown,  so  far  as  con- 
cerns gold  and  silver,  and  to  some  extent  copper  and  lead ;  for  if  we  eliminate  the  words 
dependent  on  the  atomic  theory  from  modern  works  on  dry  assaying,  there  has  been  but  very 
minor  progress.  The  art  could  not,  however,  have  reached  this  advanced  stage  but  by  slow 
accretion,  and  no  doubt  this  collection  of  recipes  had  been  handed  from  father  to  son  long 
before  the  i6th  century.  It  is  of  wider  interest  that  these  booklets  represent  the  first  milestone 
on  the  road  to  quantitative  analysis,  and  in  this  light  they  have  been  largely  ignored  by  the 
historians  of  chemistry.  Internal  evidence  in  Book  VII.  of  De  Re  Metallica,  together  with 
the  reference  in  the  Preface,  leave  little  doubt  that  Agricola  was  familiar  with  these  book- 
lets. His  work,  however,  is  arranged  more  systematically,  each  operation  stated  more  clearly, 
with  more  detail  and  fresh  items  ;  and  further,  he  gives  methods  of  determining  copper  and 
lead  which  are  but  minutely  touched  upon  in  the  Probierbtichlein,  while  the  directions  as  to  tin, 
bismuth,  quicksilver,  and  iron  are  entirely  new. 

Biringuccio  (Vanuccio).  We  practically  know  nothing  about  this  author.  From  the 
preface  to  the  first  edition  of  his  work  it  appears  he  was  styled  a  mathematician,  but  in  the 
text1*  he  certainly  states  that  he  was  most  of  his  time  engaged  in  metallurgical  operations, 
and  that  in  pursuit  of  such  knowledge  he  had  visited  Germany.  The  work  was  in  Italian, 
published  at  Venice  in  1540,  the  title  page  of  the  first  edition  as  below  : — 


DE  LA   PIRO 

TECHNIA. 

LIBR.I.X.DOVE  AMPIAMEN 
te  fi  tratta  non  Colo  di  ogni  forte  66  di/ 
uerfita  di  Mimere,  ma  anchora  quan 
to  fi  ricerca  intornoa  la  prattica  di 
quelle  cofe  di  quel  che  fi  appartiene 
a  L'arce  de  la  fufione  ouer  gitto  de  me 
tallt  come  d'ogni  alcra  cofa  iimile  a 
Compofli  per il,  S. Vanoc^ 
cio  Biringuccio  Sennefe. 

Con  Priuilegio  Apoftolico  86  dela 
CefareaJMaefta&del  HlaftrifeJSaja 


"Book  I.,  Chap.  2. 


APPENDIX    B.  615 

It  comprises  ten  chapters  in  168  folios  demi-octavo.  Other  Italian  editions  of  which 
we  find  some  record  are  the  second  at  Venice,  1552  ;  third,  Venice,  1558  ;  fourth,  Venice, 
1559  ;  fifth,  Bologna,  1678.  A  French  translation,  by  Jacques  Vincent,  was  published  in 
Paris,  1556,  and  this  translation  was  again  published  at  Rouen  in  1627.  Of  the  ten  chapters  the 
last  six  are  almost  wholly  devoted  to  metal  working  and  founding,  and  it  is  more  largely  for 
this  description  of  the  methods  of  making  artillery,  munitions  of  war  and  bells  that  the  book 
is  celebrated.  In  any  event,  with  the  exception  of  a  quotation  which  we  give  on  page  297  on 
silver  amalgamation,  there  is  little  of  interest  on  our  subject  in  the  latter  chapters.  The 
first  four  chapters  are  undoubtedly  of  importance  in  the  history  of  metallurgical  literature, 
and  represent  the  first  work  on  smelting.  The  descriptions  are,  however,  very  diffuse,  difficult 
to  follow,  and  lack  arrangement  and  detail.  But  like  the  Probierbtichlein,  the  fact  that  it  was 
written  prior  to  De  Re  Metallica  demands  attention  for  it  which  it  would  not  otherwise  receive. 
The  ores  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  lead,  tin,  and  iron  are  described,  but  much  interrupted  with 
denunciations  of  the  alchemists.  There  is  little  of  geological  or  mineralogical  interest,  he  too 
holding  to  a  muddle  of  the  classic  elements  astrology  and  alchemy.  He  has  nothing  of  con- 
sequence to  say  on  mining,  and  dismisses  concentration  with  a  few  words.  Upon  assaying 
his  work  is  not  so  useful  as  the  Probierbtichlein.  On  ore  smelting  he  describes  the  reduction 
of  iron  and  lead  ores  and  cupriferous  silver  or  gold  ores  with  lead.  He  gives  the  barest 
description  of  a  blast  furnace,  but  adds  an  interesting  account  of  a  reverbero  furnace.  He 
describes  liquation  as  consisting  of  one  operation  ;  the  subsequent  treatment  of  the  copper 
by  refining  with  an  oxidising  blast,  but  does  not  mention  poling ;  the  cupellation  of  argen- 
tiferous lead  and  the  reduction  of  the  litharge  ;  the  manufacture  of  nitric  acid  and  that 
method  of  parting  gold  and  silver.  He  also  gives  the  method  of  parting  with  antimony  and 
sulphur,  and  by  cementation  with  common  salt.  Among  the  side  issues,  he  describes  the 
method  of  making  brass  with  calamine  ;  of  making  steel ;  of  distilling  quicksilver  ;  of  melting 
out  sulphur  ;  of  making  vitriol  and  alum.  He  states  that  arsenico  and  orpimento  and  etrisa- 
gallio  (realgar)  are  the  same  substance,  and  are  used  to  colour  copper  white. 

In  general,  Biringuccio  should  be  accredited  with  the  first  description  (as  far  as  we 
are  aware)  of  silver  amalgamation,  of  a  reverberatory  furnace,  and  of  liquation,  although  the 
description  is  not  complete.  Also  he  is,  so  far  as  we  are  aware,  the  first  to  mention  cobalt 
blue  (Zaffre)  and  manganese,  although  he  classed  them  as  "  half  "  metals.  His  descriptions 
are  far  inferior  to  Agricola's  ;  they  do  not  compass  anything  like  the  same  range  of  metal- 
lurgy, and  betray  the  lack  of  a  logical  mind. 

Other  works.  There  are  several  works  devoted  to  mineralogy,  dating  from  the  fifteenth 
and  early  sixteenth  centuries,  which  were,  no  doubt,  available  to  Agricola  in  the  compilation  of 
his  De  Natura  Fossilium.  They  are,  however,  practically  all  compiled  from  the  jeweller's  point 
of  view  rather  than  from  that  of  the  miner.  Among  them  we  may  mention  the  poem  on 
precious  stones  by  Marbodaeus,  an  author  who  lived  from  1035  to  1123,  but  which  was  first 
printed  at  Vienna  in  1511 ;  Speculum  Lapidum,  a  work  on  precious  stones,  by  Camilli  Leonardi, 
first  printed  in  Venice  in  1502.  A  work  of  wider  interest  to  mineralogists  is  that  by  Christoph 
Entzelt  (or  Enzelius,  Encelio,  Encelius,  as  it  is  variously  given),  entitled  De  Re  Metallica, 
and  first  printed  in  1551.  The  work  is  five  years  later  than  De  Natura  Fossilium,  but  contains 
much  new  material  and  was  available  to  Agricola  prior  to  his  revised  editions. 


APPENDIX  C. 


WEIGHTS   AND    MEASURES. 


As  stated  in  the  preface,  the  nomenclature  to  be  adopted  for  weights  and  measures 
has  presented  great  difficulty.  Agricola  uses,  throughout,  the  Roman  and  the  Romanized 
Greek  scales,  but  in  many  cases  he  uses  these  terms  merely  as  lingual  equivalents  for  the 
German  quantities  of  his  day.  Moreover  the  classic  language  sometimes  failed  him,  where- 
upon he  coined  new  Latin  terms  adapted  from  the  Roman  scale,  and  thus  added  further 
confusion.  We  can,  perhaps,  make  the  matter  clearer  by  an  illustration  of  a  case  in  weights. 
The  Roman  ceniumpondium,  composed  of  100  librae,  the  old  German  centner  of  100  pfundt, 
and  the  English  hundredweight  of  112  pounds  can  be  called  lingual  equivalents.  The  first 
weighs  about  494,600  Troy  grains,  the  second  721,900,  and  the  third  784,000.  While  the 
divisions  of  the  centum pondium  and  the  centner  are  the  same,  the  libra  is  divided  into  12  unciae 
and  the  pfundt  into  16  untzen,  and  in  most  places  a  summation  of  the  units  given  proves  that 
the  author  had  in  mind  the  Roman  ratios.  However,  on  p.  509  he  makes  the  direct  statement 
that  the  centumpondium  weighs  146  librae,  which  would  be  about  the  correct  weight  if  the 
centumpondium  referred  to  was  a  centner.  If  we  take  an  example  such  as  "  each  centum- 
pondium of  lead  contains  one  uncia  of  silver",  and  reduce  it  according  to  purely  lingual  equiva- 
lents, we  should  find  that  it  runs  24.3  Troy  ounces  per  short  ton,  on  the  basis  of  Roman 
values,  and  i8'25  ounces  per  short  ton,  on  the  basis  of  old  German.  If  we  were  to  trans- 
late these  into  English  lingual  equivalents  of  one  ounce  per  hundredweight,  then  the  value 
would  be  17.9  ounces  per  short  ton. 

Several  possibilities  were  open  in  translation  :  first,  to  calculate  the  values  accur- 
ately in  the  English  units  ;  second,  to  adopt  the  nearest  English  lingual  equivalent ;  third, 
to  introduce  the  German  scale  of  the  period  ;  or,  fourth,  to  leave  the  original  Latin  in  the 
text.  The  first  would  lead  to  an  indefinite  number  of  decimals  and  to  constant  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  values,  upon  which  calculations  were  to  be  based,  were  Roman  or  German.  The 
second,  that  is  the  substitution  of  lingual  equivalents,  is  objectionable,  not  only  because 
it  would  indicate  values  not  meant  by  the  author,  but  also  because  we  should  have,  like 
Agricola,  to  coin  new  terms  to  accommodate  the  lapses  in  the  scales,  or  again  to  use  decimals. 
In  the  third  case,  that  is  in  the  use  of  the  old  German  scale,  while  it  would  be  easier  to  adapt 
than  the  English,  it  would  be  more  unfamiliar  to  most  readers  than  the  Latin,  and  not  so 
expressive  in  print,  and  further,  in  some  cases  would  present  the  same  difficulties  of  cal- 
culation as  in  using  the  English  scale.  Nor  does  the  contemporary  German  translation  of  De 
Re  Metallica  prove  of  help,  for  its  translator  adopted  only  lingual  equivalents,  and  in  conse- 
quence the  summation  of  his  weights  often  gives  incorrect  results.  From  all  these  possibilities 
we  have  chosen  the  fourth,  that  is  simply  to  reproduce  the  Latin  terms  for  both  weights  and 
measures.  We  have  introduced  into  the  footnotes  such  reductions  to  the  English  scale  as  we 
considered  would  interest  readers.  We  have,  however,  digressed  from  the  rule  in  two  cases, 
in  the  adoption  of  "  foot "  for  the  Latin  pes,  and  "  fathom  "  for  passus.  Apart  from  the  fact 
that  these  were  not  cases  where  accuracy  is  involved,  Agricola  himself  explains  (p.  77) 
that  he  means  the  German  values  for  these  particular  terms,  which,  fortunately,  fairly  closely 
approximate  to  the  English.  Further,  we  have  adopted  the  Anglicized  words  "  digit ", 
"  palm",  and  "cubit",  instead  of  their  Latin  forms. 

For  purposes  of  reference,  we  reproduce  the  principal  Roman  and  old  German  scales, 
in  so  far  as  they  are  used  by  Agricola  in  this  work,  with  their  values  in  English.  All  students 
of  weights  and  measures  will  realize  that  these  values  are  but  approximate,  and  that  this  is 
not  an  occasion  to  enter  upon  a  discussion  of  the  variations  in  different  periods  or  by  different 
authorities.  Agricola  himself  is  the  author  of  one  of  the  standard  works  on  Ancient  Weights 
and  Measures  (see  Appendix  A),  and  further  gives  fairly  complete  information  on  contem- 
porary scales  of  weight  and  fineness  for  precious  metals  in  Book  vn.  p.  262  etc.,  to  which 
we  refer  readers. 

ROMAN   SCALES   OF   WEIGHTS. 

Troy  Grains. 

i  Siliqua                           ..                 . .  2.87 

6  Siliquae       •=     i  Scripulum           . ,  17.2 

4  Scripula       =     i  Sextula                . .  68.7 

6  Sextulae       =     i  Uncia                  . .  412.2 

12  Unciae         =     i  Libra                    . .  4946.4 

100  Librae          =     i  Centumpondium  . .  494640.0 
Also 

1  Scripulum    =                 . .                 . .  17.2 

3  Scripula       =     i  Drachma  . .  51.5 

2  Drachmae     =     I  Sicilicus  . .  103.0 

4  Sicilici         =     i  Uncia  . .          412.2 
8  Unciae         -     I  Bes  ..  ..         3297.6 


APPENDIX     C. 


617 


SCALE   OF   FINENESS 
(AGRICOLA'S  ADAPTATION). 

4  Siliquae  =  i  Unit  of  Siliquae 

3  Units  of  Siliquae  =  i  Semi-sextula 

4  Semi-sextulae  =  i  Duella 
24  Duellae  =  i  Bes 


WJji^          » 

-Ji-iXiTi.rHI        *JV^njL»jLj 

Troy  Grains. 

i  Pfennig 

= 

14.1 

4  Pfennige 

i  Quintlein 

56.4 

4  Quintlein 

=     i  Lo#» 

225.6 

2,  Loth 

=     I   Unlzen 

451.2 

8   C/nfeen 

=     I  MarA 

3609.6 

2  Mark 

=     i  P/wn<ft 

7219.2 

100  Pfundt 

=     I  Centner 

.  .     721920.0 

SCALE   OF   FINENESS. 


3  Grenlin 

4  Gran 
24  Krai 


I  Gran 
I  Krat 
I 


ROMAN    LONG   MEASURE. 


I  Digilus 

= 

.    . 

4  Digiti 

= 

I  Palmus 

4  Palmi 

= 

I  Pes 

ij  Ped.es 

— 

i  Cubitus 

5  Pedes 

=3 

I  Passus 

Inches. 
.726 
2.90 
11.61 


Also 


i  Roman   Uncia     — 
12   Unciae  •* 


Pes 


•97 
11.61 


GREEK    LONG    MEASURE. 


i  Dactylos 

„ 

f  t 

.758 

4  Dactyloi 

= 

i  Palaiste 

3-03 

4  Palaistai 

= 

I  POMS 

.  .       12.135 

ij  POMS 

= 

I  Pechus 

18.20 

6  POMS 

= 

i  Oryguia 

72.81 

OLD    GERMAN    LONG    MEASURE. 


Inches. 

I  Querfinger      — 

.  . 

.703 

1  6  Querfinger      = 

i  Werc&scAa 

\h  .  .       11.247 

2  Werckschuh   = 

i  Elle 

22.494 

3  £Uc 

I  Lachter 

.  .       67.518 

i  Zoll 
12  Zotf 


Also 


-     i  Werkschuh 


-85 


Quartarius 
Quartarii 
Sextarii 
16  Sextarii 
8  Congii 


4 
6 


ROMAN    LIQUID    MEASURE 

=     i  Sextarius 
=     I  Congius 
—     I  Moditis 


=     i 


A  mphora 


>ic  inches. 

Pints. 

8.6       .. 

.247 

31-4       •• 

.991 

206.4 

5-947 

550.4       •  • 

15-867 

1650.0 

47-577 

(Agricola  nowhere  uses  the  Saxon  liquid  measures,  nor  do  they  fall  into  units  comparable 

with  the  Roman). 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


NOTE. — The  numbers  in   heavy  type  refer  to  the  Text; 
those  in  plain    type    to  the   Footnotes,  Appendices,  etc. 


PAGE 

ABANDONMENT  OF  MINES  217 

ABERTHAM. 

Mines  at  74;    92;    74 

ABOLITE  H3 

Abstrich 465;    492 

ABYDOS. 

Gold  mines  of 26;    27 

Lead  figure  from 390 

Abfug   464;  465;    475 

Achates  (see  AGATE). 

ACCIDENTS  TO  MINERS  214 — 218 

ACCOUNTS  (Mining) 96 — 98 

ADIT  101 

Aeris  flos  (see  Copper  Flowers). 
Aeris  squama  (see  Copper  Scales). 

Aes  caldarium  109 

Acs  luteum  J09 

Aes  nigrum 109 

Aes  purum  fossile  (see  Native  Copper). 
Aes  rude  plumbei  color  is  (see  Copper 

Glance). 
Aes  ustum  (see  Roasted  Copper). 

Aetites  2 

AFRICA. 

Iron  420 

Tin 412 

AGATE  114 

AGRICULTURE. 

Mining  compared  with  5 

AILMENTS  OF  MINERS  (see  Maladies  of 
Miners) . 

AIR  CURRENTS  IN  MINES  121;    200 

ALABASTER 114 

ALCHEMISTS XXVII— XXX  ;    44;    608 

Agricola's  opinion  of XII;    XXVII. 

Amalgamation  297 

Assaying  248;    219 

Discovery  of  acids  439;    460 

Distillation  441 

ALJUSTREL  TABLET    83 — 84 

ALKALI  558 

ALLOYS.  ASSAYING  OF  247 — 252 

ALLUVIAL  MINING 321 — 348;  330 — 332 

ALSTON  MOOR 84 

ALTENBERG XXXI;    VI. 

Collapse  of  mine 218 

Miners  poisoned 214 

Tin  working  appliances 290;  304;    318 

ALUM    564—568;  564—570 

A  solidified  juice  1 

Elizabethan  Charter  283 

In  roasted  pyrites  350 

In  Sal  artificiosus   463 

Latin  and  German  terms  220;    221 

Papal  monopoly  570 

Use  in  making  nitric  acid 439;    460 

AMALGAM. 

Parting  the  gold  from   298;   297 

AMALGAMATION  297 

Of  gilt  objects 461 

Mills 295—299 

AMBER 34;   35 

AMETHYST    114 

Amiantus  (see  Asbestos). 

AMPULLA 445-447;   220 

ANNABERG  VI;   XXI;   42;   75;   75 

Profits  92 

ANT,  VENOMOUS 216 

ANTIMONY 220;  428;   354 

Minerals   110 

Smelting  of 400;   428 

Use  as  type-metal  2;    429 

ANTIMONY  SULPHIDE 220;  428;    451 

Parting  gold  and  silver  with    451  ;  451  ;   461 


Parting  gold  from  copper 
Parting  silver  and  iron 


463 
544 


PAGE 

ANTWERP,  SCALE  OF  WEIGHTS 263 

APEX  LAW 81;   83 — 86 

Aqua  regia  439;  441;   354 

Aqua  valens  (see  also  Nitric  Acid)... 

439—443;  439;    220 

Clarification  with  silver  443  ;    443 

Cleansing  gold-dust  with  396 

Parting  precious  metals  with  443 — 447 

Arbores  dissectae  (Lagging)   101 

ARCHIMEDES,  SCREW  OF    149 

ARCHITECTURE. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners  4 

Area  fodinarum  (see  Meer). 

ARGENTIFEROUS   COPPER   ORES, 

SMELTING  OF  404 — 407 

ARGENTITE  109 

Argenlum  purum  in  venis  (see  Native 
Silver). 

Argenlum   rude   plumbei   coloris    (s»e 
Silver  Glance). 

Argentum  rude  rubrum  translucidum 
(see  Ruby  Silver). 

ARGOL  234;   220 

As  a  flux 234;  238;   243 

Use  in  melting  silver  nitrate 447 

Use  in  smelting  gold  dust 396 — 398 

ARGONAUTS  330 

ARITHMETICAL  SCIENCE. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners...  4 

ARMENIA,  STONE  OF  115 

ARSENIC     (see    also    Orpiment    and 

Realgar)   Ill;    214 

Arsenicum Ill 

ARSENOPYRITE Ill 

ASBESTOS  440;  440;    114 

ASH-COLOURED  COPPER  

539—540;    540;    523—524;    492 

From  liquation    529 — 530 

ASHES  WHICH  WOOL  DYERS  USE  (see 

also  Potash) 233;  559;    220 

Use  in  assaying  236 — 238 

ASH  OF  LEAD 237—238;  237;    220 

ASH  OF  MUSK  IVY  (see  also  Potash 

and  Nitrum) 236—238;   220 

ASPHALT  581 

Asphaltites  (see  Dead  Sea). 

ASSAY  BALANCES  (see  Balances). 

ASSAY  FLUXES  (see  Fluxes). 

ASSAY  FURNACES  224—228;   220 

Crucible 226—227 

Muffle  224—228;   239 

ASSAYING  (see  also  Probierbuchlein)... 

219;   219;   220;  351 

Amalgamation  243 

Bismuth  247 

Copper 244 

Cupellation  240 

Gold  and  silver  alloys   248 

Gold  ore  242—244 

Iron  ore    247 

Lead  245-246 

Silver 242—245 

Silver  and  copper  alloys   249—250 

Tin .„. 246 

Tin  and  silver  alloys  251 

ASSAY  MUFFLES  (see  Muffles). 

ASSAY  TON 261;   242 

ASSYRIAN  COPPER  

ASTHMA 214 

ASTRONOMY. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners...  4 

ATARNEA. 

Mines  near  26;    27 

ATHENS. 

Mining  law  

Sea  power  and  mines 27 


620 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


PAGE 

ATHENS. 

Silver    mines    (see    Mt.    Laurion, 

Mines  of). 

A tramentum  Sutorium  (see  also  Vitriol)  572;    110 

A  tramentum  Sutorium  candidum  113 

Atramentum  Sutorium  rubrum 274;    274 

Aurichakum 409;    404 

Auripi^mentum  (see  Orpiment). 

AZURE  1;  109;    220 

An  indication  of  copper 116 

An  indication  of  gold 117 

Colour  of  flame  235 

AZURITE   109;  220;   402 


582 

582 
391 

9;  15 

42;  42 
264—265 
115 
77 
382 
153 
156 
220 
100 
419 
362 
245 
210 
586 
111 

77;   78 

92—93 
96 

95;    78 


230; 


BABEL,  TOWER  OF  

BABYLONIA. 

Bitumen  in 

Use  of  lead 

BABYTACE. 

Gold  buried  by  inhabitants 

BAEBELO 

BALANCES 224; 

BARITE  

BARMASTER,  OF  HIGH  PEAK 

BARS,  FOR  FURNACE  WORK  

BASKETS,  FOR  HOISTING   

BATEA  

BEER     

BELL,  TO  CALL  WORKMEN     .. 

BELLOWS 362 — 373; 

Ancient  use  of 354;    355; 

Assay  furnace  226; 

Mine  ventilation  with    207- 

BENI  HASSEN,  INSCRIPTIONS  AT  

Berg-geel  

BERGMEISTER  ...        33;   81;   95;    77; 

Deals  with  forfeited  shares  

Jurors  

BERGMEISTER'S  CLERK 

Bergzinober  (see  Quicksilver). 

BERMIUS   (BERMIUM),  MT.   (see  Mt. 
Bermius) . 

BISMUTH  433;   354;    220 

Assaying  ores  of  247 

Indication  of  silver 116 

Minerals   2;    111 

Smelting  of 433—437;   400 

The  "  roof  of  silver  "  117;   433 

Zaffre 112 

BITUMEN. 

Ancient  knowledge  of      220  ;    581—582  ;    354 

Colour  of  fumes 235 

Dead  Sea  33 

Distillation  581 

From  springs  582 

Harmful  to  metals  273 

Roasting  from  ore 273;    276;   351 

Solidified  juice 1 

Bituminosa  cadmia  (see  Cadmia 
bituminosa). 

BLAST,  REGULATION  OF 380;   386 

BLASTING  119 

BLENDE    113 

BLEYBERG    239 

BLOODSTONE    Ill;   2 

BLOOM 420 

niutstein  (see  Ironstone). 

BOHEMIA. 

Antimony  sulphide     

Pestilential  vapours   216 

Sifting  ore  in  293 

Smelting  384 

BONE-ASH  230;   466 

BORAX 560;   221;    110 

Method  of  manufacture  560 

Use  in  gold  smelting 444;    457;    464 

Use  in  assaying  245;    246 

BORNITE  109 

BOUNDARY  STONES 87;    129 

BOUNDARIES 77;   147 

BOWLS  FOR  ALLUVIAL  WASHING 

322;   324;   334;   336 


BRASS 

Ancient  methods  of  making 


410;    354;   2 
404—405;    112 


PAGE 

BREAKING  ORE  117 — 119 

BRICK  DUST. 

Used  in  cementation   454;   454 

Used  in  making  nitric  acid  440 

BRINE  (see  also  Salt). 

Evaporation  of    547 — 548 

BRITAIN. 

Lead-silver  smelting  392 

Miners  mentioned  by  Pliny 83 

Tin  trade  411—413 

BRITISH  MUSEUM. 

Egyptian  gold-mining    399 

Egyptian  lead  390 

Egyptian  steel   402 

BROMYRITE 109 

BRONZE. 

Historical  notes 411;  402;    354 

BRONZE  AGE 365;  402;    411 

BRYLE  (Outcrop) 101 

BUCKETS,  FOR  HOISTING  ORE      153 — 154;    157 

BUDDLE    281;  282;    267 

Divided 302 — 303 

Simple  300—302;    312—315 

BULLION,  POURING  INTO  BARS 382 

BURNING  ORE  231;  273;    267 

BURNT  ALUM  233;  565;    221 

Cadmia    (see   also   Zinc,    Pompholyx, 

and  Cobalt) 542;    542;    112—113 

Ancient  ore  of  brass 410 

From  dust  chambers  394 

From  liquation    539;   542 

From  roasting  matte  349 

Poisonous  to  miners  214;   214 

Roasting  276 

Smel  ting  for  gold  and  silver 41 0 

Cadmia  bituminosa 276;  273;    113 

Cadmia  fornacis  (see  Furnace  Accre- 
tions) . 

Cadmia   fossilis    (see    Calamine    and 
Blende). 

Cadmia  metallica  (see  also  Cobalt) 403;    113 

Caeruleum  (see  Azure). 

CAKES  OF  MELTED  PYRITES  379;  222 

A  flux  234 

Roasting  of    349—351 

Use  in  smelting  379 

CALAEM  (see  also  Zinc) 409 

CALAMINE 112;    113;  409;   *10 

CALCITE    114 

CALCSPAR 116;    114 

Caldarium  COPPER 512;    542;  404;    511 

CALDRONS,  FOR  EVAPORATING  SALTS  548 

Calmei  (see  Calamine). 

CAMEROS. 

Zinc  found  at 409 

CAMPHOR 238;  238;   221 

CAM-SHAFT  282 — 283;    267 

Canutes  (Ore  Channels) 43;    46;    47 

Ore  shoots  in  117 

CANNON    11 

CARDINAL  POINTS  57;   58 

CARNELIAN  114 

Carneol  (see  Carnelian). 

Carni 390 

Cupellation  483 

Smelting  of  lead  ores 390 

CARPATHIAN  MOUNTAINS. 

Liquation  practice  in  540;    544 

Sieves    289 

Stamp-milling  319 

CARTHAGE. 

Mines  in  Spain    27 

CASTULO  (Cazlona)  42 

CEMENTATION  (see  also  Parting  Gold 

from  Silver)   453—457;  453;   458 

Centumpondium 616;  242;    509 

Scale  of  weights  260—261 

CERAGURITE 109 

Cerussa  (see  White-lead). 

CERUSSITE    

CHAIN  PUMPS  171—175 

CHALCANTHITE 

Chalcanthum  (see  also  Vitriol)  109;    572 


GENERAL     INDEX. 


621 


PACE 

CHALCEDONY  114 

Chalcitis   573;  109 

Indication  of  copper 116 

CHALCOCITE  109;  402 

CHALCOPYRITE  109 

CHALDEAN  ANTIMONY    429 

CHEMISTRY. 

Origin   XXVII;  220 

CHEMNITZ. 

Agricola  appointed  city  physician  VII. 

Agricola  elected  burgomaster...        VIII  ;  IX. 

Quarrel  over  Agricola's  burial XI. 

CHINA,  GRAND  CANAL  OF  129 

CHINESE. 

Early  copper  smelting  402 

Early  iron    421 

Early  silver  metallurgy 391 

Early  zinc  smelting    409 

Chrysocolla  (see  also  Borax)  110  ;    221  ;    584  ;    1 

Collection  in  vats 584 

Colour  of  fumes 235 

Indication  of  copper 116 

Indication  of  gold  117 

Mineral 109 

Smelting  of 401 

CHURCH,  SHARE  IN  MINES    91 

CIMOLITE 31 

CINNABAR  (see  Quicksilver  and  Minium). 

CLAIM,  IN  AMERICAN  TITLE  77 

CLOTH. 

Lining  sluices 322 

Ventilation  by  shaking  210 

COAL  34 

COBALT  354;    542;    J12— 113 

Cobalt-blue 112;  433 

From  lead  smelting  408 

King  Hiram's  experience  with  214 

Poisonous  to  miners  214 

Relation  to  cadmia 112 

Relation  to  bismuth  435 

Smelting  ores  of  401 

COBALT-ARSENIC  MINERALS  (see 
Arsenic) . 

COBALTITE    113 

Cobaltum  cineraceum  (see  Smallite). 

Coba/lum  ferri  color e  (see  Cobaltite). 

Cobaltum  nigrum  (see  Abolite). 

COINERS   95;   78 

COINS   251  —  253;  457 

COLCHIS. 

Alluvial  gold  washing    330 

COLOGNE. 

Scale  of  weights  263 

COMPANIES,  MINING 89 — 93;    90 

Fraudulent  dealing 22 

Investment  in  29 

COMPASS 141—142;    56;  129 

Divisions  of  the 58;    57 

Swiss 145;  137 

CONCENTRATES. 

From  washing  liquation  products . . .  542 

Sintering  of  401 

Smelting  of  394;     396— 399  ;  401 

CONCENTRATION  267—348;    279;  354 

Congius 153;    172;  617 

CONSTANTINOPLE,  ALUM  TRADE  569 

CONSUMPTION. 

Miners  liable  to  214 

Conterfei  (see  Zinc). 

CONTRACTS,  METHOD  OF  SETTING   ...  96 

COPIAPITE Ill 

COPPER  (see  also  Liquation)....     109;    402;  511 

Assay  of  244;  249 

Granulation  of 250 

Indications  of  116 

Parting  from  gold  462—464 

Parting  gold  from  silver  ....      448—451  ;  448 

Ratio  in  liquation  cakes   505;  506 

Residues  from  liquation    521 

Rosette 538 

COPPER-FILINGS  233;    233;  221 

COPPER  FLOWERS 538;    110;    233;  538 

Pliny's  description  404 

COPPER  GLANCE  401;  109 


PAGE 

COPPER  MATTE. 

Roasting  350 

Smelting  404—407 

COPPER  ORE  (see  also  Copper  Smelting, 

etc.)    109 

Assaying  244—245 

COPPER  PYRITES  117;    109 

COPPER  REFINING 

530—538;    354;    492;  535—536 

Breaking  cakes   501 — 503 

Enrichment  of  silver  by  settling  510 

Roman  method  404 

Rosette  copper    535 

COPPER  SCALES 110;   221;  233;   639 

Use  in  assaying  245 

COPPER  SCHISTS  (see  also  Mannsfeld 

Copper  Slates) 127 

Method  of  smelting    408 

COPPER  SMELTING     388—390  ;    401  ;  404  ;   402 

Invention  of  appliances 353 — 354 

CORNWALL. 

Ancient  tin  mining 413 

Early  German  miners    282 

Early  mining  law 85 

Early  ore  dressing 282 

Influence  on  German  mining   283 

"Knockers"   217 

Mining  terms 77;    101;  267;    282 

Royal  Geol.  Soc.  Transactions 84 

Coticula  (see  Touchstone). 

Counterfeit  (see  Zinc). 

CRANE. 

For  cupellation  furnaces   476 — 477 

For  lead  cakes 500 

For  liquation  cakes    514 

CREMNITZ. 

Age  of  mines  5 

Width  of  veins    52 

CRINOID  STEMS  115 

CROPPINGS    37;    37 

CROSSCUTS   106 

CROWBARS    152 

CRUCIBLE. 

Assay 228;    230;    241;  245;    221 

Of  blast  furnaces    376;   377 

Crudaria  65 

CRUSHING  MILLS  (see  Stamp-mill  and 
Mills). 

CRUSHING  ORE 231;    279—287;    279 

CRYSTAL  (Crystallum) 114 

CUMBERLAND. 

Early  report  on  ores  of 267 

Roman  lead  furnaces 392 

CUP-BEARER. 

Right  to  a  meer  81 

CUPELLATION 464—483;  465—466 

Buildings  and  furnaces 464—472;    492 

Brightening  of  the  silver  241  ,  475 

In  assaying 240 

In  "tests" 483 

Latin  and  German  terms 221;    492 

Litharge   475 

CUPELS 228—230;  221;   466 

Drying  of 240 

Moulds  231 

CUPRIC  OXIDE 221 

CUPRITE   109;    402 

Cyanus  (see  also  Azurite)  110 

CYPRUS. 

Ancient  copper  smelting  402 

Dach  127 

Dactylos    617;    78 

DANGERS  TO  MINERS  214 — 218 

Darrlinge 492 

Darrofen   492 

Darrsohle 492 

DAWLING,  OF  A  VEIN    101 

DEAD  SEA. 

Bitumen  in  33 

DECEMVIRAL  COLLEGE  96 

Decumanus  (see  Tithe  Gatherer). 

Demensum  (see  Measure). 

DEMONS  (see  also  Gnomes)    217;   217 


622 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


PAGE 

281 
283 

84—86 
212 

85 
267 
129 
404 

65—75 
101 
157 
172 


426 


441 

441 

244 

-432 

78 


DERBYSHIRE  (see  also  High  Peak). 

Early  ore  washing 

Introduction  jigging  sieve 

Mining  law  77 

DESCENT  INTO  MINES  

DEVON. 

Mining  law  

DlLLEUGHER  

DlOPTRA    

Diphrygum  

DIP  OF  VEINS  

DIPPAS  

DIPPERS   

Of  pumps 

Discretores  (see  Sorters). 

DISTILLATION  

For  making  nitric  acid 

Of  amalgam    

Of  quicksilver 

Distributor    

DIVINING  ROD 38—40;    38;   40 

DIVISIONS  OF  THE  COMPASS 56;   57 

DRAINAGE  OF  MINES 121  ;   171 — 198 

With  buckets  171 

With  chain  pumps  172 

With  rag  and  chain  pumps 188 

With  suction  pumps 172 

With  water  bags 198 

DRAWING. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners...  4 

DRIFTS 104;   105;    101 

Timbering  of   125 

DRUSY  VEINS 107;   107 

"  DRYING  "  LIQUATION  RESIDUES  (see 

also  Liquation)...     527—529;    491;   492 

Furnaces  for 521;    526;    492 

Silver  extracted  by    529 

Slags  from   523 

DUMPS,  WORKING  OF 30 

DUST  CHAMBERS 394;    416;    354 

DUTINS  (Timbers)  101 

DYNAMITE    119 


411 


"  EARTHS." 

Agricola's  view  of  1  ;   46 

Extraordinary 

Peripatetic  view  of  46 

EGYPTIANS. 

Alluvial  mining  

Antimony  

Bronze 402  ; 

Copper  smelting  

Crushing  and  concentration  

Furnaces 

Glass  making  

Gold  mining 

Iron  

Maps 

Mining  law  

Silver  and  lead  metallurgy  .... 

Tin  

EGYPTIAN  SCREW    (see    Archimedes, 

Screw  of). 
EIFEL. 

Spalling  ore  

Eisenertz  (see  Ironstone). 
Eisenglantz  (see  Ironstone). 
EISLEBEN. 

Heap  roasting  279; 

Electrum  458;    2 

ELEMENTS,  PERIPATETIC  THEORY  OF 

EMERY  

ERBISDORFF. 

Tin  strakes  

Excoctores  (see  Smelters). 
EXHALATIONS. 

From  veins 

EXHAUSTED   LIQUATION   CAKES   (see 
Liquation  Cakes,  Exhausted). 

FANS,  VENTILATION  203 — 207 

FATHOM  616;   77;    78 

Federwis  (see  also  Asbestos)     114;    274 

FELDSPAR  114 


48 
115 

47 

330 
428 
411 
402 
279 
355 
586 
399 
421 
129 
83 
390 
412 


272 


274 
35 
44 

115 

304 


38;   44 


PAGE 

Ferrugo  (see  Iron-rust). 

Ferrum  purum  (see  Native  Iron). 

Fibres  (see  Stringers). 

FINENESS,  SCALES  OF 253;    617 

FIRE-SETTING    118—120;  118—119 

FIRSTUM  MINES  (see  Fiirst). 
FISSURE  VEIN  (see  Vena  profunda). 
FLAME. 

Determination  of  metal  by  235 

Determination  of  required  flux  by  235 

FLINT,  AS  A  FLUX 380 

FLOAT,  FROM  VEINS   37 

FLOOKAN 101 

FLUE-DUST  394 — 396 

Fluores  (see  Fluorspar). 

FLUORSPAR 115;  380;    381 

Indication  of  ore 116 

Flusse  (see  Fluorspar). 
FLUXES    (see   also   Argol,    Saltpetre, 
Limestone,  Stones  which  easily 

melt.ete.)  

232—239;    232;    237;  380;    221 

Basic 237 

De-sulphurizing  236;   237 

For  smelting 379;    380;  386;    390 

Reducing  236;  237 

Stock  fluxes  for  assaying 236 

Sulphurizing 236;   237 

FOOTWALL   68;   117 

FOREHEARTH  356;   375—378;  386;    355 

For  tin  furnaces  411;   413 

FOREMAN  (see  Mining  Foreman). 

FOREST-FIRES  36;   36 

FOREST  OF  DEAN  84 

FOREST  OF  MENDIP  84 

Formae  101 

Fossa  latens  (see  also  Drifts) 101 

Fossa  latens  transversa   (see  also 

Crosscuts)   101 

Fossores  (see  Miners). 

FOUNDERS' HOARDS 355;   402 

FRACTIONAL  MEERS   80 

FRANCE. 

Mediaeval  mining  law  84 

FREE  MINING  CITIES  84 

FREIBERG XXXI. 

Age  of  the  mines  6 

Bergmeister    95 

Division  of  shares  81;   90;   91 

First  discovery  of  veins 35;    36 

Flooding  of  mines  218 

Method  of  cupellation   482 

FULLERS'  EARTH 116 

FUMES. 

From  heated  ore  235 

Poisonous 215 — 216 

Fundamentum  (see  also  Footwall)    ...  101 

Fundgrube  (see  also  Meer) 77 

FURNACES       374—378;    386;    388;  355;    492 
Assaying  (see  Assay  Furnaces). 

Bismuth  smelting  433 — 437 

Burning  tin  concentrates 349 

Cementation 455 

Copper  smelting  401 — 408 

Cupellation  467—468  ;  482—483 

"  Drying"  liquated  copper 522 — 526 

Enriching  copper  bottoms 51 0 

Gold  and  silver  ores  382 — 384 

Heating  copper  cakes 503 

Iron  smelting 420 — 421;    420 

Latin  and  German  terms 220 

Lead  ores 408 — 410 

Liquation  of  silver  515 

Melting  lead  cakes  498 

Nitric  acid  making  441 

Parting  precious  metals  with  anti- 
mony    452 — 453 

Quicksilver  distillation  426 — 432 

Refining  copper 531 — 533 

Refining  silver  483;   489 

Refining  tin 418 

Roasting  276 — 277 

Smelting  liquation  slags  507 

Tin  smelting    411—413;   419 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


623 


FURNACE  ACCRETIONS 113;   221; 

Removal  of  

FURNACE  HOODS 

FURST. 

Mines  of 24; 


PAGE 
492 
376 
494 


24 


Gaarherd  (see  Refining-hearth) . 

Gaarmachen  (see  Copper  Refining). 

GAD  150 

GALENA 61;    109;    110;    221 

Bismuth  distinguished  from 3 

Smelting  of 400—401 

GANGUE  MINERALS  48 

GARLIC. 

Magnet  weakened  by 39 

GARNETS  334 

GASES  (see  also  Fumes) 

From  fire-setting    120 

Gedigen  eisen,  silber,  etc.  (see  Native 
Iron,  Silver,  etc.). 

Gel  atrament  (see  Misy). 

GEMS     115;    1 

GEOLOGY. 

Agricola's  views 695 

GERMANS. 

English  mining  influenced  by  283 

Mining  men  imported  into  England  282 

Ore-dressing  methods 28 1 — 282 

Geschwornen  (in  Saxon  mines)  77 

GEYER XXXI;    42;    VI. 

Shafts  102 

Tin-strakes  304 

GILDING   460 

Removal  from  objects  460;   464 

GIPS  (see  Gypsum). 

GITTELDE. 

Smelting  of  lead  ore  391 

Glantz  (see  Galena). 

Glasertz  (see  Silver  Glance). 

Glaskopfe  (see  Ironstone). 

GLASS   534—592 

Blowing    592 

Furnaces  586 — 590 

From  sand  380 

GLASS-GALLS 235;   221 

As  a  flux 235;   238;   243;    246 

Use  in  parting  gold  from  copper  ....  464 

Use  in  smelting  gold  concentrates . . .    397  ;   398 

Glette  (see  Litharge). 

Glimmer  (see  Mica). 

GNOMES. 

In  mines  217;    112;    214;    217 

GOBLINS  (see  Gnomes). 

GOD'S  GIFT  MINE    (see    Gottsgaab 
Mine). 

GOLD   (see  also  Gold  Ores,  Parting, 
Smelting,  Stamp-Mill,  etc.). 

Alluvial  mining  321—336;    330 

Alluvial  streams  75 

Amalgamation   297 

Gold-dust 396 

Historical  notes 399;    354 

Indications  of 108;   116 

Lust  for,  not  the  fault  of  the  metal  16 

Minerals   108 

Minerals  associated  with  108 — 109 

Smelting  of  ores  

381—382;   386;   388;   390;   396 

Wickedness  caused  by  9 — 10 

GOLD  CONCENTRATES 396—399;    398 

GOLDEN  FLEECE 330;    330 

GOLD  ORES 107 — 108 

Amalgamation     295—299;    297 

Assay  by  amalgamation    243 — 244 

Assay  by  fire  242—243 

Flux  used  in  assaying   

Flux  used  in  smelting   

Smelting  in  blast  furnace  398 — 400 

Smelting  cupriferous  ores  404 — 407 

Smelting  in  lead  bath    399 

Smelting  pyritiferous  ore 398 — 401 

Stamp-milling  321 

Goldstein  (see  Touchstone). 


GOSLAR 5 

Lead  smelting  

Native  zinc  vitriol    

Roasting  ores 

Spalling  hard  ore    

GOSLARITE   

GOTTSGAAB  MINE  VI;   VII 

GOUNCE  

GRAND  CANAL  OF  CHINA  

GRANULATION  METHODS  FOR  BULLION 

GRANULATION  OF  COPPER  

GREEKS. 

Antimony  

Brass  making 

Copper  smelting 

Iron  and  steel  making  

Metallurgy  from  Egypt 

Mining  law  

Ore  dressing 

Quicksilver  

Silver-lead  smelting   

Smelting  appliances  

GREY  ANTIMONY  (see  also  Stibium)  ... 

110; 

GRIFFINS 

GROOM  OF  THE  CHAMBER. 

Right  to  a  meer  

GROOVE  (see  also  Shafts)  

GROUND  SLUICES    

GROUND  WATERS   

Griinspan  (see  Verdigris). 

Gulden  

GUNPOWDER. 

First  use  for  blasting  in  mines 

Invention  of  

GYPSUM  .. 


PAGE 

;   37;   37 

408 

572 

274;   274 
271 

113;  572 
;  74;  74 
267 
129 
444 
250 

428 
410 
403 
421 
402 
83 
281 
432 
391 
356 

221  ;    428 
331 

81 

101 
336—337 

46—48 

92;    419 

119 
562 
114 

101 


HADE    

Haematites  (see  Ironstone). 

Halinitrum  (see  Saltpetre). 

HALLE,  SALT  INDUSTRY    552 

HAMMERS 151 

With  water  power 423 

HANGINGWALL     68;    117 

HARZ  MINERS. 

Agricola  consulted   VII. 

Antimony  sulphide  , 428 

First  mining  charter 84 

First  stamp-mill  282 

Pumps 194 

HAULING  APPLIANCES  (see  also  Whims 

and  Windlasses)  160—168;    149 

HEAP  ROASTING  274 — 276 

HEARTH-LEAD  (see  also  Molybdaena). 

475;    476;    110;    221 

As  a  flux 232 

Use  in  smelting  379;    398;   400 

HEARTHS. 

For  bismuth  smelting  433—437 

For  melting  lead  390;   498 

HEAVENLY  HOST  MINE  (see  Himmelisch 
Hoz  Mine). 

HEAVY  SPAR   \...  11S 

HEBREWS. 

Knowledge  of  antimony    428 

Silver-lead  smelting    391 

Term  for  tin  412 

HEMATITE 

HEMICYCLE  (Hemicyclium) 137 — 138 

Herachon  (see  Lodestone). 

Herdblei  (see  Hearth-Lead). 

HIERO,  KING  247;   247 

HIGH  PEAK  (Derbyshire). 

Mining  law  

Nomenclature  in  mines  

Saxon  customs,  connection  with...        77  ;    85 

Himmelisch  Hoz  MINE  74;    92;    75 

HOE  152 

HOLIDAYS  OF  MINERS    

HORN  SILVER 

HORNS  OF  DEER 

HORNSTONE  116;    114 

HUNGARY. 

Cupellation  .••  483 


624 


GENERAL     INDEX. 


Huttenrauch  (see  Pompholyx). 

IGLAU,  CHARTER  OF  

INCENSE  IN  CUPELLATION  FURNACES 

INDICATIONS  OF  ORE 106; 

Ingeslores  (set  Shovellers). 
INDIA. 

Steel  

Zinc  

Intervenium  

INVESTMENT  IN  MINES 

IRON 420  ; 

Cast  

Censure  of   

Indications  of  

Malleable  

Smelting  

Sulphur  harmful  to    

IRON  AGE  

IRON  FILINGS  (see  also  Iron-Scales)  ... 

Use  in  assaying  234; 

IRON  ORE. 

Assaying  of  

Smelting  of 

IRON-RUST    116;    474 

IRON-SCALES  

Flux 

Use  in  smelting  gold 

Use  in  smelting  silver    

Use  in  making  nitric  acid  

Use  in  parting  gold  from  copper... 
IRON-SLAG 

As  a  flux 

IRONSTONE  

ITALIANS. 

Alluvial  mining  in  Germany 

ITALY. 

Mining  formerly  forbidden    

JADE 

JAPAN. 

Steel 

JASPER  

Jaspis  

JET    

JIGGING  SIEVE 310; 

JOACHIMSTHAL  

First  stamp-mill  

Mining  shares  and  profits  

Judenstein  (see  Lapis  Judaicus). 
JUICES 

Agricola's  theory  

From  springs  and  streams    

Stone  juice  

Tastes  of 

JUICES,  SOLIDIFIED. 

Agricola's  view  of  

Extraction  of  metals  from    

Preparation  of  

JULIAN  ALPS. 

Stamp-milling  in   

JUNCTIONS  (see  Veins,  Intersections  of) . 

Jurati  (see  Jurors). 

JURORS 22;   92 

In  English  mining  custom  

Relations  to  Bergmeister 

JUSTINIAN  CODE. 

Mines    

Kalchstein  (see  Limestone). 

Kammschale 

KAOLINITE  (see  Porcelain  Clay). 
Katzensilber  (see  Mica). 
KING. 

Deputy 

Right  to  a  meer  

Kinslock    (see   Liquation   Cakes, 

Exhausted). 
Kis  (see  Pyrites). 
KNOCKERS(S««  Gnomes). 
Kobelt  (see  Cobalt). 

K6LERGANG  VEIN    

K6NIGSBERG. 

Fire-setting 

Kupferglas  trtz  (see  Copper  Glance). 


PAGE 

84 

472 

107;    116 


423 
409 

51;   50 

26—29 

354;    111 

420 

11 

116 

420 

420—426 

273 

420 

22] 

238;    246 

247 

420—426 
;  1:  ill 
221 
234 
398 
400 
440 
464 
221 

234;   235 
390;    111 

334 


114 

423 

111;    2 

114 

34 

267 ;    283 

VI. 

281 

91;   92 

1  ;  47 
46;  52 

33 
46;  49 

34 

1  ;  49 
350 
545 

319 


;   96;   78 
85 
95;   77 

84 


127 


94 
81 


42 

119 


Kupferschiejer  (see  Copper  Schists). 

KUTTENBERG. 

Depths  of  shafts 


PAGE 


102 


LABOUR  CONDITION  IN  MINING  TITLE. 

92;    83—85 

LACEDAEMONIANS  (see  Spartans). 
Lachter  (see  Fathom). 

LADDERWAYS  IN  SHAFTS  124;   212 

LADLE  FOR  BULLION  332 

Lapis  aerarius  (see  Copper  Ore). 

Lapis  alabandicus  380 

Lapis  Judaicus    115;    115 

Lapis  specularis  (see  Gypsum). 

LATHS  (Lagging)  101 

LA  TOLFA. 

Alum  manufacture 565 

Discovery  of  570 

LAURION  (LAURIUM),  MT.    (see   MT. 
LAURION,  MINES  OF). 

LAUTENTAL,  LIQUATION  AT  491 

LAW  (see  Mining  Law). 

LAW-SUITS  OVER  SHARES  IN  MINES...  94 

LEAD 354;  390;    110 

Censure  of    It 

Cupellation    464 — 483 

Melting  prior  to  liquation  500 

In  liquation  cakes  ...       505 — 506;  505;    506 

Refining  silver  483 — 490 

Smelting  of  ores  388 — 392;    400 

Use  in  assaying  

232;   239;   242;   244;  249;    251 

Washing  in  sluices  347 

LEAD-ASH  237;  237;    221 

As  a  flux 234 

Use  in  parting  gold  from  copper  ...  463 

LEAD  BATH  381 

LEAD-GLASS  236 

LEAD  GRANULES 239;  463;    221 

LEADING  (in  liquation) 

304;    507;    513;    491;  492;    504 

Components  of  the  charge 505 — 509 

LEAD  OCHRE  232;  110;   221 

LEAD  ORE. 

Assay  methods    245 — 246 

Roasting  275 

Smelting  in  blast  furnace  390;    408 

LEASE,  IN  AUSTRALIAN  TITLE 77 

LEAVES.  PREPARATION  OF  BULLION  INTO          444 

LEBERTHAL '    24 

LEES  OF  aqua  WHICH  SEPARATES  GOLD 

FROM  SILVER  234;  443;    221 

As  a  flux 234;    238 

LEES  OF  VINEGAR  (see  also  Argol)    ...  221 

As  a  flux  234;    236;  243;    234 

LEES  OF  WINE  (see  Argol). 

LEMNOS,  ISLAND  OF  31 

LEMNIAN  EARTH  31 

LEPROSY  OF  HOUSE  WALLS  (see  Salt- 
petre). 

LEVEL  (see  also  Drift)    101 

LEVEL,  PLUMMET  (see  Plummet  Level) 

LIMESTONE  114;    221 

As  a  flux 236;   390 

LlMONITE   Ill 

LIMP  267 

LINARES. 

Hannibal's  mines  near  42 

LIPARI  ISLANDS. 

Alum  from  566 

LIQUATED  SILVER-LEAD  (see  Stannum 
and  Silver-lead). 

LIQUATION 519—521;  491;    519 

Ash-coloured  copper  from 529 

Buildings  for   491 

Furnace     515—518;    492 

Historical  note  on  494 

Losses  491;    539 

Nomenclature 492 

LIQUATION  CAKES    505 — 509  ;    492  ;  505  ;    506 

Enrichment  of  the  lead 512;   512 

Extraction  of  silver  from 512 

From  bye-products  of  liquation 539 — 540 

From  copper  bottoms    512;   512 


GENERAL     INDEX. 


625 


LIQUATION  CAKES.  PAGE 
Proportion  of  lead  in  rich  silver 

copper  509 

LigUATioN  CAKES,  EXHAUSTED  

521—526;    406;  492;    620 

LIQUATION  SLAGS   509;  492;   541 

Furnaces  for  507 

Treatment  of  541 

LIQUATION  THORNS  522 ;   539  ;   492  ;  539  ;   540 

From  cupeUation  543;   543 

From  "  drying  "  copper  residues...  529 

LITHARGE  (see  also  Cupellation) 

475;    232—238;    466;    476;  110;    222 

Use  in  reducing  silver  nitrate 447 

Use  in  smelting  379;  398;    400 

Lithargyrum  (see  Litharge). 

LODESTONE 115;    111;    115;   2 

Compass  57 

Los  Pozos  de  Anibal  42 

Lotores  (see  Washers). 

LUSITANIA. 

Gold  alluvial   347 

Sluices  for  gold  washing   325 

Tin  smelting  419 

LUTE  1 

Preparation  of  for  furnace  linings  375 — 376 

LYDIA. 

Mining  law  83 

The  King's  mines  27 

LYE  558;  221;    233 

Use  in  making  fluxes  236 

Use  in  parting  463 

Magister  Metallicorum  (see  Bergmeister). 

Magister  Monetariorum  (see  Master  of 
the  Mint). 

Magnes  (see  alsr>  Lodestone  and  Man- 
ganese)      584;    111;  115;    584 

MAGNET   247 

Garlic   39 

Magnetis  (see  Mica). 

MAGNETITE Ill 

MALACHITE  J09  ;    221 

MALADIES  OF  MINERS  214—217 

MALTHA  581 

MANAGER  (see  Mine  Manager). 

MANGANESE r>86  ;   3 "54 

MANNSFELD  COPPER  SLATES 

126—127;   279;  127;   273 

MAP-MAKING  129 

MARBLE    115;    2;    114 

MARCASITE  Ill;  112;    409 

Marga  (see  Marl). 

MARIENBERG  XXXI;   VI. 

MARL 114 

MARMELSTEIN  (see  Marble). 

Marmor  (see  Marble). 

M armor  alabastrites  (see  Alabaster). 

Marmor  glarea 114 

MASSICOT  (see  also  Lead  Ochre)    110;  221;    232 

MASTER  OF  THE  HORSE 81 

MASTER  OF  THE  MINT   95;   78 

MATTE  (see  Cakes  of  Melted  Pyrites). 

MATTE  SMELTING    404 — 407 

MEASURE  (unit  of  mining  area)  78;   78 

MEASURES 616 — 617;    78;   550 

MEDICINE. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners  ...  3 

Medulla  saxorum  (see  Porcelain  Clay) . 

MEER  77 — 89 

Boundary  stones  87 

On  vena  cumulata  87 

On  vena  dilatata  86 

MEISSEN. 

Dumps  from  mines 312 

Melanteria    117;  112;   573 

Indication  of  copper 116 

MELANTERITE Ill 

MELOS,  ISLAND  OF  566 

Menning  (see  Red-lead). 

Merge!  (see  Marl). 

METALS     2;    44;    51 

Advantages  and  uses 19;    20 

Necessity  to  man  XXV;    12 — 13 

Not  responsible  for  evil  passions...  15 


PACE 

Metreta  163 

MEXICO 

Patio  process  297 

MICA  114 

MIDDLE  AGES,  MINING  LAW  OF  84 

MILLS  FOR  GRINDING  ORE 294 — 299  ;    280 

MIMES(S««  also  Gnomes) 217 

MINE  CAPTAIN   26;   77 

MINE  MANAGER 97;   98;    77;   78 

MINERAL    KINGDOM,    AGRICOLA'S 

DIVISIONS  OF  1 

MINERALS 594;    108,   48;    51 

Compound    2;   61 

Mixed    2;   51 

MINERS 1—4;   25;    78 

Duties  and  punishments   100;   22 

Law  (see  Mining  Law). 

Litigation  among    21 

Slaves  as 23 

MINES. 

Abandonment  of  217 

Conditions  desirable  30 — 33 

Investments  in    26 — 29 

Management  of  25;    26 

Names  of  42 

MINES  ROYAL,  COMPANY  OF 283 

MINING  (see  also  Sett,  Lease,  Claim, 
Meer,  etc.). 

Criticisms  of  4 — 12 

Harmless  and  honourable  14;    20;    23 

Methods  of  breaking  ore  117 — 118 

Stoping  125 

MINING  CLERK  93;    95;    96;    78 

MINING  COMPANIES  (see  Companies, 
Mining). 

MINING  FOREMAN 98 — 99;    78 

Frauds  by    21 — 22 

MINING  LAW   82—86 

Boundary  stones  87 

Drainage  requirements 92 — 93 

England   84—86 

Europe  84 

Forfeiture  of  title  92—93 

France 84 

Greek  and  Roman  83 

Middle  Ages  84—85 

Right    of    Overlord,    Landowner, 

State  and  Miner  

Tunnels 88—89 

MINING  PREFECT 26;   94;    78 

MINING  RIGHTS  (see  Mining  Law  and 
Meer). 

MINING  TERMS,  OLD  ENGLISH 77  ;    101 

MINING  TOOLS  149 — 153 

Buckets  for  ore  153—154 

Buckets  for  water  157 

Trucks 156 

Wheelbarrows  155 

Minium  Ill 

Quicksilver  from 

Red-lead  232 

Minium  secundarium  (see  Red-lead). 

MISPICKEL  (Mistpuckel)  Ill 

Misy  (the  mineral) 573;  111;   403 

An  indication  of  copper  116 

Use  in  parting  gold  and  silver 459 

Mitlere    und    obere    offenbriiche    (set 

Furnace  Accretions). 

Modius  617;   405 

MOGLITZ. 

Tin  working  318 

MOIL  160 

Molybdaena 110;    221 ;  476  ;  400;   408 

Term  for  lead  carbonates  400;   408 

Molybdenite 477 

Monetarius  (see  Coiners). 

MONEY,  ASSAYING  OF  251 — 2E 

MORANO  GLASS  FACTORIES  692 

MORAVIA. 

Cupellation  483 

Stamp-milling  

Washing  gold  ore  

MORDANTS   569 

MORTAR-BOX 279—280;   312;  319;   267 


626 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


MOUNTAINS.  PAGE 

Formation  of  595 

MX.  BERMIUS. 

Gold  Mines  of  26;   27 

MT.  LAURION,  MINES  OF  ...       27  ;    27 — 29  ;  391 

Crushing  and  concentration  of  ores  281 

Cupellation  465 

Mining  law  83 

Smelting  appliances   355 

Xenophon  on  6 

MT.  SINAI. 

Ancient  copper  smelting   355;   402 

MUFFLE  FURNACES  224 — 228;    239 

MUFFLES 227;  239;    222 

Refining  silver 489—490 

MUHLBERG,  BATTLE  OF  X. 

Murrhina  (see  Chalcedony). 

MUSKETS 11 

MYCENAE. 

Copper 402 

Silver-lead  smelting   391 

NAMES  OF  MINES    42 

NAPHTHA 581 

NATIVE  COPPER 109 

NATIVE  IRON  Ill 

NATIVE  MINERALS 107 

NATIVE  SILVER  269;    109 

NATRON  (see  Nitrum). 

NEOLITHIC  FURNACES  355 

NEUSOHL,  METHOD  OF  SCREENING  ORE  290 

NEWBOTTLE  ABBEY   35 

NITOCRIS,  BRIDGE  OF 391 

NITRIC  ACID  (see  also  Aqua  valens)  ... 

439—443;    460;  439;    354 

Assay  parting  gold  and  silver  248 

Testing  silver  regulus  with    449 

Use  in  cleaning  gold  dust 396 

Nitrum  (see  also  Soda)  558;    110 

NOMENCLATURE I;    267 

Mining  law  77;  78 

Mining  officials   77;    78 

Norici  388 

Conveyance  of  ore 169 

NORMANS. 

Mining  Law  in  England    85 

NOTARY  94;   78 

NUBIA. 

Early  gold-mining 399 

NUREMBERG,  SCALE  OF  WEIGHTS  ....  264 

Obolus  25 

Ochra  nativa Ill 

OCHRE  YELLOW Ill 

Offenbriiche  (see  Furnace  Accretions). 
OLYNTHUS. 

Betrayal  to  Philip  of  Macedon 9 

Operculum  441;    222 

Orbis  141;    137 

ORE    (see   various    metals,    Assaying, 

Mining,  etc.). 

ORE  CHANNELS  (see  Canutes), 
ORE  DEPOSITS,  THEORY  OF  ...         XIII ;  43 — 53 

ORE  DRESSING 267 — 361 

Burning  273 

Hand  spalling  271—272 

Sorting  268—271 

Orguia 78;    78;    617 

Orichalcum  (see  Aurichalcum) 

ORPIMENT Ill;    1;   222 

Colour  of  fumes 235 

Harmful  to  metals  273 

Indication  of  gold,  etc 116 

Roasted  from  ore  273 

Use  in  assaying  237 

OUTCROPS  68;   43 

OX-BLOOD  IN  SALT  MAKING  552 

PACTOLUS,  GOLD  SANDS  OF 27 

PARK'S  PROCESS  465 

PARTING  GOLD  FROM  COPPER  462 — 464 

PARTING  GOLD  FROM  SILVER  

443—460;  458—463 

Antimony  sulphide  

451—452;    451—452;   461 


PAGE 

PARTING  GOLD  FROM  SILVER. 
Cementation...        453—457;    453—454;   458 

Chlorine  gas  458;    462 

Electrolysis 458;    462 

Nitric  acid  443—447;    443;  447;    460 

Nitric  acid  (in  assaying)    247--  249 

Sulphur  and  copper  ...     448 — 451;  448;    461 

Sulphuric  acid  458;    462 

PARTITIONS 493 

PASSAU,  PEACE  OF  IX. 

Passus  616;    78 

PATIO  PROCESS   297 — 298 

PATTINSON'S  PROCESS    465 

PEAK,  THE  (see  High  Peak). 

Pentremites  115 

PERGAMUM. 

Brazen  ox  of   11 

Mines  near  26;   27 

PERIPATETICS XII. 

Theory  of  ore  deposits     47;   44 

View  of  wealth   18 

PERSIANS. 

Ancient  mining  law   83 

Pes    616;    78 

PESTLES   231  ;  483 

PETROLEUM  581—682 

PHALARIS.  BRAZEN  BULL  or  11 

PHILOSOPHY. 

Knowledge  necessary  for  miners...  3 
PHOENICIANS. 

Copper  and  bronze  402 

In  Thasos 24 

Tin 411—412 

PICKS  152—153 

Pickscheifer  (see  Ash-coloured  Copper). 

PLACER  MINING 321 — 348 

Pleigeel  (see  Lead  Ochre). 
Pleiweis  (see  White-lead). 

PLEYGANG  VEIN  42 

Plumbago  110 

Plumbum  candidum    110;    3;    473 

Plumbum  cinereum HI;    3 

Plumbum nigrum lutei coloris  110;    3 

PLUMMET  LEVEL. 

Standing  143;    137 

Suspended   145;  146;    137 

POCKETS  IN  ALLUVIAL  STUICES    322 — 330 

POISONOUS  FUMES  (see  Fumes). 
POLAND. 

Cupellation  483 

Lead  ore  washing  347 

Lead  smelting  392 

Poletae,  TABLETS  OF  THE 83 

POLING  COPPER  531—538;  535—536 

POMPEIOPOLIS. 

Arsenic  mine  at Ill 

Pompholyx 394;    113— 114;  403 

From  copper  refinings  538 

From  cupellation  476 

From  dust-chambers 394 

From  roasting  ore 278 

Poisonous 214;   215 

Used  for  brass  making 410 

PORCELAIN  CLAY 115 

POTASH  558—559;    558;  233;    220 

In  Sal  artificiosus   463 

POTTERY,  EGYPTIAN 391 

POTOSI 298 

Pozos  DE  ANIBAL,  Los  42 

Pous 617;   78 

Praefectus  cuniculi 78 

Praefectus  fodinae  (see  Mine  Manager) . 
Praefectus  metallorum  (see  Mining 
Prefect). 

Praeses  cuniculi  78 

Praeses  fodinae  (see  Mining  Foreman) . 

PRECIOUS  AND  BASE  METALS  439 

PRIMGAP  

Procurator  metallorum  

PROSPECTING  

PROUSTITE     109 

PUMPS  171—200;    149 

Chain 171—175 

Rag  and  chain 188 — 200 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


627 


PUMPS. 

Suction 

Purgator  argenti  (see  Silver  Refiner). 
PURSER  

PUTEOLI 

PYRARGYRITE 

Pyriien  argentum 

PYRITES  (see  also    Cakes    of    Melted 
Pyrites) 51;    111 

As  a  flux 

Assay  for  gold 

In  tin  concentrates 

Latin  and  German  terms 

Roasting  

Roasting  cakes  of  

Smelting  for  gold  and  silver 

Used  in  making  vitriol 

Pyrites  aerosus  (see  Copper  Pyrites). 
Pyrites  aurei  colons  (see  Copper 
Pyrites) . 

QUARTZ  (see  also  Stones  which  easily 
melt) 

As  a  flux 

An  indication  of  ore  

Material  of  glass 

Silver  ore  

Smelting  of 

Quarzum  (see  Quartz). 

QUERTZE  

QUICKSILVER 432;    2; 

Amalgamation  of  gilt  objects  

Amalgamation  of  gold  dust 

Amalgamation  of  gold  ores  

Assaying  methods 

Ore  

Use  in  assaying  gold  ore  


PAGE 
175—188 

77 
501 
109 

408 

;  112;  1 
234 
243 
348 
222 

273—274 

349—351 

399;   401 

578 


114 
380 
116 
380 
113 
401 


354; 


380 
111 
461 
396 

297;  297 
247 

426—432 
243 


222 
463 
459 
233 

491—498 
462—464 


463; 


RAG  AND  CHAIN  PUMPS 188 — 200 

RAKE  VEINS  101 

RAMMELSBERG. 

Collapse  of  mines   216 

Discovery 37 

Early  vitriol  making 572 

Rauchstein    127 

REALGAR  1;  HI;    222 

Colour  of  fumes 235 

Harmful  to  metals  273 

Indication  of  ore 116 

Roasted  from  ore 273 

Reder stein  (see  Trochitis). 

RED-LEAD    232;  110; 

Use  in  parting  gold  from  copper  ... 

Use  in  parting  gold  from  silver 

REFINED  SALT 454; 

REFINERY  FOR  SILVER  AND  COPPER 

REFINING  GOLD  FROM  COPPER    

REFINING  GOLD  FROM  SILVER  443 — 458 

REFINING-HEARTH 492 

REFINING  SILVER 483—490;  465;   484 

REFINING  SILVER  FROM  LEAD  464 

REFORMATION,  THE   V;  VIII. 

RE-OPENING  OF  OLD  MINES  217 

REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING. 

Agricola's  position  in  XIII. 

REWARD  LEASE,  IN  AUSTRALIAN  LAW  77 

RHAETIA  388 

RHAETIAN  ALPS. 

Stamp  milling  in 319 

RING-FIRE  448 

Rio  TINTO  MINES. 

Roman  methods  of  smelting 405 

Roman  water-wheels  149 

RISKS  OF  MINING  28 — 29 

RITHER  (a  horse)  101 

ROASTED  COPPER   233;  233;   222 

ROASTING 273—279;  267 

Heap  roasting  274—275 

In  furnaces 276 

Mattes 349—351 

Prior  to  assaying    231 

ROCKS  119;   2 

ROCK-SALT  548;   222 

Use  in  cementation  454 

ROMAN  ALUM 565 


ROMANS. 

Amalgamation 

Antimony 

Brass  making  .. 
Companies 


PAGE 

297 
428 
410 
90 


Copper  smelting 404 — 405 

Mining  law  83 

Minium  Company 

Quicksilver  

Roasting 


Silver-lead  smelting   

Washing  of  ore   

ROSETTE  COPPER  538; 

Rosgeel  (see  Realgar). 

RUBY  COPPER  109; 

RUBY  SILVER 51 ; 

Assaying  of 

Cupellation  

Rudis  Ores  

RUST  (see  Iron-rust). 


232 
433 
267 
392 
281 
535 

402 
109 
244 
473 

108 


454—457 
441 
474 

460 
463 
236 
242 
234 
222 


463; 


233; 


SABINES    9 

Saigerdorner  (see  Liquation  Thorns). 

Saigerwerk  (see  Slannum). 

Salamander  har  (see  Asbestos). 

Salamis,  Battle  of  27 

Sal-ammoniac 560;    560;    222 

In  cements  for  parting  gold  and 

silver 

In  making  aqua  valens  

Uses  in  cupellation 

Uses  in  making  aqua  regia   

Uses  in  parting  gold  from  copper... 

Sal  artificiosus 236; 

In  assaying 

As  a  flux 

SALT 545;   556;   546; 

As  a  flux 234—238 

Pans 545;   546 

Solidified  juice 1 

Use  in  cementation  454;   454 

Use  in  parting  gold  from  copper  ..    463  ;   464 

Use  in  smelting  ores 396;   400 

Wells 546—547 

SALT  MADE  FROM  ASHES  OF  MUSK  IVY    560  ;    233 

Sal  torrefactus :     242;    222;    233 

Sal  tostus 233;    233;    222 

SALTPETRE 561—564;   561;   562;   222 

As  a  flux 233;   236—238;   245;    247 

In  smelting  gold  concentrates  398 

Uses  in  cementation  454;   454 

Uses  in  making  nitric  acid   

439;   440;   447;   454 

Uses  in  melting  silver  nitrate  447 

SAMPLING  COPPER  BULLION  249 

SAND 117 

Sandaraca  (see  Realgar). 

SANDIVER  (see  Glass-galls). 

Sarda  (see  Carnelian). 

SAXONY. 

High  Peak  customs  from 77  ;    85 

Political  state  in  Agricola's  time.     VIII ;    IX. 
Reformation    IX. 

Saxum  calcis  (see  Limestone). 

SCALES  OF  FINENESS  253;   617 

SCAPTE-HYLE,  MINES  OF  23 

SCHEMNITZ. 

Age  of  mines  

Gunpowder  for  blasting 

Pumps 194 

SCHIST 222 

Schistos  (see  Ironstone). 

SCHLACKENWALD. 

Ore  washing 304 

SCHMALKALDEN  LEAGUE   

SCHMALKALDEN  WAR IX;   X. 

SCHNEEBERG    XXXI  J     '\ 

Cobalt  435 

Depth  of  shafts  

Ore  stamping  

Shares  

St.  George  mine 92;   74;   75 

Schwartf-atramint  (see  Melanteria  and 
Sory). 


628 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


PAGE 

SCORIFICATION  ASSAY    239 

SCORIFIER 228;    230;    222 

Assays  in  238;    239 

SCREENING  ORE  (see  Sifting  Ore). 

SCREENS  (see  also  Screening) 267 

In  stamp-mill 315 

Scriba  fodinarum  (see  Mining  Clerk). 
Scriba  magistri  metallicorum  (see 

Bergmeister's  Clerk). 
Scriba  partium  (see  Share  Clerk). 
SCUM  OF  LEAD  FROM  CUPELLATION  ...  475 

SCYTHIANS. 

Wealth  condemned 9;    15 

SEAMS  IN  THE  ROCKS 72;    43;   47 

Indications  of  ore  67;   107 

SEA-WATER,  SALT  FROM    545—546 

Sesteice  448 

SETT 77 

SETTLING  PITS 316;   267 

SHAFT-HOUSES 102 

SHAFTS  102—107;    122—124 

Surveys  of    129—135 

Venae  cumulatae  128 

SHAKES 101 

SHARE  CLERK 97;   93;    78 

SHARE    IN    MINES    (see    Companies, 

Mining). 
SHEARS  FOR  CUTTING  NATIVE  SILVER  269 

SHIFT    99;   92 

SHOES  (stamp) 285—286;    267 

SHOVELLERS  153;    169;    78 

Sideritis  (see  Lodestone). 
Siegelstein  (see  Lodestone). 
SIEVES. 

For  charcoal  375 

For  crushed  ore 287—293  ;    341 

SIFTING  ORE    287—293 

Signator  publicus  (see  Notary). 
Silberweis  (see  Mica). 

Siltx 114;    118 

SILVER  (see  also  Assaying,  Liquation, 

Parting,  Refining,  etc)...    390;    354;    109 

Amalgamation 297;    300 

Assaying  248—251 

Cupellation  464—483;    241 

"  Drying  "    copper   residues   from 

liquation  

Enrichment  in  copper  bottoms    ...    510; 

Exhausted  liquation  cakes   

Indicated  by  bismuth,  etc 

Liquation 505—507;    506;    509; 

Parting  from  gold  (see  Parting  Gold 
and  Silver). 

Parting  from  iron  544; 

Precipitation     from     solution     ;- 

copper  bowl 

Refining 483—490; 

Smelting  of  ores 

381—382;    386;    388;    390;    400;    402 
Use  in  clarification  of  nitric  acid...    443  ;   443 
SILVER,  RUBY  (see  Ruby  Silver). 

SILVER  GLANCE  109 

Assaying  244 

Cupellation  473 

Dressing   269 

SILVER-LEAD  ALLOY  (see  Stannum,  etc.). 

SILVER  ORES   109;    109 

Assaying  242 — 244 

Assaying  cupriferous  ores  245 

Fluxes  required  in  assaying  

Smelting  cupriferous  ores  404 — 407 

SILVER-PLATING  460 

SILVER  REFINER 95;   78 

SILVER  REFINING  (see  Refining). 

SILVER  VEINS  

SINGING  BY  MINERS  118 

SINTERING  CONCENTRATES  401 

SLAGS  (see  also  Liquation  Slags)  

From  blast  furnace  379;   381 

From  liquation   491;    492;    523 

SLAVES  AS  MINERS 23;   83 

In  Greek  mines  25;    25;    28 

SLOUGH  (tunnel)  101 

SLUICES  319;   322—348 


529 
510 
524 
116 
512 


644 


465;    484 


PAGE 

SMALLITE 113 

SMALT  112 

Smega   404 

SMELTERS  78 

SMELTING  (see  also  various  metals)  

379—390;    353—355 

Assaying  compared 220 

Building  for  355 — 361 

Objects  of  353 

Smirgel  (see  Emery). 
Smiris  (see  Emery). 
SMYRNA. 

Mines  near  27 

SNAKE-BITES    31 

SODA  (see  also  Nitrum)...  558;   559;    233;    222 

As  a  flux 233;   234 

Historical  notes  558;    354 

Solidified  juice 1 

SOLE  101 

SOLIDIFIED   JUICES   (see   Juices, 
Solidified). 

Solifuga 216;    216 

SORTERS  78 

SORTING  ORE  268—271 

Sory  112;    403;    573 

Sows 376;    386;    376 

SPAIN  (see  also  Lusitania). 

Ancient  silver-lead  mines  149;    392 

Ancient  silver  mines  of  Carthage  27 

Ancient  tin  mines  411 — 412 

SPALLING  ORE 271 — 272 

Spangen  (see  Trochitis). 
Spanschgrun  (see  Verdigris). 
SPARTANS. 

Gold  and  silver  forbidden 9;   15 

Interference  with  Athenian  mines  27 

SPAT  (see  Heavy  Spar). 

SPELTER  

SPHALERITE  113 

Spiauter    409 

Spiesglas  (see  Stibium). 

SPINES  OF  FISHES  FOR  CUPELS 230 

Spodos 538;    394;  113;    114 

Spuma  argenti  (see  Litharge). 
STAFFORDSHIRE. 

First  pumping  engine 149 

STALAGMITES   

STALL  ROASTING 350 — 351 

STAMP  

For  breaking  copper  cakes   501 — 503 

For  crushing  crucible  lining  373 — 375 

STAMPING  REFINED  SILVER 489 

STAMP-MILL 279—287;    281—282;    267 

Wet  ore    312—314;    319—321 

STANDING  PLUMMET  LEVEL  (see 
Plummet  Level). 

STANNARIES 

Stannum 473;    2;    384;    492 

STEEL 423—426;    422—423;   354 

Steiger  77 

Steinmack  (see  Porcelain  Clay). 

STEMPLE  (stull)   

STEPHANITE 109 

STERNEN  MINE   92;   75 

STEWARD  (of  High  Peak  mines)  

ST.  GEORGE  MINE  (Schneeberg)  ...   92;    74;    76 
Stibium  (see  also  Antimony  and  Anti- 
mony Sulphide)    ...     110  ;   428  ;    2  ;    2 

Flux  to  be  added  to 

In  assaying 231 

In  cementation   458—460 

Indication  of  silver 

In  making  nitric  acid  440 

In  parting  gold  and  silver...     451—452;    45! 

In  parting  gold  from  copper  

In  treatment  of  gold  concentrates     396  ;    397 

STIBNITE  428;   451 

ST.  LORENTZ  MINE 74;  92 

STOCKWERKE  (see  Vena  cumulata). 
STOICS. 

Views  on  wealth 

Stomoma  *23 

STONE  JUICE   46;   49 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


629 


STONES.  PAGE 

Agricola's  view  of  2;    46;   49 


Various  orders  of  fusibility 
"  STONES  WHICH  EASILY  MELT"  (see 

also  Quartz)  380; 

As  a  flux  233;   236; 

In  making  nitric  acid  

In  smelting 379; 

Smelting  of 

STOOL  (of  a  drift)   

STOPE   

STOPING    

Venae  cttmuiatae  

Venae  dilatatae  

STRAKE 303—310; 

Canvas  307—310;    314; 

Egyptians 

Greeks  

Short     306- 


380; 


126; 

267; 
316; 


-307; 


380 

222 
233 
440 
390 
401 
101 
126 
125 
128 
127 
282 
267 
280 
281 
267 

Washing  tin  concentrates  341 — 343 

STRATA  126 

STREAMING  316 — 318 

STRINGERS 70;   43;   47;    70 

Indication  of  ore 106 

Mining  method    128 

STYRIA  388 

SUBTERRANEAN  HEAT    46;    696 

SUCTION  PUMPS 175 — 188 

SULPHIDES   267;    355 

SULPHUR  578 — 581  ; 

Colour  of  fumes 

Harmful  to  metals  

In  assaying 

In  parting  gold  from  copper 

In  parting  gold  from  silver  

448—451; 

In  smelting  gold  dust  

Roasted  from  ores  

Solidified  juice 

SULPHUR  "  NOT  EXPOSED  TO  THE  FIRE. 

458; 

SURVEYOR'S  FIELD  137; 

SURVEYING  128—148; 

Necessary  for  miners  

Rod  137- 

SUSPENDED    PLUMMET    LEVEL    (see 
Plummet  Level). 

Swiss  COMPASS  145; 

Swiss  SURVEYORS  

Symposium  


579; 


222 
235 
273 

235—238 
463;   462 


448; 
273; 


463; 
144; 


461 
396 
276 

1 

579 
142 
129 
4 
138 


137 

145 

91 


TAP-HOLE 378;  386 

TAPPETS  282;  319;   267 

TAPPING-BAR  381 

TARSHISH,  TIN  TRADE  412 

TARTAR  (Cream  of) 220;    234 

Tectum  (Hangingwall)    101 

Terra  sigillata  (see  Lemnian  Earth). 

"  TESTS  ",  REFINING  SILVER  IN 

483—490;  465;   484 

Thaler  92 

THASOS,  MINES  OF  23;   95;    23 

Theamedes  115 

THEODOSIAN  CODE. 

Mines 84 

THORNS  (see  Liquation  Thorns). 
THURINGIA. 

Roasting  pyrites  276 

Sluices  of  gold  washing 327 

TIGNA  (Wall  plate)   101 

TIMBERING. 

Of  ladderways  and  shafts...     122;  123;    124 

Of  slopes  126 

Of  tunnels  and  drifts 124—125 

TIN 411—413;  354;    110 

Alluvial  mining  336 — 340 

Assaying  ore    246 

Assaying  for  silver  251 

Colour  of  fumes 235 

Concentrates 340—342;  348—349 

Cornish  treatment 282 

Refining   418-419 

Smelting  411—420 

Stamp-milling  312—317 

Streaming    316 — 318 


VAOl 

TIN. 

Washing  298;  302;    304 

linear  or  Tincal  (see  Borax). 

TITHE  GATHERER 81;    95;   98;    78 

TITHE  ON  METALS 81;   82 

Toden  Kopff 235 

Tof stein  (see  Tophus). 
TOLFA,  LA  (see  La  Tolf a) . 

TOOLS 149—153 

Topf  stein  (see  Tophus). 

Tophus  233;  114;    222 

As  a  flux   233;  237;   390 

TORTURES. 

With  metals 11 

Without  metals  17 

TOUCH-NEEDLES  253—260;    253 

TOUCHSTONE    252—253  ;    252  ;    354  ;  458  ;    222 

Mineral 114 

Uses 243;  248;   447 

TRADE-ROUTES. 

Salt-deposits  influence  on  646 

TRANSPORT  OF  ORE  168 — 169 

TRENT,  BISHOP  OF. 

Charter  (1185)  84 

TRIANGLES  IN  SURVEYING 129 — 137 

TRIPOLI 115 

Trochitis  115;    115 

TROLLEY  480;  500;    614 

TROY. 

Lead  found  in 391 

TROY  WEIGHTS  616;  617;    242 

TRUCKS  156 

TUNNELS 102;    101 

Law  88—93 

Surveys  of   130—141 

Timbering 124 

TURIN  PAPYRUS    129;    399 

TURN  (winze)  101 

Tuteneque 409 

Tullanego  409 

TUTTY  394 

TWITCHES  OF  THE  VEIN 101 

TWYER  376 

TYE  267 

TYPE. 

Stibium  used  for 2;    429 

TYRANTS. 

Inimical  to  miners    32 

TYROLESE. 

Smelting  388;   404 

ULCERS 214;   31 

Uncia  (length)  78;   616;  78 

Uncia  (weight)    616;    242 

UNDERCURRENTS  (see  Sluices). 
UNITED  STATES. 

Apex  law  82 

Vecliarii  (see  Windlass  Men). 

VEINS 43;   64—69;   106—107;   47 

Barren 72;    107 

Direction  of 54 — 58 

Drusy   72;    73;    107 

Hardness  variable  117 

Indications  35 — 38 

Intersections  of 65;   66;   67;    106;  107 

Vena. 

Use  of  term 

Vena  cumulata 46;    49;    70; 

Mining  method   

Mining  rights  

Vena  dilatata    41  ;    45  ;    53  ;    60—61  ; 

Junctions  with  vena  profunda  .. 

Mining  method    

Mining  rights  

Washing  lead  ore  from  

Vena  profunda 

44;  51;  60;  62;  63;  68;  69;  43 

Cross  veins  

Functions 65;   66;   87; 

Mining  rights  

VENETIAN  GLASS   


43; 
43; 


Factories 

In  assaying 238;    245; 


47 
47 
128 
87 

43;    47 
67;  68 
126—127 
83—86 
347 

47 
65 
68 

79—83 
222 
592 
246 


630 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


VENETIAN  GLASS. 

In  cupellation  474 

VENICE. 

Glass-factories 592 

Parting  with  nitric  acid 461 

Scale  of  weights  264 

VENTILATION  200—212;    121 

With  bellows  207—210 

With  fans  20*— 207 

With  linen  cloths   210 

With  windsails   200—203 

VERDIGRIS  440;    1;  110;    222 

In  cementation  454;   457 

Indication  of  ore 116 

In  making  nitric  acid  440 

In  parting  gold  from  copper    464 

VERMILION. 

Adulteration  with  red-lead  232 

Poisonous 215 

VILLACENSE  LEAD 239;   239 

VINEGAR. 

Use  in  breaking  rocks   119;    118 

Use  in  cleansing  quicksilver 426 

Use  in  roasting  matte    349 

Use  in  softening  ore  231 

Virgula  divina  (see  Divining  Rod). 

VITRIOL 571;    572;    403;    222;    1 

In  assaying 237 — 238 

In  cementation   454;    454 

Indication  of  copper 116 

In  making  nitric  acid  439 — 440 

In  roasted  ores   350 

In  sal  artificiosus  463 

Native      Ill 

Native  blue  109 

Native  white   113 

Red  274 

White    454 

VOLCANIC  ERUPTIONS  595 

WASHERS  78 

WASHING  ORE  (see  also  Concentration, 

Screening  Ore,  etc.) 300 — 310 

WATER-BAGS  157—159;    198 


PAGE 

WATER-BUCKETS 157—158 

WATER-WHEELS  187;    283;  286;    319 

WATER-TANK,     UNDER   BLAST  FUR- 
NACES     356 — 357 

WEALTH   7 — 20 

WEDGES   150 

WEIGHTS...      260—264;    616—617;  242;    253 

Weisser  Kis  Ill 

Werckschuh 617;    78 

WESTPHALIA. 

Smelting  lead  ore   391 

Spalling  ore  272 

WHEELBARROWS  154 

WHIMS 164—167 

WHITE-LEAD 440;    354;  110;    232 

WHITE  SCHIST  234;    390;  234;    222 

WINDING   APPLIANCES   (see   Hauling 
Appliances). 

WINDLASSES 180;    171  ;  149 

WINDLASS  MEN  160;    78 

WINDS. 

Greek  and  Roman  names  58 

Sailors' names 59;   60 

WINDS  (winze)  101 

WINDSAILS  200 — 203 

WINZES 102 

WITTENBERG,  CAPITULATION  OF IX. 

WIZARDS. 

Divining  rods 40 

WORKMEN  98;   100 

WOUGHS  101 

Zaffre  112 

ZEITZ XI. 

ZINC  (see  also  Cadmia,  and  Cobalt). 

Historical  notes 408 — 410;    354 

Minerals   112—113 

ZINCK  (see  Zinc). 

ZINC  OXIDES  113;    354 

ZINC  SULPHATE  (see  Vitriol). 

Zincum  (see  Zinc). 

Zoll  617;    78 

ZWICKAU VI. 

Zwitter 110 


INDEX   TO    PERSONS   AND 
AUTHORITIES. 


NOTE. — The  numbers  in  heavy  type  refer   to  the   Text ; 
those   in   plain    type   to   the   Footnotes,   Appendices,   etc. 


PAGE 

ACOSTA,  JOSEPH  DE  298 

AESCHYLUS. 

Amber 36 

AESCULAPIUS. 

Love  of  gold    9 

AFRICANUS  (alchemist)     XXVII  ;  XXVIII 

AGATHARCHIDES. 

Cupellation  465 

Egyptian  gold  mining   279;    391;    399 

Fire-setting 118 

AGATHOCLES. 

Money  21 

AGATHODAEMON  (alchemist)      

XXVII;    XXVIII 

AGRICOLA,  DANIEL 606 

AGRICOLA,   GEORG    (a    preacher    at 

Freiberg)  606 

AGRICOLA,  GEORGIUS. 

Assaying  220 

Biography    V— XVI 

Founder  of  Science XIV 

Geologist XII;       46;    53 

Interest  in  Gottsgaab  mine    VII;    74 

Mineralogist  XII;    108;    594 

Paracelsus  compared  with XIV 

Real  name   V 

Works  Appendix   <\ 

See  also  : 
Bermannus. 
De  Animantibus. 
De  Natura  eorum,  etc, 
Dt  Natura  Fossilium. 
De  Ortu  et  Causis. 
De  Peste. 

De  Precio  Metallorum, 
De  Re  Metallica. 
De  Veteribus  Melallis. 
Etc. 

AGRICOLA,  RUDOLPH   606 

ALBERT  THE  BRAVE,  DUKE  OF  MEISSEN        VIII 
ALBERTUS  MAGNUS  (Albert  von 

Bollstadt)  XXX;    609 

Alluvial  gold    78 

Cementation 460 

Metallic  arsenic  Ill 

Metals  44 

Saltpetre  562 

Zinc  409 

ALBINUS,  PETRUS  V;    599 

Cuntz  von  Gliick 24 

ALPINUS,  PROSPER  559 

ALYATTES,  KING  OF  LYDIA. 

Mines  owned  by  26;    27 

AMERICAN     INSTITUTE    OF    MINING 

ENGINEERS  38;    53 

ANACHARSIS. 

Invention  of  bellows 362 

ANACREON  OF  TEOS. 

Money  despised  by    9;    15 

ANAXAGORAS. 

Money  despised  by 15 

ANNA,  DAUGHTER  OF  AGRICOLA    VII 

ANNA,  WIFE  OF  AGRICOLA      VII 

ANTIPHANES. 

On  wealth 19 

APOLLODORUS   .  26 


APULEJUS  (alchemist)  .. 
ARCHIMEDES. 

King  Hiero's  crown    . 

Machines 

ARDAILLON,  EDOUARD. 

Mt,  Laurion  


XXVII;    XXIX 


247 

149 


28  ;    281  ;  391 


PAGB 

ARISTIPPUS. 

Gold 9;    14 

ARISTODEMUS. 

Money  8 

ARISTOTLE XII;    607 

Amber  35 

Athenian  mines  27;    83 

Burning  springs 583 

Coal  34 

Cupellation  465 

Distillation  441 

Lodestone 115 

Nitrum 658 

Ores  of  brass  410 

Quicksilver  432 

Silver  from  forest  fires  36 

Theory  of  ore  deposits 44 

Wealth  of 15 

ARNOLD  DE  VILLA  NOVA. 

(See  Villa  Nova,  Arnold  de). 

ATHENAEUS. 

Silver  from  forest  fires  36 

AUGURELLUS,    JOHANNES    AURELIUS 

(alchemist)    XXVII;    XXX 

AUGUSTINUS  PANTHEUS  (alchemist).          XXVII 

AUGUSTUS,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY  ...  IX 

Dedication  of  De  Re  Metallica  ....  XXV 

Letter  to  Agricola XV 

AVICENNA XXX;    608 

BACON,  ROGER    XXX;    609 

Saltpetre  460;    562 

BADOARIUS,  FRANCISCUS  XXVII 

BALBOA,  V.  N.  DE  V 

BALLON,  PETER 659 

BARBA,  ALONSO 300;    1 

BARBARUS,  HERMOLAUS XXVII 

BARRETT,  W.  F 38 

BECHER,  J.  J 63 

BECHIUS,  PHILIP    XV 

BECKMANN,  JOHANN. 

Alumin  

Amalgamation  

Nitrum  

Parting  with  nitric  acid 

Stamp-mills  

Stannum  

Tin 

Bergbiichlein  (see  Nutzlich  Btrgbuzhlin). 

Bergwerks  Lexicon   37;    80 

BERMAN,  LORENZ   VI; 

Betmannus 696;    599 

Arsenical  minerals 

Bismuth   3; 

Cadmia 

Cobalt  

Fluorspar  

Molybdaena  

Schist    

Shafts  

Zinc  

BERTHELOT,  M.  P.  E 429  ; 

BERTHIER 

BIAS  OF  PRIENE. 

Wealth   8 

BIRINGUCCIO,  VANNUCCIO 

Agricola  indebted  to   

Amalgamation  of  silver  ores 

Assaying  

Assay  ton  

Brass  making 

Clarifying  nitric  acid   


665 
297 
559 
461 
281 
473 
412 

81 
697 

VI 
111 
433 
113 
112 
381 
477 
234 
102 
409 
609 
492 

8;  14 

614 
XXVII 

297 
220 
242 
410 
443 


632 


INDEX    TO    PERSONS    AND    AUTHORITIES. 


PAGE 

B:RINGUCCIO,  VANNUCCIO. 

Copper  refining   636 

Copper  smelting   405 

Cupellation  466 

Liquation 494 

Manganese   586 

Parting  precious  metals...        451  ;    461  ;    462 

Roasting  267 

Steel  making   420 

Zaffre 112 

BOECKH,  AUGUST   28 

BOERHAAVE,  HERMANN XXIX 

BORLASE,   W.  C. 

Bronze  celts 411 

BORLASE,  WILLIAM. 

Cornish  miners  in  Germany  283 

BORN,  IGNAZ  EDLER  VON  300 

BOUSSINGAULT,  J.  B 454 

BOYLE,  ROBERT. 

Divining  rod    38 

BROUGH,  BENNETT 129 

BRUCE,  J.  C 392 

BRUNSWICK,  DUKE  HENRY  OF. 

(See  Henry,  Duke  of  Brunswick). 

BUDAEUS,  WILLIAM  (Guillaume  Bude)  461  ;  606 

CADMUS 27 

CALBUS  (see  also  Nutzlich  Bergbuchlin), 

610;    XXVI;  XXVII 

Alluvial  gold   75 

CALIGULA. 

Gold  from  auripigmentum Ill 

CALLIDES  (alchemist) XXVII;  XXVIII 

CALLIMACHUS. 

On  wealth 19 

CAMERARIUS VIII 

CANI DBS  (alchemist) XXVII;  XXVIII 

CAREW,  RICHARD. 

Cornish  mining  law 85 

Cornish  ore-dressing  282 

CARLYLE,  W.  A. 

Ancient  Rio  Tinto  smelting 405 

CARNE,  JOSEPH. 

Cornish  cardinal  points  57 

CASIBROTIUS,  LEONARDUS VI 

Castigaliones    in    Hippocratem    et 

Galenum   605 

CASTRO,  JOHN  DE  570 

CHABAS,  F.  J 129 

CHALONER,  THOMAS  570 

CHANES  (alchemist) XXVII;  XXVIII 

CHARLES  V.  OF  SPAIN  IX 

Agricola  sent  on  mission  to  X 

CHEVREUL,  M.  E 38 

Chronik  der  Stadt  Freiberg 606 

CICERO. 

Divining  rod    38 

Wealth  of 15 

ClNCINNATUS  L.  QUINTIUS    23 

CIRCE. 

Magic  rod 40 

CLEOPATRA. 

As  an  alchemist  XXVII;    XXIX 

COLLINS,  A.  L 119 

COLUMBUS,  CHRISTOPHER V 

COLUMELLA,  MODERATUS XXV;      XXVI 

COMERIUS XXVII;  XXIX 

Commenlariorum...Libri  VI 604 

CONRAD  (Graf  Cuntz  von  Gliick)  .  ...  23;  24 

CORDUBA,  DON  JUAN  DE  300 

CORTES,  HERNANDO  V 

CRAMER,  JOHN 236 

CRASSUS,  MARCUS. 

Love  of  gold  9 

CRATES,  THE  THEBAN. 

Money  despised  by  15 

CROESUS,  KING  OF  LYDIA. 

Mines  owned  by  26;  27 

CTESIAS. 

Divining  rod  38 

CTESIBIUS. 

Machines 149 

CURIO,  CLAUDIUS. 

Love  of  gold    9 


CURIUS,  MARCUS. 
Gold  of  Samnites 


DANA,  J.  D 

Alum  

Copiapite   

Emery  

Lemnian  earth 

Minerals  of  Agricola  

Zinc  vitriol  

DANAE. 

Jove  and  

D'ARCET,  J. 

Parting  with  sulphuric  acid  

DAY.  ST.  JOHN  V. 

Ancient  steel  making  

Di  Animantibus  Subterraneis 

Editions   

Gnomes 

De  Bella  advtrsus  Tin  cam  

De  Inventione  Dialectica 

De  Jure  et  Legibus  Metallicis   

De  Medicatis  Fontibus    

De  Mcnsuris  el  Ponderibus   

Editions    

Weights  and  measures  

De  Metallia  el  Machinis 

Democritus  (alchemist)...          XXVII; 
DEMOSTHENES. 

Mt.  Laurion  mines  

De   Natura  eorum   quae   Effluunt   ex 
Terra  

Dedication   

Editions    

De  Natura  Fossilium...      594;    600; 

Alum  

Amber  

Antimony  

Argol  

Arsenical  minerals 

Asbestos  

Bismuth   

Bitumen  

Borax    

Brass  making 

Cadmia 

Caldarium  copper  

Camphor  

Chrysocolla  

Coal  

Cobalt  

Copper  flowers 

Copper  scales  

Crinoid  stems 

Emery  

Fluorspar  

Goslar  ores  

Goslar  smelting  

Iron  ores  

Iron  smelting  

Jet 

Lapis  ludaicus  

Lead  minerals  

Mannsfeld  ores    

Melanteria    

Mineral  Kingdom   

Misy  

Molybdaena  

Native  metals  

Petroleum 

Pompholyx  

Pyrites    

Quicksilver  

Rudis  minerals 

Sal-ammoniac     

Silver  glance    

Sory  

Spodos  

Stannum  

Stones  which  easily  melt 

Sulphur 

Tophus  

Touchstone 

White  schist 

Zinc  


PAGE 
9;  15 

108 
566 
574 
118 
31 
594 
572 

10 

462 

423 

597;  VII 
600 

217;  217 
605 
606 

100;  604 
605 
597 
599 

284;  78 

604 

XXVIII 

27  ;  83 

598;  32 

VIII 

600 

III;  XII 
565 
35 
429 
234 
111 
440 
110 
581 
560 
410 
113 
511 
238 
584 
35 
112 

539;  233 
233 
115 
115 
380 
273 
408 
111 
420 
34 
115 
110 
273 
573 
1 

673 
476 
108 
68J 

114;  278 
112 
110 
108 
560 
109 
673 
114 
473 
380 
578 
233 
253 
234 
409 


INDEX    TO     PERSONS     AND    AUTHORITIES. 


633 


PAGE 

De  Orlu  ft  Causis  Subterraneorum   ... 

...  594  ;    600  ;    III ;    VII ;  XII ;    XIII 

Earths  48 

Gangue  minerals  

Gold  in  alluvial  76 

Ground  waters 48 

Juices    52 

Metals  51 

Solidified  juices  49 

Stones  49 

Touchstone 253 

Veins  47 

De  Ortu  Mctallorum  Defensio  ad  J. 

Scheckium 604 

De  Peste   605;    VIII 

Dt  Ptecio  Metallorum  et  Monelis  ....  597  ;    600 

Mention  by  Agricola 252;    264 

De  Putredine  solidas  partes,  etc 605 

De  Re  Metallica I  ;    XIII ;    XIV— XVI 

Editions    600;    XIV 

Title  page XIX 

DE  SOTO,  FERNANDES V 

De  Terrat  Motu 604 

De  Varia  tcmperie  sive  Constitutione 

Aeris 604 

De  Veteribus  et  Novis  Metallis 

597;   600;   VII;  XXVI;   5 

Agricola's  training   VI 

Conrad    

Discovery  of  mines 36;    5;    37 

Gottsgaab  mine 74 

DEVOZ  (DE  Voz),  CORNELIUS   570;    283 

DIODORUS  SICULUS  607 

Alum  566 

Bitumen  582 

Cupellation  465 

Drainage  of  Spanish  mines  149 

Egyptian  gold  mining   279 

Fire-setting 118 

Lead  391 

Silver  from  forest  fires  36 

Tin 412 

DIOGENES  LAERTIUS 7;    9;    10 

DIOSCORIDES   607;    608 

Alum  566 

Antimony 428 

Argol  234 

Arsenic  minerals Ill 

Asbestos  440 

Bitumen  684 

Brass  making 410 

Burned  lead  237 

Cadmia 112 

Chalcilis   573 

Copper  flowers 233;    538 

Copper  smelting   403 

Cupellation  

Distillation  apparatus    355 

Dust-chambers 355;    394 

Emery  115 

Lead  392 

Lead  minerals  477 

Lemnian  earth 31 

Litharge    465 

Lodestone 115 

Melanteria    573 

Misy  573 

Naphtha  684 

Pompholyx  394;    410 

Quicksilver  297;    432 

Red-lead  

Sal-ammoniac   660 

Sory  573 

Spodos  394 

Verdigris  440 

Vitriol  672 

White-lead  440 

DIPHILUS   Z7;    83 

DIPHILUS  (poet).  . 

Gold 10 

Dominatores  Saxonici 

DRAUD,  G 699 

DUDAE. 

Alum  trade 589 


PAGB 

ELIZABETH,  QUEEN  OF  ENGLAND. 

Charters  to  alum  makers 283  ;    570 

Dedication  of  Italian  De  Re  Metal- 

licato  XV 

Importation  of  German  miners   ...    283  ;    570 

ELOY,  N.  F.  J 599 

ENTZELT  (Enzelius,  Encelio) 615 

ERASMUS VI;    VIII;    XIV 

ERCKER,  LAZARUS. 

Amalgamation  300 

Liquation 491;    505 

Nitric  acid  preparation  443 

Parting  gold  and  silver  444;    451 

ERIPHYLE. 

Love  of  gold    9 

ERNEST,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY VIII 

EURIPIDES. 

Amber  mentioned  by  35 

Plutus  8;    7 

EZEKIEI.,  PROPHET. 

Antimony  428 

Cupellation  465 

Tin 412 

FABRICIUS,  GEORGE. 

Agricola's  death   X 

Friendship  with  Agricola VIII 

Laudatory  poem  on  Agricola  XXI 

Letters    IX;    X;  XIV;  XV 

Posthumous  editor  of  Agricola.  ...  603  ;    606 

FAIRCLOUGH,  H.  R Ill 

FARINATOR,  MATHIAS XXVI 

FERDINAND,  KING  OF  AUSTRIA. 

Agricola  sent  on  mission  to   X 

Badoarius  sent  on  mission  to  XXVII 

FERGUSON,  JOHN. 

Editions  of  De  Re  Metallica XVI ;    599 

FEYRABENDT,  SIGMUNDI    XV 

FIGUIER,  L 38 

FLACH,  JACQUES. 

Aljustrel  tablet   83 

FLORIO,  MICHELANGELO    XV 

FORSTER,  JOHANNES VI 

FRANCIS,  COL.  GRANT    267;    283 

FRANCIS  I.,  KING  OF  FRANCE IX 

FREDERICK,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY...  VIII ;    IX 

FROBEN,  publisher  of  De  Re  Metallica  XIV  ;    XV 

FRONTINUS,  SEXTU.S  JULIUS 87 

GALEN. 

Agricola's  revision  of 605;    VI 

Lemnian  earth 31 

Mention  by  Agricola 2 

Galerazeya  sive  Revelator  Secretorum,  etc.  606 

GAMA,  VASCO  DA V 

GANSE  (GAUNSE),  JOACHIM  267;    283 

GATTERER,  C.  W 599 

GEBER XXVII;    XXX;    609 

Alum  569 

Assaying  219 

Cementation 459 

Cupels  466 

Nitric  acid   460 

Origin  of  metals  44 

Precipitation  of  silver  nitrate  443 

Genesis,  Book  of  XII;    43 

GEORGE,  DUKE  OF  SAXONY IX  ;  310  ;  310 

GESNER,  CONRAD    52 

GIBBON,  EDWARD  119 

GLAUBER,  J.  R 410 

GLUCK,  CUNTZ  VON  (see  Conrad). 

GMELIN,  J.  F 84 

GOCHER,  C.  G 599 

GODOLPHIN,  SIR  FRANCIS  282 

GOWLAND,  WILLIAM. 

Ancient  bronze 410;  411;    421 

Early  smelting 402 

GRAECUS,  MARCUS. 

Saltpetre  562 

GROMMESTETTER,  PAUL 281 

GRYMALDO,  LEODIGARIS    XVI 

GYGES,  KING  OF  LYDIA. 

Mines  owned  by  26;    27 


634 


INDEX    TO    PERSONS    AND    AUTHORITIES. 


HANNIBAL.  PAGE 

Alps  broken  by  vinegar 119 

Spanish  mines 42;    42 

HARDY,  WILLIAM   85 

HEATH,  THOMAS. 

On  Hero  129 

HELIODORUS  (alchemist) XXVII;    XXIX 

HENCKEL,  J.  F 63;  112;  410 

HENDRIE,  R 609 

HENNEBERT,  E 119 

HENRY,  DUKE  OF  BRUNSWICK VII 

HENRY,  DUKE  OF  MEISSEN IX 

HERMES  (alchemist) XXVI;  XXVIII 

HERMES  (Mercury). 

Magic  rod  40 

HERO. 

Underground  surveying  129 

HERODOTUS. 

Alum  566 

Bitumen   582 

Lead  391 

Mines  of  Thrace   23 

Nitrum  558 

HERTEL,  VALENTINE   XIV 

HIERO,  KING  OF  SYRACUSE. 

Crown  247 

HILL,  JOHN  607 

Auripigmentum   Ill 

HlMILCE,  WIFE  OF  HANNIBAL  42 

HIPPOCRATES. 

Cupellation  391;    465 

Lodestone 115 

HIRAM,  KING  OF  TYRE. 

Mines 214 

HOFMANN,  DR.  R. 
Biography  of  Agricola...     V;    XI ;  599  ;  603 

HOMER. 

Amber    35 

Divining  rod    40;    40 

Lead  391 

Smelting  402 

Steel  421 

Sulphur 579 

Tin 412 

HOMMEL,   W. 

Early  zinc  smelting  409 

HORACE. 

Metals  11 

Wealth  15;  17 

HORDEBORCH,  JOHANNES VII 

HOUGHSTETTER,  DANIEL  283 

HOUGHTON,  THOMAS 85 

HUMPHREY,  WILLIAM. 

Jigging  sieve  283 

HUNT,  ROBERT. 

Roman  lead  smelting  392 


JOVE. 

Danae  legend 

JUSTIN 

JUVENAL. 

Money  


PAGE 

10 

36 

10 


INAMA-STERNEGG,  K.  T.  VON  

Interpretatio  Rerum  MetaUicarum. 

(See  Rerum  Metall.  Interpretatio). 
IRENE,  DAUGHTER  OF  AGRICOLA  .  ... 

JACOBI,  G.  H. 

Biography  of  Agricola  V; 

Calbus  XXVII; 

JAGNAUX,  RAOUL. 

Ancient  zinc 

JASON. 

Golden  fleece  

JEREMIAH. 

Bellows 

Cupellation  

Lead  smelting 

Nitrum   

JEZEBEL. 

Use  of  antimony 

JOB. 

Refining  silver 

JOHANNES  (alchemist) 

JOHN,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY 
JOHN,  KING  OF  ENGLAND. 

Mining  claims   

JOHN  FREDERICK,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY 
JOSEPHUS. 

Dead  Sea  bitumen  


84 


VII 


599 
610 

409 
330 

362 
465 
391 

568 

428 


465 

XXVII;    XXVIII 
IX 


85 
IX 

33 


KARSTEN,  K.  J.  B. 

Liquation...  491  ;  492  ;  505  ;  509  ;  523  ;  535 
KERL,  BRUNO. 

Liquation 505 

KONIG,  EMANUEL  XV 

KONIG,  LUDWIG  XV 

KOPP,  DR.  HERMANN 609;  441 

LAMPADIUS,  G.  A 462 

LASTHENES. 

Love  of  gold  0 

Latin  Grammar  (Agricola) 605 

LEONARDI,  CAMILLI  615 

LEUPOLD,  JACOB  XV  ;  599 

Leviticus. 

Leprosy  of  walls 562 

LEWIS,  G.  R 84 

LEWIS  454 

LIBAVIS,  ANDREW  410 

LIEBLEIN,  J.  D.  C 129 

LINNAEUS,  CHARLES  559 

LIVY. 

Hannibal's  march  over  the  Alps...  119 
LOHNEYS,  G.  E. 

Liquation 491;    505 

Parting  with  antimony   451 

Zinc  409;  410 

LUCRETIA,  DAUGHTER  OF  AGRICOLA.  VII 
LUCRETIUS. 

Forest  fires  melting  veins  36 

LULLY,  RAYMOND XXVII;  XXX 

LUSCINUS,  FABRICIUS. 

Gold 9;  15 

LUTHER,  MARTIN V;  VI;  VIII;  IX 

LYCURGUS  (Athenian  orator). 

Prosecution  of  Diphilos 27  ;  83 

LYCURGUS  (Spartan  legislator). 

Wealth  prohibited  by 9;    15 

MAGELLAN,  F.  DE  V 

MALTITZ,  SIGISMUND 312 

MANLOVE,  EDWARD   70;    85 

MARBODAEUS  615 

MARCELLINUS,  AMMIANUS. 

On  Thucydides   23 

MARCELLUS,  NONIUS   XXXI 

MARIA  THE  JEWESS XXVII ;    XXVIII 

MATHESIUS,  JOHANN. 

Cobalt  214 

Conrad  mentioned  by 24 

De  Re  Metallica XIV 

King  Hiram's  mines  214 

MATTHEW  PARIS. 

Cornish  miners  in  Germany  283 

MAURICE,  ELECTOR  OF  SAXONY. 

XXV;    VIII;    IX;    X 

MAWE,  J 70 

MAXIMILIAN,  EMPEROR  23;    24 

MEISSEN,  DUKES  OF  (see  under  personal 

names  :  Albert,  Henry,  etc.). 
MELANCHTHON. 

Relations  with  Agricola VIII ;    X 

MENANDER. 

Riches  8 

MERCKLINUS,  G.  A 599 

MERCURY  (see  HERMES). 

MERLIN  (magician) XXVII;    XXX 

MEURER,  WOLFGANG. 

Letters   IX;  X 

MEYER,  ERNST  VON   248;    569 

MEYNER,  MATTHIAS   VII 

MIDAS,  KING  OF  LYDIA. 

Mines  owned  by  26;    27 

MILLER,  F.  B 462 

MINERVA. 

Magic  rod 40 

MORRIS,  W.  O'C 119 


INDEX    TO     PERSONS    AND    AUTHORITIES. 


635 


MOSELLANUS,  PETRUS 
MOSES. 

Bitumen  

Lead  

Refining  gold  

Rod  of  Horeb  

MULLER,  MAX. 

Ancient  iron  .  . 


38 


PAGE 
VI 

582 
391 
399 
;  40 

421 


NAEVIUS. 

Money  20 

NASH,  W.  G. 

Rio  Tin  to  mine  149 

NAUMACHIUS. 

Gold  and  silver  8 

NECKAM,  ALEXANDER 

Compass  57 

NEWCOMEN,  THOMAS  149 

NICANDER. 

On  coal  34 

NICIAS. 

Sosias  and  slaves  of   25;    25 

Nulzlich  Bergbiichlin...      610  ;    XXVI  ;  XXVII 

Alluvial  gold    75 

Bismuth    110;    433 

Compass  57;    129 

Ore-deposits  44 

Ore-shoots    43 

Veins  43;  46;    73 

OLYMPIODORUS  (alchemist)...       XXVII;    XXX 
OPPEL,  VAN  (see  VAN  OPPEL). 
ORUS  CHRYSORICHITES  (alchemist)  ... 

XXVII;  XXVIII 

OSTHANES  (alchemist)  XXVII;    XXIX 

OTHO  THE  GREAT   6 

OTHO,  PRINCE 6 

OVID. 

Mining  censured  by    7 

PANDULFUS  ANGLUS XXVI 

PANTAENETUS. 

Demosthenes' oration  against 27;    83 

PANTHEUS,  AUGUSTINUS  (alchemist).  XXVII 

PARACELSUS XIV;    XXX 

Divining  rod    38 

Zinc  112;    409 

PARIS,  MATTHEW  (See  MATTHEW  PARIS). 

PEBICHIUS  (alchemist) XXVII;  XXVIII 

PELAGIUS  (alchemist)     XXVII 

PENNENT,  THOMAS 570 

PERCY,  JOHN. 

Cementation 454;    459 

Cupellation  465 

Liquation 491 

Parting  with  antimony  451;    452 

PEREGRINUS,  PETRUS. 

Compass  57 

PETASIUS  (alchemist) XXVII;  XXVIII 

PETRIE,  W.  M.  F. 

Egyptian  iron  421 

Mt.  Sinai  copper  402 

PETTUS,  SIR  JOHN    XVI;    283 

PHAENIPPUS. 

Demosthenes'  oration  against 27;    83 

PHAETON'S  SISTERS 35 

PHERECRATES XXVI 

PHILEMON. 

Riches  

PHILIP  OF  MACEDONIA  

PHILIP.  PETER 282 

PHILLIPS,  J.  A 410 

PHILO. 

Lost  work  on  mining  XXVI 

PHOCION. 

Bribe  of  Alexander 9;    15 

PHOCYLIDES. 

Gold 7 

PHOTIUS  

Fire-setting 118 

PINDAR. 

Wealth  19;    252 

Pius  II,  POPE. 

Alum  maker 570 


PAGE 

PlZARRO,   F V 

PLATEANUS,  PETRUS XIV 

PLAUTUS. 

Gold 10 

PLINY  (Caius  Plinius  Secundus)  ...     XXVI  ;  608 

Alluvial  mining  331;    333 

Alum  566 

Amalgamation  297 

Amber  

Antimony  428 

Argol  234 

Arrhcnicum Ill 

Asbestos  440 

Bitumen   33;    583 

Brass 410 

British  miners 83 

Cadmia 112 

Cementation 459 

Chrysocolla 560 

Copper  flowers  and  scales 233;    538 

Copper  smelting  404 

Cupellation  466 

Drainage  of  Spanish  mines  149 

Eleclrnm  458 

Fire-setting 118 

Galena 476 

Glass 585;    586 

Hannibal's  silver  mine  42;    42 

Hoisting  ore 157;    157 

Iron  

Jew-stone  115 

Lead   392 

Lemnian  earth 

Litharge  475;  466;    501 

Lodestone 

Manganese  (?)    686 

Metallurgical  appliances 355 

Misy  573 

Molybdaena   466;    476 

Naphtha  

Nitrum   560 

Ore-dressing  281 

Outcrops  

Pompholyx   396 

Protection  from  poison  

Quicksilver  433 

Red-lead  232 

Roasting  

Sal-ammoniac  560 

Salt  from  wood  

Silver-lead  smelting   

Sory  573 

Spodos  

Stannum  473 

Tin,  Spanish 412 

Tophus  233 

Touchstone 256;    253 

Turfs  in  sluices  331;    332 

Vena  43 

Ventilation  with  wet  cloths  210;    210 

Verdigris  440 

Vitriol  572 

White-lead  440 

PLUTARCH 25 

PLUTO  218 

POLYBIUS. 

Ore  washing 281 

Silver-lead  smelting   392  ;  465 

POLYMNESTOR,   KlNG  OF  THRACE. 

Love  of  gold    9;     16 

PORTNER,  HANS   

POSEPNY,  FRANZ 53 

POSIDONIUS. 

Asphalt  and  naphtha  

Drainage  of  Spanish  mines  149 

Silver  from  forest  fires  36 

PRIAM,  KING  OF  TROY. 

Gold  mines  of  26: 

Probierbiichlein 612;     XXVI 

Amalgamation  

Antimony  

.             .       J  Oon 

Assaying  

Assay  ton  

Bismuth   433 


636 


INDEX  TO    PERSONS    AND    AUTHORITIES. 


PAGE 

Probierbtichlein. 

Cementation 454 

Nitric  acid   439 

Parting 461;  462;    463 

Precipitation  of  silver  nitrate  443 

Residues  from  distillation  of  nitric 

acid   235;    443 

Roasting  267 

Stock  fluxes  235;    236 

Touchstone 253 

PROPERTIUS. 

Gold 10 

PRYCE,  WILLIAM. 

Adam's  fall 353 

Divining  rod    38 

Juices   1 

Ore-deposits 53 

Stamp-mill  282 

Stringers  70 

PSALMS. 

Silver  refining  465 

PULSIFER,  WM.  H 391 

PYGMALION. 

Love  of  gold    9;    16 

RACHAIDIBUS  (alchemist)  XXVII 

RAMESES  I. 

Map  of  mines 129 

RAMESES  III. 

Leaden  objects  dating  from  391 

RASPE,  R.  E 300 

RAWLINSON,  GEORGE  583 

RAY,  P.  CHANDRA. 

Indian  zinc 409 

RAYMOND,  ROSSITER  W 38 

Rechter  Gebrauch  der  Alchimey 606 

Rtrum  Metallicarum  Interpretalio .  ... 

597;  VII;    600 

REUSS,  F.  A 599 

RICHTER,  A.  D V;    599 

RODIANUS  (alchemist)  XXVII;    XXVIII 

ROSSLER,  B 53 

ROYAL     GEOLOGICAL     SOCIETY     OF 

CORNWALL   84 

RUHLEIN  VON  KALBE  (see  CALBUS). 

SALMONEUS. 

Lightning 11 

SANDWICH,  EARL  OF,  trans.  Barba's 

book   300 

SAPPHO. 

Wealth  19 

SAVERY,  THOMAS    149 

SAXONY,  DUKES  AND  ELECTORS  OF. 

(See  under  personal  names  :  Albert, 
Ernest,  etc.). 

SCHLIEMANN,     H 391 

SCHLUTER,  C.A. 

Artificial  zinc  vitriol  672 

Copper  refining   535 

Cupellation  464 

Liquation 491;    505 

Parting  with  sulphur 462 

SCHMID,  F.  A V;    XV;  599 

SCHNABEL  AND  LEWIS  465 

SCOTT,  SIR  WALTER. 

"Antiquary"   300 

SENECA. 

Wealth  of 15 

SENEFERU. 

Copper  mines 402 

SETI  I. 

Map  of  mine    129 

SHAW,  PETER XXVIII 

SHOO  KING. 

Copper  and  lead     391;    402 

Iron  421 

SHUTZ,  CHRISTOPHER  283 

SIGFRIDO,  JOANNE. 

Ed.  Agricola's  works  XV 

SOCRATES. 
Riches  7;    9;    14;    18 

SOLINUS,  C.  JULIUS. 

Solifuga 218;    216 


SOLOMON,  KING. 

Cobalt  in  mines  214 

SOLON. 

Scarcity  of  silver  under 27 

SOSIAS,  THE  THRACIAN. 

Slaves  employed  by  25 

STAHL,  G.  E 53 

STAUNTON,  SIR  GEORGE 409 

STEPHANUS  (alchemist) XXVII;    XXX 

STEPHENSON.  GEORGE   149 

STRABO 607 

Arsenical  minerals Ill 

Asbestos  440 

Asphalt 584;    33 

Bellows 362 

Cementation 458 

Cupellation  465 

Drainage  of  Spanish  mines  149 

Forest  fires  melting  veins  36 

High  stacks  355 


26: 


27 
27 
391 
281 
409 


mines 

XXVI;    XXVII 

;    XII 
599 

mist}... 

XXVII  : 

XXIX 

Lydian  mines 

Mt.  Laurion     

Silver-lead  smelting 
Spanish  ore-washing 
Zinc  (?) 

STRATO. 

Lost  work  o 

STRUVE,  B.  G. 

SYNESIUS  (alchemist) 


TANTALUS 27 

TAPHNUTIA  (alchemist) XXVII;    XXVIII 

TAPPING,  THOMAS  85 

THALES  OF  MILETUS. 

Amber 

THEMISTOCLES. 

Athenian  mine  royalties    

THEODOR,  SON  OF  AGRICOLA    

THEOGNIS. 

Cupellation  

On  greed  

Plutus  

Refining  gold  

Theological  Tracts  (Agricola) 

THEOPHILUS  (alchemist) XXVII  ; 

THEOPHILUS  THE  MONK    

Brass  making 

Calamine 

Cementation 

Copper  refining   

Copper  smelting  

Cupels  

Divining  rod    

Liquation 

Metallurgical  appliances 

Parting  with  sulphur 

Roasting  

THEOPHRASTUS    

Amber  

Arsenical  minerals 

Asbestos  

Assaying  

Coal  

Copper  minerals  

Copper  ore  

Emery  

Lodestone 

Lost  works  XXVI; 

Origin  of  minerals 

Parting  precious  metals 

Quicksilver  297; 

Touchstone  

Verdigris  

Vermilion 

White-lead  391; 

THOMPSON,  LEWIS 

THOTH. 

Hermes  Trismegistos  XXIX 

THOTMES  III. 

Lead  391;   582 

THUCYDIDES. 

Mining  prefect 23;    23;   95 

TlBULLUS. 

Wealth  condemned  by  16 


35 

27 
VII 

465 

18 

8 

399 
605 

XXVIII 
609 
410 
112 
159 
536 
405 
466 

38 
494 
355 
461 
267 
607 

35 
111 
440 
219 

34 
110 
403 
115 
115 
403 

44 
458 
432 
252 
440 
232 
440 
462 


XII; 


INDEX     TO    PERSONS    AND    AUTHORITIES. 


637 


TlMOCLIiS. 

Riches  

TlMOCREON    OF  RHODES. 

Plutus  

TOURNEFORT,    JOSEPH   P.   DE      

TUBAL  CAIN. 

Instructor  in  metallurgy  

TURSIUS  

TWAIN,  MARK. 

Merlin  

Typographia  Mysnae el Toringiae  .... 


ULLOA,  DON  ANTONIO  DE  . 
ULYSSES. 

Magic  rod  


PAGE 
8 

7 
566 

353 
24 

XXX 

605 

298 
40 


VALENTINE,  BASIL 

Antimony  

Divining  rod    

Parting  with  antimony  .  .. 

Zinc  

VALERIUS,  SON  OF  AGRICOLA 

VAN  DER  LINDEN,  J.  A 

VAN  OPPEL 

VARRO,  MARCUS  . 


XXX  ;  609 
429 
38 
461 
409 
VII 
599 

XIII  ;    52 
XXVI 


VASCO  DA  GAMA  (see  GAMA,  VASCO  DA). 

VEIGA,  ESTACIA  DE    83 

VELASCO,  DOM  PEDRO  DE 298 

VERADIANUS  (alchemist)  ...     XXVII  ;  XXVIII 
VILLA  NOVA,  ARNOLD  DE  (alchemist) 

XXVII;    XXX 

VIRGIL. 

Avarice  condemned  by   IB 

VITRUVIUS   608 

Amalgamation  297 

Micro's  Crown...  248 


VITRUVIUS. 

Pumps 

Red-lead  

Surveying  

Verdigris  

White-lead   

VLADISLAUS  III.,  KING  OF  POLAND. 
VON  OPPEL  (see  VAN  OPPEL). 
Voz,  CORNELIUS  DE  (see  DEVOZ, 
CORNELIUS). 

WALLERIUS,  J.  G 

WATT,  JAMES 

WATT,  ROBERT  

WEFRING,  BASILIUS  

WEINDLE,  CASPAR 

WEINART,  B.  G 

WELLER,  J.  G 

WERNER,  A.  G 

WILKINSON,  J.  GARDNER. 

Bitumen  

Egyptian  bellows    

Egyptian  gold-washing  

WILLIAMS,  JOHN  

WINKLER,  K.  A 

WROTHAM,  WILLIAM  DE 85; 


PAGE 

174 ;  149 
232 
129 
440 
440 
14 


234;     273 
149 

XXVII 

XIV. 

119 

599 

V 

XIII;    53 

582 

362 

279 

53 

464 

413;  473 


XENOPHON. 

Athenian  mines 28;    83;    27;    29 

Fruitfulness  of  mines  8 

Mining  companies  90 

Mine  slaves  25;    28 

Quoted  by  Agricola    26;    28 


ZIMMERMAN,  C.  F 

Zosmus  (alchemist) XXVII; 


53 
XXIX 


INDEX   TO    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

ALUM  MAKING 571 

AMALGAMATION  MILL 299 

AMPULLA 442;   446 

ARGONAUTS   330 

ASSAY  BALANCES  (see  Balances). 

ASSAY  CRUCIBLE   229 

ASSAY  FURNACES. 

Crucible    227 

Muffle    223;   224 

BALANCES 265 

BALING  WATER  199 

BARS,  FOR  FURNACE  WORK    377;    389 

BATEA  157 

BELLOWS. 

For  blast  furnaces  359  ;  365  ;  368  ;  370  ;  372 

For  mine  ventilation 208;  209;    211 

For  tin  furnace  419 

BISMUTH  SMELTING 434;    435;  436;   437 

BITUMEN  MAKING  582 

BITUMEN  SPRING  583 

BOWLS  FOR  ALLUVIAL  WASHING  (see 

also  Batea)  336 

BUCKETS. 

For  hoisting  ore   154 

For  hoisting  water  158 

BUDDLE  301;   302;  314;   315 

BUILDING  PLAN  FOR  REFINERY  493 

BUILDING  PLAN  FOR  SMELTER 361 

CHAIN  PUMPS 173;  174;    175 

Chrysocolla  MAKING   585 

CIRCULAR  FIRE  (see  Ring-Fire). 

CLAY  WASHING  374;   375 

COMPASS 57;   59;  142;   147 

COPPER  MOULD  FOR  ASSAYING 250 

COPPER  REFINING 534;   537 

COPPER  REFINING  FURNACE 532 

CRANE. 

For  cupellation  furnace  479 

For  liquation  cakes  514 

CROWBARS    152 

CUPEL  229 

Mould   231 

CUPELLATION  FURNACE 468;  470;    474 

At  Freiberg  481 

In  Poland 482 

CUTTING  METAL 269 

DESCENT  INTO  MINES 213 

DIPPING-POTS  385;  387;  389;  393;  415;  417 
DISTILLATION    (see   Nitric   Acid   and 

Quicksilver). 

DIVINING  ROD 40 

DOGS  PACKING  ORE  168 

DRIFTS  105 

DRYING  FURNACE  FOR  LIQUATION  ... 

525;  527;   528 

DUST  CHAMBERS 395;   417 

FANS,  VENTILATION 204;    205;  206;    207 

FIRE-BUCKETS 377 

FIRE  PUMP 377 

FIRE-SETTING 120 

FOREHEARTH   

357;    358;    383;    385;    387;  390;   417 
FRAMES  (OR  SLUICES)  FOR  WASHING 

ORE  OR  ALLUVIAL 

322—324;   326—329;    331—333 

FURNACES. 

ASSAYING  (see  Assay  Furnaces). 

Blast 357;   358;   373;   377;  383;  385; 

387;   390;   395;   419;  424;   508 

Copper  refining   537 

Cupellation  468;    470;    474;  481;    482 

Distilling  sulphur    

Enriching  copper  bottoms  510 

Glass-making  587;    588;  589;    591 

Iron  smelting  422;   424 


FURNACES. 

Lead  smelting  (see  also  Furnaces, 

blast) 393 

Liquation 517;   519;   525;  527;  528 

Nitric  acid  making  442 

Nitric  acid  parting 446 

Parting  precious  metals  with  anti- 
mony    453 

Ditto  cementation 455 

Quicksilver  distillation  427—432 

Reaning  silver  485;  486;    489 

Roasting  276 

Steel  making 425 

Tin  burning 349 

Tin  smelting  41 5 

GAD  150 

GLASS  MAKING  .  591 

Furnaces 587;  588;    589 

GROUND  SLUICING   337  ;    340  ;    343  ;  346  ;   347 

HAMMERS 151 

With  water-power 422;   425 

HEAP  ROASTING  275;   278 

HEARTHS. 

For  bismuth  smelting    436;   437 

For  heating  copper  cakes  504 

For  melting  lead     393 

For  melting  lead  cakes 499 

For  refining  tin  418 

For  roasting 277 

HEMICYCLE 138 

HOE  152 

Interuenium  50 

IRON  FORK  FOR  METAL 387 

IRON  HOOK  FOR  ASSAYING  240 

IRON  SMELTING  422;  424 

IRON  TOOLS 150 


JIGGING  SIEVE  . 


LADDERS 

LADLE  FOR  METAL  

LEAD  MOULD  FOR  ASSAYING    

LIQUATION  CAKES. 

Dried 

LIQUATION  CAKES,  EXHAUSTED  

LIQUATION  FURNACES    

517;   519;   525;   527; 

LYE  MAKING  


311 

213 
383 
240 

530 
522 

528 
557 


MATTE  ROASTING   350;   351 

MEERS,  SHAPE  OF 79;   80;    86;    87  ;  89 

MILLS  FOR  GRINDING  ORE    294;   296 

MUFFLE  FURNACES 223;   489 

MUFFLES  228 


NITRIC  ACID  MAKING  . 
Nitrum  PITS  


Operculum 
Orbis  .. 


PARTING  PRECIOUS  METALS. 

With  antimony   

By  cementation    

With  nitric  acid   

With  sulphur  

PICKS  

PLUMMET  LEVEL. 

Standing  

Suspended  

PUMPS. 

Chain    173; 

Duplex  suction    180; 

Rag  and  chain 191;    193; 

Suction...  177;   178;   179;   182; 


442 
559 

448 
142  A 


453 
455 
446 
449 
152 

143 
146 

174;  175 

185;  189 

194;  195 

188;  137 


639 


640 


INDEX    TO    ILLUSTRATIONS. 


QUICKSILVER  DISTILLATION. 

427;   429;   430;  431;   432 

RAG  AND  CHAIN  PUMPS 

191;    193;   194;  195;    197 

RAMMERS  FOR  FIRE-CLAY  377;    383 

RING-FIRE,    FOR   PARTING    WITH 

SULPHUR  449 

ROASTING   (see  also   Heap  and  Stall 

Roasting)  

278;  350;  351;  274;  275;   276 

ROSETTE  COPPER  MAKING 537 

SALT. 

Boiling  549;  554;    555 

Caldron   551;   553 

Evaporated  on  faggots 558 

Pans  547 

Wells 549 

SALTPETRE  MAKING   563 

SAXON  LEAD  FURNACE  393 

SCORIFIER 229 

SEAMS  IN  THE  ROCKS...    54;   55;    56;   60;   72 
SHAFTS. 

Inclined  104 

Timbering  123 

Vertical 103;   105 

SHEARS  FOR  CUTTING  METAL   269 

SHIELD  FOR  MUFFLE  FURNACE 241 

SIFTING  ORE  287;   288;    289;   291; 

292;    293;  311;    342 

SILVER. 

Cakes,  Cleansing  of 476;   488 

Refining 484;    485;  486;   489 

SLEIGH  FOR  ORE     168 

SLUICING  TIN    337;    338;  340;    343 

SMELTER,  PLAN  OF  BUILDING 361 

SODA  MAKING  561 

SORTING  ORE  268;   270 

SPALUNG  ORE 270;  271;    272 

STALL  ROASTING. 

Matte    350;   351 

Ore    274;   276 

STAMP-MILL  284;    286;  287;    299; 

313;    320;  321;   373 

For  breaking  copper  cakes   501 

STAMPS  285 

STEEL  FURNACE  425 

STRAKE 302;   303;   305;   306; 

307;   341;  342;   345 

Canvas 308;    309;    317;  321;    329 

STREAMING  FOR  TIN  318 

STRINGERS. 

Associated    71 

Fibra  dilatata  71 

Fibra  incumbens  71 

Oblique 

Transverse   71 

SURVEYING. 

Rods  138A 


SURVEYING. 

Shafts  and  Tunnels  131 

Triangles 133;    134;    135; 

136;    137;    139;  140 

SUCTION  PUMPS  (see  Pumps). 

SULPHUR  MAKING  579;   581 

TAP-HOLES  IN  FURNACES  389 

TAPPING-BAR  383;   385 

"  TESTS  "  FOR  REFINING  SILVER     ...  384;   485 
TIMBERING. 

Shafts   123 

Tunnels 125 

TIN. 

Bars 415 

Burning    349 

Refining   418 

Smelting  415;   419 

TOUCH-NEEDLES   255 

TRAYS  FOR  WASHING  ALLUVIAL 334 

TREAD  WHIM  163 

TROUGH    159 

For  washing  alluvial 335;   348 

TRUCKS     156 

TUNNELS    103;   104;  105;    120 

Timbering  125 

VEINS. 

Barren 73 

Beginning  of    69 

Cavernous  73 

Curved   61 

End  of 69 

Head  of    69 

Horizontal    61 

Intersections  of 64;    65;    66;    67;    68 

Solid  73 

Strike  of  62;   63 

Vena  cumulata 49;   70 

Vena  dilatata    45  ;    50  ;    54  ;    60  ;    61  ;    68  ;   69 

Vena  profunda 

...  45;   50;   53;   61;   62;   63;   64;  68 
VENTILATING  WITH  DAMP  CLOTH  (see 
also  Bellows,   Fans,   and   Wind- 
sails)   212 

VITRIOL  MAKING      567 ;    574 ;    575  ;  576  ;    577 

WAGONS,  FOR  HAULING  ORE 170 

WASHING  ORE  (see  Sifting  Ore). 

WATER  TANKS,  UNDER  FURNACES  ...  358 

WEDGES   ..; 150 

WEIGHTS,  FOR  ASSAY  BALANCES 262 

WESTPHALIAN  LEAD  SMF.LTING    393 

WHEELBARROWS  155 

WHIMS. 

Horse  165;   167 

Tread  163 

WINDLASSES  161;  162;    171 

WINDS,  DIRECTION  OF  59 

WlNDSAILS  FOR  VENTILATION      201  5  202  J    203 


Printed  by 

Albert  Frost  *  Sons, 

Rugby. 


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